Resume Help for someone with an unrelated major

[StudyingForExams]

As you can see by my resume, I majored in something unrelated and am switching to the actuarial field. I am having trouble getting any response at all so any advice would be helpful. Here is a little background on me and my resume.

I had help making this resume from someone who has 20-30 years experience in HR but none in the actuarial field so I was wondering if someone could look at it and give me advice. Specifically the summary part. That was her idea and while I like the concept because I have more to explain than most, I really hate how word treats them as sentence fragments and underlines them in my resume because I feel that would make me look stupid. Maybe combining it into less sentences?

Also I know my GPA isn't high, but I feel I have a decent excuse for that if someone ever asks (sadly no one has called me so it hasn't come up). Basically my major was a combination of the technical aspects of website work (programming, debuging, HTML/XML coding, etc) and design. Much like many people with very strong math skills, my design abilities could not have been worse. I was the worst in the major by far, and my GPA was torpedoed by multiple design classes, art history classes and drawing/painting classes. I would get those C's for trying like the fat kid in gym class. I did very well in the math, programming, web coding classes, and my business minor, but I can barely draw a stick figure so the rest was a struggle.

I have had 0 luck in any way with this resume and was going to submit it to a job today that is looking for IT with a stat background to do database stuff which should be a good transition job for me I think. I am slowing giving up on finding entry level actuary and just trying to get a data analyst job to get some relevant experience while I pass exams (waiting on MFE results, not likely, and sitting C in February. I was going to wait to add anything about these until I get results from MFE in a few weeks). Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

[atfl]

Just my take on it:

Move the exams up higher. List the one you are about to sit for.
Summary belongs in a cover letter or as bulletpoints under your jobs.

Merge the Software line into and in front of the Programming line. Remove ActionScript & JavaScript (and maybe remove the HTML and XML), I expect as a Web Programmer you would know these and as an actuary you'll not need these.

Maybe with that extra space you can sell yourself a little better?

[Sommelier]

If this resume is for actuarial jobs, take out the part about looking for data analyst jobs.

A "passion for mathematical experiences"? That would probably cause me to toss your resume straight into the trash. Too fluffy. I'd use points from the summary in a cover letter, but I'd probably take that part out entirely.

Move the section about exams up under the "Objective" section. Take out the part in your exams section that says "passed" and the exam names, and just put P/1 and FM/2 with the dates. Add that you're sitting for C in February - I would wonder why you'd only passed two exams and weren't planning on sitting for another one.

Move the dates of your employment up so that they are underneath the title/company.

"Programmed scripts to manage information about products, firms, and users". Manage information how? Might want to elaborate a little on this.

[StudyingForExams]

Originally Posted by atfl

Just my take on it:

Move the exams up higher. List the one you are about to sit for.
Summary belongs in a cover letter or as bulletpoints under your jobs.

Merge the Software line into and in front of the Programming line. Remove ActionScript & JavaScript (and maybe remove the HTML and XML), I expect as a Web Programmer you would know these and as an actuary you'll not need these.

Maybe with that extra space you can sell yourself a little better?

Thanks for the advice.

I will merge those two lines for sure and remove the HTML/XML etc. That is true if it says web programming I would have to know them.

Also I'll put the exams up top and my cover letter is actually pretty similar to the summary so maybe I can remove it entirely.

Any tips on selling myself better? I was never very good at resumes, but I tend to interview well because I can usually come up with good sounding answers to almost any question very quickly, i just never got a chance to use it.

Lastly here is what I basically use for my cover letter. Somewhat customized for each company but not too much. Any tips here would be appreciated as well.

Dear Name of Person,

I am eager to enter the actuarial field. As a result, I am actively pursuing coursework, study, and exams in order to achieve this goal. To date, I have passed two actuarial exams and am working towards two more. In order to complement my goal of gaining hands-on experience in the field, I would like to enter the job market as soon as possible. To this end, I am looking for a position that could utilize my current skills in mathematics, programming, excel and statistics. I love to be challenged, learn new things, and move beyond what I already know. It is not difficult for me to work hard.

Your organization reflects what I am looking for in a place to work. Your organization is something generic I found on the website. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience in order to discuss any job opportunities you may have and I would be happy to send you a copy of my resume. Thank you very much for your consideration of my request.


I leave off the "and I would be happy to send you a copy of my resume" when I am applying to a specific position or known recruiter or HR person, and I leave that in for emails to employees about jobs at their company.

[FormLetter]

-get rid of the Summary section
-move Actuarial Exams and Employment sections before Education (that way they see you are viable candidate material way before they get to that "??? what is this degree doing here ???" moment

[StudyingForExams]

Originally Posted by Sommelier

If this resume is for actuarial jobs, take out the part about looking for data analyst jobs.

A "passion for mathematical experiences"? That would probably cause me to toss your resume straight into the trash. Too fluffy. I'd use points from the summary in a cover letter, but I'd probably take that part out entirely.

Move the section about exams up under the "Objective" section. Take out the part in your exams section that says "passed" and the exam names, and just put P/1 and FM/2 with the dates. Add that you're sitting for C in February - I would wonder why you'd only passed two exams and weren't planning on sitting for another one.

Move the dates of your employment up so that they are underneath the title/company.

"Programmed scripts to manage information about products, firms, and users". Manage information how? Might want to elaborate a little on this.

Ok thanks. I think i'll just remove the summary part as most of that tends to be in my cover anyway. And your right that is fluff. I'll follow a few suggestions and try and put an update resume in a few minutes.

[StudyingForExams]

Ohh one other thing. With the extra space should I add any more jobs? I actually had 3 others in order of recent to oldest:

Computer Assitant - Helped a 70+ year old women with her computer. Everything from fixing hardware problems, to updating website, to teaching her to use photoshop. She was an artist so she needed a lot of help with image work and I taught her how to touch up her art work on the computer. Also would probably use her as a reference because she liked me a lot and I worked for her on and off for years.

IS Intern - fixed and repaired computers at a lawfirm for a summer during Highschool

Programming Intern - helped program company software during a summer during highschool

[StudyingForExams]

Originally Posted by FormLetter

-get rid of the Summary section
-move Actuarial Exams and Employment sections before Education (that way they see you are viable candidate material way before they get to that "??? what is this degree doing here ???" moment

Good idea thank you.

[atfl]

Originally Posted by StudyingForExams

Also I know my GPA isn't high, but I feel I have a decent excuse for that if someone ever asks (sadly no one has called me so it hasn't come up). Basically my major was a combination of the technical aspects of website work (programming, debuging, HTML/XML coding, etc) and design. Much like many people with very strong math skills, my design abilities could not have been worse. I was the worst in the major by far, and my GPA was torpedoed by multiple design classes, art history classes and drawing/painting classes. I would get those C's for trying like the fat kid in gym class. I did very well in the math, programming, web coding classes, and my business minor, but I can barely draw a stick figure so the rest was a struggle.

Please don't say the struck out part during an interview. I agree your explanation does constitute a decent excuse.

[StudyingForExams]

Originally Posted by atfl

Please don't say the struck out part during an interview. I agree your explanation does constitute a decent excuse.

Yea don't worry. I know when I can say things casually (like on a forum) and when I have to be more professional like on an interview. I wont make the fat kid comment on an interview.

Here is an updated resume based on suggestions.

I changed the one sentence to "Programmed scripts to store and retrieve information about products, firms, and users to and from a database"

That any better?