Traveling for Interviews

[banpeikun]

It could be a selling point if you interviewed well and it came up during the interview that your flight didn't arrive until 2am.

[Bobby]

Originally Posted by actexp

probably too late now, but should space them out a bit better. i know you're young, but travelling like this can tire anyone out, particularly with today's great airline service. want to leave margin for error as well as time to decompress. that said, just relax and try to take positive outlook and enjoy the experience of seeing all these different places and people and the possible opportunities offered.

Yeah I tried not to schedule them this near to each other. But, I originally scheduled a Friday for Company 1 since it fit my schedule best and it was after I take Exam FM. Then, Company 2 only offered me one date on that Wednesday since it's some big meeting where they're interviewing a lot of candidates for their final rounds. Finally, Company 3 offered me multiple dates... but they were for when I was flying for the other interviews. Oh well, it will be an interesting week I guess.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I will stay away from large meals the day before, and try not to drink too much coffee the morning of.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Meh. These companies have time to kill. Saying you have other interviews will scare away the weaker companies and impress the stronger ones. Delay one until the following week.

I had the luxury of being an unwanted candidate. Must suck to be you.

[Bobby]

Originally Posted by Dr T Non-Fan

I had the luxury of being an unwanted candidate. Must suck to be you.

Actually, I'm not a desirable candidate at all. I have a 2.7 GPA and only one exam.

But, I've tried to do everything in my power to make up for my shortcomings on paper. The best thing I probably did was search the archives on the AO and absorb all the career advice that is given here. That was a real eye opener for me and it allowed me to talk intelligently about the actuarial field with actual actuaries. The second best thing I probably did was send out about 300 resumes to 300 different companies by searching the SOA directory. I was planning on sending out more, but I got so many responses after 300 that I couldn't keep up with it (since I have school, a job, and an actuary exam to also think about in addition to job hunting.) Also, I picked up a couple of books on Excel and studied the application as well as I could (before I didn't have any computer experience.) Then I started learning C++ and VBA. (BTW, I'm so sick of people coming on here talking about how they are weak candidates because they have no computer experience... pick up a book!)

In addition to all of this, I e-mailed some of the actuaries in my area, and asked them if I could take them out to lunch so I could pick their brain. I thought that was another big leap. I tried to learn from them about why they liked their specific actuarial field and what they were looking for in a new hire. Also, I tried to learn about some of the details of their field, like the current events/problems and the specific skills required to be successful in a certain specialty. As much as reading about the actuarial field on the AO helped, I thought the talking-in-person to actuaries was another huge step. There's no substitute for getting to hear from a live person about the field, and getting to ask questions about it as they come up.

After all this, I went out and bombed a bunch of interviews. My first interview was AWFUL. I stammered, accidentally insulted both the people I interviewed with, made awkward jokes, sweated a lot, came off as a terrorist who wanted to blow up their building.... okay, I didn't really come off as a terrorist who wanted to blow up their building, but it was still a pretty bad interview. Even though I had prepared behavioral questions and prepped myself as much as I could for interviews, I was still nervous when I went into it and approached it the wrong way. I felt like an interview was some intense examination and the interviews were a test that I had to pass. Of course, this didn't help my interviews go smoothly. I finally learned how to relax after a couple of bad interviews, and since then I believe I've become a very good interviewer by being a lot more comfortable in them and approaching them with a friendly attitude. I also like to convey a lot of enthusiasm about the actuarial field on interviews and absorb as much information as I can from the interviewers about how to be successful in it. As well, I do a lot of research on companies, and stress how my skills would fit in well at the certain position I'm applying for.

This has resulted in 2 offers so far, along with 5 more interviews coming up.... so I guess I'm doing okay so far, despite being an "undesirable candidate."

[banpeikun]

Wow, someone actually read the sticky and followed the advice. Shocking!!

[Requiem]

Honestly, that post should be sticky'd.

[glassjaws]

You could just quote it or paste it into the sticky... Or can not everyone post in it?

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Originally Posted by Bobby

Actually, I'm not a desirable candidate at all. I have a 2.7 GPA and only one exam.

Good work. I'm still envious, even though my experiences happened over 20 years ago (damn baby boom).
Therapy is working, but not as much as I hoped.

Also, do note that we here should pat each other on the back for providing good advice, instead of getting our balls handed to us by a tag-hating control freak.

[Roberbola]

Originally Posted by Bobby

I'm looking for any tips on traveling around for interviews and how to make your trip pleasant.

I've got 3 interviews coming up that unfortunately are all during the same week, and I've got to fly across the country for them. I'm excited to have so many chances to interview, but also a little worried about how I'll stay fresh during that week. On Monday I'm flying out in the morning for a day interview, and flying back that night. Then Tuesday afternoon I'm flying out to another city, staying overnight, and interviewing that Wednesday. Then I return Wednesday night, have a test I have to take in a class on Thursday, then immediately leave to fly somewhere else on Thursday. I stay Thursday night in that city, then interview on Friday afternoon, and then finally fly back home.

Any tips on staying fresh for these interviews, and how to make sure my suit holds up during all of this?

If you are interviewing for a consulting position, you should mention this schedule in each interview as proof that you can handle the consulting lifestyle.

[Bobby]

Originally Posted by banpeikun

Wow, someone actually read the sticky and followed the advice. Shocking!!

Originally Posted by Requiem

Honestly, that post should be sticky'd.

Originally Posted by Dr T Non-Fan

Good work.

Thanks! I am honored to be immortalized in the entry level sticky.