How many jobs did you have before passing an actuarial exam?

[Wigmeister General]

Stop complaining. It's a valid question.

[Jables]

Career type jobs or any old jobs?

[Franchise]

That's a good question. I had lots of summer jobs or odd jobs during college, but this is the only "real" job I've ever had.

[other]

I don't think of it so much as a job as an avocation

[thing]

I answered in terms of numbers of employers, which consolidated all my high school and college summer jobs into one.

[SamChevre]

Using the definition of jobs used for comparison purposes in a discussion in college (at least 2 days of same person writing checks; changing who writes the checks=different job), I have had 40+ jobs. (Greatly helped by 5+ years in the construction business--it would be like a consultant counting each contract as a separate job.)

In terms of general occupations, I've had 5-10 jobs; cabinetry, carpentry (multiple employers), general labor(multiple employers), waiting tables(multiple employers), substitute teaching, landscaping, IT project manager, actuary.

Originally Posted by SamChevre

[...]IT project manager

How did you leverage some of the other types of jobs? Or did you mean that this is the last type of work you did for some employer where you started as something other than a manager?

[SamChevre]

Originally Posted by Yoda

How did you leverage some of the other types of jobs? Or did you mean that this is the last type of work you did for some employer where you started as something other than a manager?

Not sure what the question is but I'll try to answer. I worked construction for years, then got fed up and went to college. I worked waiting tables and landscaping during college. I got the IT project manager job coming out of college--it was an entry-level job with an exaggerated title (it should have been, "Person who maintains documentation of meetings about IT projects.") My construction background--I'd worked my way up to running my own crew--helped in getting the job but not in doing it.

Then I lost that job (no regrets about that after the first week) and substitute taught while looking for another job; the job I got was my first actuarial job, which I still have. I'm not a manager now, and really haven't been since getting out of construction.

Originally Posted by SamChevre

Not sure what the question is but I'll try to answer. I worked construction for years, then got fed up and went to college. I worked waiting tables and landscaping during college. I got the IT project manager job coming out of college--it was an entry-level job with an exaggerated title (it should have been, "Person who maintains documentation of meetings about IT projects.") My construction background--I'd worked my way up to running my own crew--helped in getting the job but not in doing it.

Then I lost that job (no regrets about that after the first week) and substitute taught while looking for another job; the job I got was my first actuarial job, which I still have. I'm not a manager now, and really haven't been since getting out of construction.

Sorry for the poorly worded question. Nevertheless, you managed to answer exactly what I asked.

[Take 2]

Besides newspaper delivery, lifeguard, & pizza cook/busboy/dishwasher, I had some 'real' jobs post-grad, before my first actuarial job:

1) Bookkeeper for my dad's medical equipment company -- learned some basic accounting, inventory, and dealing with people. (I delivered oxygen tanks to emphysema sufferers who quit smoking too late.)

2) Helped manage the systems area for an Air Force base -- officer over enlisted programmers who knew much more than I.

3) Two years as a missionary in Austria -- teaching in German (not my native language).

Each of these contributed greatly to being able to do my actuarial jobs.