Looking for entry-level job

[gr2002]

Engineering bacground, programming skills, just passed exam 1 and graduated with MBA degree. Still couldn't land a job. Can someone give me any help?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: gr2002 on 2002-02-09 13:26 ]</font>

[The Mister]

<font size=2>Where are you looking? Could be the market's not that good in that region.

[Guerilla poster]

You have an MBA degree with no experience? That was a waste!

[Nanae7]

How long have you been looking? It may take longer if you are more picky about the location. Be patient though, something will come available if you are waiting for a certain region. Just send out those resumes, even to places that are not advertising openings. That's how I landed my job and I had no exams!

[gr2002]

On 2002-02-05 16:40, The Mister wrote:
<font size=2>Where are you looking? Could be the market's not that good in that region.

NY metro, but I'm also flexible about relocation within northeast area. Actually market here used to be quite good, or still good?

[gr2002]

On 2002-02-05 17:44, Nanae7 wrote:
How long have you been looking? It may take longer if you are more picky about the location. Be patient though, something will come available if you are waiting for a certain region. Just send out those resumes, even to places that are not advertising openings. That's how I landed my job and I had no exams!

I've been looking for 4 months, and nothing firm in hand yet. But your advice is quite helpful to me, since I only sent out resumes when I knew there was an opening somewhere. Before I got my exam result, it seemed like nobody even wanted to talk to me about my employment opportunity, including those recruiters. Now I just got the ticket, still havn't seen the door open. That's amazing you got in without an exam! Good for you!

[Incredible Hulctuary]

Since you're willing to relocate to other places in the Northeast, why not try Connecticut which is the insurance capital of America. Big insurers like The Hartford, Cigna, Travelers all have major offices in CT.

Don't mean to be discouraging, but I think the problem could be your MBA. I've heard some managers say they tend to avoid hiring MBA's for lower level positions because they tend to be underqualified and overqualified at the same time. If you're looking for an actuarial position, downplay the MBA by putting it on the second page of your resume in small print, and instead boost up the fact that you passed an actuarial exam.

[Nanae7]

This really helped out a lot too...

http://www.soa.org/eande/atpdwn.html

It's the list of Actuarial Training Programs and give you addresses, phone #'s and people to get in touch with for different companies.

There's also a similar one, maybe more comprehensive on this website...

http://www.beanactuary.org/findingajob/atp.htm

Good luck to you!

[WQN]

Be sure you're realistic about your salary expectations. You appear too expensive. I also was hired with no exams and no experience.

[gr2002]

Thank you guys, that really helps. BTW, is there anybody started as an Actuarial Student of any of those firms' training programs? What's the probability of this this position leading to a full-time job? How long will it last normally? Will H-1 visa be sponsored? For those who graduated from this program, what are your suggestions and advices? Sorry for so many questions, but I really appreicate your help.

[Nanae7]

I started as an actuarial student at a firm from the list and it was a full-time job. It also was a cold resume, no advertisement of opening. I think what they mean by "training program" is the study program as in the paid support from the company to get you through the exams. I have no idea about the visa thing.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Nanae7 on 2002-02-06 15:20 ]</font>

[L. Mo]

"Training Program" is kind of a misnomer. Usually, all actuarial folks who are taking exams are part of the program. Generally, it is a full time job, you just get the extra benefits of the program (study time, bonuses/raises, etc.)

I would downplay the MBA, or at least you might want to call a few companies from the Training Program list, and explain your situation. To most of the "contact people", you're just another piece of paper, but if you talk to them, you might have a better shot.

Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

"Will H-1 visa be sponsored?"

ok, now we have pinned down the problem.

not to discourage you or anything but one exam is a litte low if you are competing against other F-1 students. and believe me, there are lots of ex-computer majors or MBA F1 who are trying to get into the actuarial profession; I have seen those resumes.
All I can say is that you need to sharpen your interview and communcation skills. Many F-1s are awesome exam takers but they fall a little short when it is time to connect with other people. With your MBA background, I think you have better chance than other F-1s. Good luck.

[Mr. Penguin]

Definitely downplay the MBA. Have you tried ISO? Programming skills along with an exam passed usually gets you a job there. While you may get put in one of the less-desirable data areas, an entry-level job is an entry-level job.

[gr2002]

Thank you for all the inputs!

[gr2002]

Can anyone tell me what kind of questions will be asked by those actuaries, for the second interview? suppose I passed the first one already. Thanks.

[DW Simpson]

http://www.utexas.edu/depts/acs/stuannounce/club/interview/interview2.html has a collection of actuarial interview questions, some of which employers might save for the second interview.

[Anonymous]

My current GPA is 2.19, and after I pass the first exam later this year. Will I also need to win the Putnam, in order to get a summer internship? The best I could raise my GPA is a 3.0 before I graduate.

I am going to pass the first three before I graduate college. Will having three exams under my belt help me to get noticed?

I just hear so much about GPA being the gold standard, it is true?

[Alya]

I just hear so much about GPA being the gold standard, it is true?

Being not native to this country I did not know anything about GPA, so i did not put it on my resume. Nobody cared to ask, i got the job.

[DW Simpson]

Quote: My current GPA is 2.19

Unfortunately, our experience has been that 3.0 GPA is a common cutoff for clients looking for entry level candidates. However, as you alluded to, if you pass an exam or more, it will matter less. I would just try to get the GPA up as much as you can, and also include on your resume your GPA in your final 2 years of school (we see a fair amount of college graduates who do that).

[openminded]

...

[Anonymous]

On 2002-02-15 13:45, dednimnepo wrote:

Summer interns are basicly low wage slaves - The work usually consists of short projects and clean up that no one else wants to do. (I once had an intern clean out a bank of file cabinets for 2 weeks.)


Cleaning out file cabinets, filing, and cross checking information in the database is what I do for a work study. I figured a summer internship would atleast explain the reason for linear regression.