Career Changers Considering The Actuarial Profession

[Howard Heller]

Hi:

We often speak with individuals of many different ages and professions who are considering a career change to the actuarial profession.  Regardless of what you have done in the past, you are going to have to prove yourself all over again.  And that will require  passing actuarial exams, and positioning yourself in a way that will attract the attention of employers.  It is not an easy process but can be done.  As always, it often depends on how much you really want it.

If you are considering a career change to the actuarial profession, just make sure that you take the proper steps to give yourself the best chance of getting your foot in the door to achieve a successful actuarial career.

For career changers interested in discussing the necessary steps to take, please reach out to us here at ActuaryExamTutor.com.  We have highly experienced individuals to help you understand the process that will be necessary and answer questions that you may have.  If you prefer a private discussion, contact us at support@actuaryexamtutor.com.

Thank you,

Howard M. Heller, President

ActuaryExamTutor.com

[Anuj Shah]

Had a great convo with Howard about career changers and the current employment climate for entry level newcomers.  Highly recommend!

 

Anuj

[TrumpetGuy]

I just wanted to give all the career changers some hopefully semi-inspiring words of advice:

I was a professional musician for about a decade, then I decided to change careers to become an actuary.  I started taking some exams (passed P, FM, MFE and MLC) and learned the heck out of Excel, SQL, and Python.  I even won two scholarships for actuarial science career changers.  I didn’t have any luck getting an interview after hundreds of applications (I kept a spreadsheet).  At that point, I decided to go to grad school to get a MSc. in Finance and passed even more exams (C, ERM, and even did the FAP + professionalism course to get the ASA), all while applying to dozens and dozens of jobs across the country, but still not a single actuarial interview after working with recruiters, resume experts, and actuarial friends for years.  It just wasn’t in the cards for me.

I don’t regret any of it though.  I learned a lot along the way and met some nice folks who I studied with and some who I reached out to in my city who proctored my VEEs / modules.  I eventually found a job a while back as a database engineer for a fintech company; it was an actuarial friend who referred me, actually.  My starting salary was higher than the average FSA with 5 years experience (according to DW Simpson), and the work is stress free with good hours, so overall, I cannot complain.

Even if you set a goal to become an actuary but never get a single actuarial interview, you’ll still acquire loads of useful skills along the way.  Keep your head up and eyes open for opportunities to apply that math/finance knowledge and those computer, modeling, and problem solving skills.

Good luck!

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