[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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