How screwed am I?

[felipe_R]

Hey,

I'm trying to change careers and get into actuarial science, Im 28 and have been out of college working random tutoring/part-time teaching jobs.

I'm concerned though, because I had a 2.43 GPA as an undergrad- drugs, depression, and math classes dont mix.

I speak spanish and portuguese- though I dont know how useful that is at the entry level- and generally relate to people (and interview) very well.

I did manage to pass course 1 with a 6 (do they ask in interviews?) last fall, and now I'm going for course 2, learning Excel, Access, VBA and SAS. As you can see I'm investing in this considerably and I am quite determined.

How worried should I be that my GPA will still haunt me?

[DW Simpson]

Are you in the US? Are you a US citizen or permanent resident?

If you had just graduated with a 2.4/4.0, it'd be more serious than now, but there remain many employers who might not consider your resume because your GPA is below 3.0.

However, I know Fellows who had less than 2.5 GPA, so it can be done.

[Happy Salvador]

I had a terrible GPA because I majored in Fussball and Busch Lite. Passed two exams and had a good (but honest) story of why I didn't do well - helped that I got decent grades later on. Now I'm a fellow with a good exam track record.


Don't worry about the 6 - but get that next exam.

[Westley]

Originally Posted by felipe_R

Hey,

I'm trying to change careers and get into actuarial science, Im 28 and have been out of college working random tutoring/part-time teaching jobs.

I'm concerned though, because I had a 2.43 GPA as an undergrad- drugs, depression, and math classes dont mix.

I speak spanish and portuguese- though I dont know how useful that is at the entry level- and generally relate to people (and interview) very well.

I did manage to pass course 1 with a 6 (do they ask in interviews?) last fall, and now I'm going for course 2, learning Excel, Access, VBA and SAS. As you can see I'm investing in this considerably and I am quite determined.

How worried should I be that my GPA will still haunt me?

I've never rejected somebody with two exams based on concerns about academics/intelligence/motivation (I have rejected them on lots of other reasons). I cannot imagine that you would be the first. Others may have different (and therefore incorrect) views.

[2M]

Yes, a good exam passing record can overcome a bad GPA. If you pass the first one for instance, and then not pass the next one for say three years, it would give an interviewer reasons to ask additional questions. However, if you pass 1 a year(or better), regularly, the # of employers that would care about your GPA is reduced.

Also being a little removed from college makes it less of an issue(but not non existent).

[felipe_R]

Thanks, thats very encouraging. as of right now my GPA is not on my resume, I'd rather it look suspicous than just bad.

I live in the DC metro area, have a greencard and dual german/brazilian citizenship.

Course 2 looks easier than course 1, so I'm feeling confident about that.

Does anyone have a link to an article regarding life/pension/property/consulting etc.- like what the difference between working in these fields comes down to- (the daily 9-5 stuff) and something like "if you're this kind of person, you'd like..."

Oh and one more question: is it true that 3 exams, no experience is worse than 2, no experience? I have heard that employers may resent having to pay someone with no experience as much as 3 exams would ordinarily justify.

anyways thanks to whoever runs this its good to find a message board that sees more than one post per week.

[jackj109]

Course 2 is harder, but luckily you don't have to take it anymore.

If your resume hit my desk today, you'd probably be screwed.
You said you're 28. Two options. Either you've been out of school for the typical 6-7 years (based on avg graduation age) and I want to know why you've been doing part time work for that long period and suddenly decided actuarial was your ideal job. Or you've not been out of school that long and the GPA's a concern.
Either can be alleviated with a good reason, but you better bring that up in your cover letter or it hits the "decline" pile.

[2M]

I was out of college 10 years before I got my first actuarial job. If you can sell an interviewer on good reasons for a career change it can work. Exam passage leading into the interview at that point is even more important because you have to have something to prove desire.

I had only one exam before I got my first job after 10 years of doing something else. What I did was show why my first career choice was wrong and the steps I took to show that I wanted to be an actuary.

[felipe_R]

2M, thanks for the advice.

I want to know if career changers get any friction due to being older than most of one's exam-experience cohorts. I will def. be on the older side of that. Did anyone get any "you're not an associate yet" reactions?