The Benefits of Unemployment

[Put-Call Party]

Hello, I have recently given serious consideration to a plan that under most circumstances would not be advisable. Here's my situation: I have an office job that has no relation to actuarial work and to which I feel no strong emotional attachment, to put it lightly. I discovered the actuarial field a little over a year ago and since then have been pursuing it with great enthusiasm. I have passed P and FM already and have also recently started fulfilling VEE requirements. I am planning to sit for another exam in May (some uncertainty about which, but that's another story for another post), and I am also very busy trying to fill in some gaps in my skill set caused by a lifetime of not realizing actuarial work is my calling. Between studying, practicing Excel and programming, job researching, and working full-time at the job I already have, I am having difficulty finding time for everything.

So I am considering quitting my job. I have a very low cost structure and excellent savings that would allow me to survive for up to three years without an income. I feel like I could do much better preparing a new career and life if I didn't have this job distracting me for the next few months. What I am worried about is how potential employers will view this. The more positive (and fair, in my view) interpretatation is that I am willing to give up an income in order to devote myself full-time to the actuarial profession, even though I'm not getting paid for it yet. The effort I am expending towards developing skills and researching the field is almost comparable to having a full-time job. Meanwhile, given the nonexistence of study days and fairly restricted vacation time at my company, studying with my current job is harder than it would be at an insurance company and probably many consulting firms. In other words, I don't believe that quitting would actually indicate that I am unable to handle the work-and-study lifestyle of an actuary, but my fear is that employers would view it that way. At this point, that fear is the only reason I am keeping this job. So my question is, would an employer be really turned off by a financially secure person who quit a job completely irrelevant to the actuarial field? Would it hurt my chances more than it would help them? Is it even worth considering? Please, someone who knows, give me some advice here. I am happy to hear people's two cents, but I am even more interested in dimes and quarters.

Thanks for reading.

[ElDucky]

I like the name.

Realistically, you'll need to able to handle those tasks while working if you expect to pass higher level exams and yes, there will be employers who will not like the gap in work. If you explain that it was so you could study for exams, they will like that even less, as you have pointed out. I don't know what your research or skill improvement work involves, so I'm in the same boat as an interviewer would be; my first thought is that it means you couldn't handle work + exams, even though that may not be the case.

You do have two exams. There's nothing stopping you from looking for an actuarial job right away.

[Max Max 2]

I would guess you've already considered this, but would part time work in your current position be an option? That may be looked at more positively than just quitting, or may be something you don't have to disclose.

[willel2338]

In 12 months, while being employed, you've passed 2 exams and you're looking at writing another in May. It would stand to reason then, that you could stay employed, pass the exam in May and then apply directly for entry-level actuarial jobs without needing to explain a gap in your work history. [That's only 4 months away] If you don't get any interviews with 3 exams passed, then pass another exam and apply again. Rinse and repeat until you either have an actuarial job or until you're done with the prelims. If you have a good resume and well written, targeted cover letters and are open to relocating, you should get interviews with 3 exams. What is your GPA/major?

Originally Posted by Put-Call Party

I have passed P and FM already and have also recently started fulfilling VEE requirements. I am planning to sit for another exam in May (some uncertainty about which, but that's another story for another post), and I am also very busy trying to fill in some gaps in my skill set caused by a lifetime of not realizing actuarial work is my calling. Between studying, practicing Excel and programming, job researching, and working full-time at the job I already have, I am having difficulty finding time for everything.

Perhaps, you could make it easier on yourself by putting some of those externalities on the backburner for the time being. Passing exams is the single most important thing for career advancement at this point.

(1.) VEE are pretty easy. You can deal with those at a later time. I don't think an employer is going to require that you have VEE to get your foot in the door.

(2.) Excel, programming computer skills, et al., are "soft" skills when it comes to actuarial work. Just pass exams. You can learn the basics of what you need to know here relatively quickly.

(3.) What does job researching entail? If you're seriously contemplating quitting your job to study full-time, then it would stand to reason that you've already made up your mind this is for you. What's left to research? Also, you can find a lot of good information here by reading old posts and such.

[Put-Call Party]

Thanks for all the responses, folks. I will try to respond to a few points (I'm exhausted).

I have good grades, but they are in a worthless major. I am now suffering the fate of other humanities majors by working in a position that is hard to bear for anyone with an IQ above 110 (specifically, I am a "case assistant" at a law firm; I don't even want to talk about what that entails). I've been doing hard time at this firm for a few years now. The job has become very demanding recently--people are asking me to do things that aren't my responsibility and to correct things that wouldn't need correcting but for the incompetence of others. Meanwhile, my salary is less than the lowest actuary salary I have ever heard of--and, more relevantly, lower than the salaries of my coworkers. I only found that out recently, and it was very hurtful to me, especially since my performance reviews have generally been excellent.

Now, ordinarily, someone in my position would seek employment elsewhere. I could print out a resume and take the elevator in my building up and down to a dozen different law firms and have a new job within a week. But it would also be a job I don't want to do, and I would only stay there for a few months before seeking employment as an actuary. Seems silly, and a little underhanded. So another alternative is to try to become an actuary right away. But I can't shake the feeling that that would be sort of like sending the Death Star out before it's fully operational. I want to fill my resume up a bit first. If I were to have an interview, say, two months from now, what would I say? "I'm not proficient in Visual Basic yet--but I'm getting there! Oh, and if you hire me, I'm gonna need some study time pretty much right away." The timing is just a little awkward. Keep in mind, I don't come from a technical or actuarial background, so learning some software and taking VEE's are sort of a way for me to show that I'm making up for lost time. It probably wouldn't be as important for other majors.

If you can't tell, I'm a little bitter about my situation. My job is just unfairly demanding, and I hate to think that it might be a roadblock on my path to success. To tell you the truth, if I sacrificed every superfluous aspect of my life, I think I could still accomplish what I'm trying to do here without quitting the job, but I don't see why I should do a useless thing that I hate just to prove that I can. I don't mind slaving away--I just want it to be as an actuary!

[MG]

Originally Posted by Put-Call Party

If I were to have an interview, say, two months from now, what would I say? "I'm not proficient in Visual Basic yet--but I'm getting there! Oh, and if you hire me, I'm gonna need some study time pretty much right away."

Frankly, even when candidates tell me they're proficient with Excel/Access/VB, I am skeptical. They're never as good as they say they are. So don't worry about VB. You don't truly know it until you've had to use it extensively on a real project, usually on the job, and most of us interviewing know (or should know) that.

Study time right away is a given, assuming the position is in the student program (which it should be).

Don't quit the job. We need to see that you can handle work + exams + other obligations in your life.

[Hugh Jass]

Star Wars metaphors are awesome!

I would try to get an actuarial job right away. If that's not working out for you, and you do quit, couldn't you just tell future potential employers that you had to quit your job to help out a sick family member or something? No good employer would hold that against you.

[MountainHawk]

If you can't manage to study, improve your skills, and work full time ... well, the actuarial career may not be for you. You'd have to have a much much better reason than 'I wanted more time to study' to explain a gap in employment.

[Vorian Atreides]

Agree with remaining employed. A gap between passed exams is far better to explain than a gap in work history.

An alternate option is to seek a job with a company that employs actuaries (or is at least in the insurance industry) and work your way to an actuarial position from the inside.

[glassjaws the t-shirt]

You could work half-assed and try to get yourself laid off. I don't in any way suggest this, but it could happen.