Need Resume feedback

[DrCalculus]

Hi,
Thanks for visiting my post!

I am making this post to get feedback/suggestions on my resume as well as any useful directions for me to proceed hunting for an offer. All your suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[greeneggs]

*Sigh*, I hate seeing people who are way over qualified wanting to be actuaries.

But here are a few pointers.
Axe the Objective. It is pure light and fluffy fluff.
Your "grade" doesn't mean much since most US recruiters won't understand it.(It also looks bad). Get rid of all of them. Ph.D. speaks for itself. You probably don't even need M.S. and B.S. in Math at X university, unless you want to highlight you came from X university. If your thesis is anyhow relevant, have it with your education.

I don't think people like check marks, use bullets. Make your actuarial exams a list of some sort, stands out more. No need to say actively perusing FCAS, that is cover letter material.

Your computer skills are impressive, but I just want to sigh and skip it when I look at your current format/bullets.

A lot of nit pick stuff that I won't go into detail. Resumes in the US are almost always 1 page. Most of your 2nd page stuff is usually in a cover letter. Get rid of references section, that is assumed.

You have a lot of fat to trim... and a lot of repetition (i.e. manage TA's) etc.

Best of luck.

[Mr. Micro]

If a resume needs a "highlights" section it is way too long.

[eagles418]

Guys, I just wasted my 20s away in grad school. I'm 200K+ in debt, and I'm going to making the same starting salary as a 22yo marketing major. This sucks, I need to use my math skills to do something useful. What's this I hear about actuarial science? Too bad I didn't know about this shiite 10 yrs ago.

[Vorian Atreides]

Originally Posted by eagles418

Guys, I just wasted my 20s away in grad school. I'm 200K+ in debt, and I'm going to making the same starting salary as a 22yo marketing major. This sucks, I need to use my math skills to do something useful. What's this I hear about actuarial science? Too bad I didn't know about this shiite 10 yrs ago.

OP may not have as much debt as you assume. Looks like BA and MS were attained at a non-US school. Most likely had PhD tuition paid for through a TA/GA program.

If OP is willing to take pay commensurate with new college grad, what employer is going to care that OP has advanced degrees? Given that it's in math, I don't see this as being detrimental.

OP's biggest obstacles (in order of size) are:

1. Needing sponsorship
2. Passing more Exams
3. Getting a resume that'll be read
4. Effective communication during an interview

Note that #2 is only slightly more problematic than #3 because of timing. Without a company willing to do #1, #3 (and therefore #4) are moot.

[Vorian Atreides]

OP:

Agree that resume will not generate much interest in its present form. You might look at several examples (link below provided for convenience). I will not comment specifically on your resume since format is the biggest obstacle, and the examples provided below will likely offer far better suggestions than I could here in words.

You might also do a search on sponsorship to get some additional insights that you might need to consider.

I made the career switch having graduate degree (M.S. in pure math--abstract algebra; ABD with math education). So, the degrees are not going to be your obstacle. You will need to convince an employer why you'd rather go actuarial rather than mathematical research.

I didn't have the sponsorship issue that you're faced with, but with 18 months, I'm sure that you'll be able to get something.

Good luck!

BTW, what areas of math have you focused on in your Masters and PhD?

http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actu...ghlight=resume

[actexp]

won't repeat what others said-things just out of order and repetitive. we care about exams passed,degree(s)/grades,computer and other related skills, and any notable accomplishments. remember, people look at your resume for something like <1 minute, so keep it brief and make sure the most important items are seen prominently

[Sub_Zero]

What's the minimum number of colors needed to color the countries on a map so that no two that are touching have the same color?

[vjvj]

You don't have to say "email:" or "phone:". We'll get it. I assume you mean the email to be on the right with the phone#?

You don't need column headers under Education. I'd get rid of the "in"s and put a comma there instead. I'd put the date on the right instead of school.

For exams, I'd get rid of the bullets and make it tabular - exam, "passed" or "sitting", and date. But if you do that, don't spread it across the page.

Computer skills section is way too hard to read. Excel and Access should stand out, but as it is now, it is hard to even find them. Personally, I'd prefer to just see an assessment of proficiency rather than the long MCAS bullets. I've seen too many people who have passed MS exams via braindumps and have had no practical knowledge (let alone practical experience). I'm all the more skeptical when I see that all 3 of your certifications came within 3 months. I'd by far prefer to see some hint that you're experienced rather than that you crammed for a month (and based just on that, I'd definitely remove the dates). But maybe that's just me.

You don't have to tell us that C++ is a programming language. You don't have to specify both C++ and VC++ unless you're applying for a programming position.

If people don't know what GAP is, they almost certainly don't care, so don't bother with the long parenthesis.

I wouldn't bother including LaTeX.

There's only been 2 semester? Don't use "various", then. Just list the classes. At at large university, I'd expect Calculus to be a very large class, so I don't know that you gain anything by saying it.

Toastmasters has two a's?

I don't see MCPN as anything more than filler, so I'd get rid of it. Same with AMS.

You can get rid of the footer now that the resume is one page.

[Enough Exams Already]

Take off the "e-mail" and "Phone" tags from the top. We can tell what they are.

Remove the Objective. It's weak, and a weak objective is worse than no objective. Plus, we already know you want an entry-level job--that's why you sent us the resume.

Take away the title bar after "Education". I know that a PhD is a degree, etc. You don't show a GPA; if it's good, put it on there. If it's bad, be ready to explain why.

Question: If you have a PhD in math, why are you listing your MS in math? Take off the MS, unless it's in applied math or statistics, and your PhD is in pure math. Or vice versa.

Do you have any financial background? Accounting, finance, economics, et al.? Maybe as a minor in undergraduate? It shows you can do more than play with numbers and symbols.

Exams go before Education. Exams mean more in this profession. Computer Skills go after Experience, for the same reason. Professional Affiliations go last, if you have them there at all; if you're not in an actuarial society, no one cares.

Remove GAP and LaTeX from the Computer Skills section. They aren't relevant to actuarial work. Change the last two lines in that section to: "Excellent knowledge of C++, Visual C++ and Mathematica".

Take the dates off your computer certifications. So long as you have them, it doesn't matter when you got them.

Under the first point in Experience, change the second sentence to "Managed multiple teaching assistants in teaching and administering large lecture sections." It shows off your managerial skills better.

Under the second point in Experience, it's "Lecturers", not "Lecturer's". Take out the apostrophe. Change the second sentence to "Invited to lecture during summer quarters due to excellent student evaluations." It sounds a bit more prestigious, as though you were recognized as a lot better than other potential lecturers.

It's "Toastmasters", not "Tostmasters". It's "Microsoft Certified Network Professional", not "Professional Network". You're a professional, not a network.

Be ready to answer these questions:

1.) Why should we hire someone entry-level who needs visa sponsorship when we can find experienced people who don't?
2.) We're not hiring for trainers. How does your teaching experience translate into skills as an actuarial assistant?
3.) What kind of financial background do you have?
4.) How did you improve things at the positions you listed? How did you make the position better while you were there?