The Traveling Actuary
  • About Me
  • Travel - Home
    • Travel Indonesia
    • Travel England
    • Travel Kenya
    • Travel Singapore
    • Travel Australia
    • Travel Argentina
    • Travel Inspiration
  • Actuarial - Home
    • Actuarial Resources
  • Actuarial Blog

All things actuarial (and analytics).

Resume Advice (for aspiring actuaries)

7/30/2015

2 Comments

 
When it came to getting ready to apply for a full-time job, NYU Stern had me covered. During my time at school, I had the opportunity to attend countless resume workshops and had my resume reviewed by multiple professors. I learned the importance of having a dynamic resume during freshman year and I've spent countless hours modifying the content and format of my own resume. I'm hoping this post can help anyone looking for an entry-level actuarial job and give some great tips to enhance resumes to help them stand out.

Format

I've seen TONS of resumes and it's easy to tell how much time someone has spent on their resume by looking at the format. I've seen numerous college graduates use the same format I used to get a job at a movie theater when I was 16 (it took me about 15 minutes to type up my first resume). You should spend as much time on the format of your resume as the content (A LOT more than just 15 minutes). A resume represents you; you want to show you've put time into creating it. The following tips should help create an eye-catching resume that will make HR recruiters pause and give your resume the time it deserves.
Separate Sections.  You should be able to look at your resume and in an instant be able to gather key information (where you went to school, which exams you've passed, past employers, technical skills, etc.). You cannot do this without distinct sections. My favorite way to separate sections (education, actuarial exams, job experience, etc.) is using a horizontal rule.

Spacing.  Feel free to play around with spacing. If you feel like you do not have enough room on your resume (it should be no longer than a page), even after changing the font size to 9 and changing the margins, try to change the spacing between each section. Maybe you want a bigger space between the main sections (work experience, education, etc.) and a smaller space between the other sections (jobs, clubs/activities, etc.).

Bold/Italicize.  Use bolded or italicized text to help break down your resume further and draw attention to specific areas within your resume.

Indentations.  Play around with indentations to help differentiate titles from text. Bullet points for text also helps!

Order.  Order your resume in a way that will help employers find what they are looking for. The order will change throughout your career, but when you are starting off and looking for your first job out of school, I would make sure education is at the top, followed by actuarial exams and work experience.

Consistency.  Everything on your resume should be consistent. If you bold titles in one section, you need to make sure to bold them in another. The same goes for any other formatting changes. It's easy to spot inconsistencies in formatting and it may show an employer you are careless. 

Lastly, I recommend Googling 'resume formats'. Using a cookie cutter template off the internet isn't the greatest idea since other people may have the same thought, but take a look at other resumes to get ideas for what you like and don't like. You may like how one resume separates the main sections, but you may like how another lays out the text under each section. Make your resume your own and build off of what you like from other resumes!

Content

Formatting your resume is the fun part; coming up with what you are going to put in your resume is the hard part. Here are some tips to help you get that call for an interview.
Action Verbs.  Try to begin each bullet of text with an action verb. 

Applicable Skills.  Maybe you have no actuarial (or insurance) experience. If that's the case, think of everything you've done in your past positions and try to shape them into something applicable to actuarial work. Maybe you worked at a fast food restaurant during college. Did you try to improve processes? Did you work well with customers? Anything can be applicable to a resume for an actuarial position, you just may have to dig a little deeper to find those relatable skills. 

Numbers.  If you want to be an actuary and work with numbers the rest of your life, you should try to show that in your resume by being focused on quantitative measurements. Think of everything you've done in your past roles and try to quantify what you can. Maybe you taught classes or tutored students. How many did you teach/tutor? How many sessions?

Keywords.  After doing some research on the actuarial industry, you should have a good idea of what employers are looking for. Cater your resume to common job requirements. Maybe they want someone with great communication skills - try to use keywords that show that. For example, a good keyword may be 'collaboration'. 

Differentiate Yourself.  Everyone applying for these positions most likely majored in math or actuarial science, passed an exam or two and has at least some programming skills. What makes you different? What would make you add value beyond the day to day grind of work? Maybe you're really passionate about animals and volunteer a lot. Add that to your resume! If you don't think it fits, maybe try to make a new section in your resume for volunteer experience. It helps to show you're a human and have interests outside of studying all the time. 

Limit Past Experience.  No need to keep your high school on your resume for your first full-time job. For entry-level, I would take off anything over 5 years old unless there is something that will really 'wow' a prospective employer.

Actuarial Exams.  Make sure to include these on your resume! No need to include the scores, just a pass is fine. They have their own section on my resume, but I think including actuarial exams with relevant skills could also be a great way to present this on a resume. Don't forget the date passed!

Proofread.  Make sure to proofread your resume after making any significant changes. Actuarial work requires precision and accuracy - all it takes is missing a comma or zero to potentially make a big mistake. If a prospective employer notices an error on your resume, no matter how small, it could go in the trash immediately. Have someone else go through your resume, too, to make sure everything makes sense.

The main thing to keep in mind while you're thinking of what to put in your resume is how a prospective employer might react after reading it. If you think they will read it and it won't matter, either take it out or change it to better suit what you are trying to convey. Everything you write in your resume should have a purpose. You shouldn't just add information because you feel like it needs to be there, you should add it because it will help your chances of getting a call for an interview. 
Picture
I hope these tips help! A lot of people have messaged me in the last year asking for resume advice when they aren't getting calls for interviews. Many of these points should be able to fix that problem and get you through the door. Feel free to comment below if you have any questions or any additional points to add! If you'd like me to review your resume, check out www.stephsresumereview.com. 

2 Comments

Preliminary Exam Struggles

7/10/2015

1 Comment

 

The Struggle

I decided sophomore year of college that I would major in Actuarial Science. I had a strong passion for math and figured it would be a great career path. I struggled with P and FM during college and only managed to pass one exam by the time I graduated. I found it extremely difficult to study for actuarial exams when I had a full course load and worked over 20 hours each week. 

It was really discouraging to fail the first exam multiple times. I thought I was stupid. I didn't understand how others in my classes were already passing their second exam when I couldn't even pass the first. Finally, I ended up devoting the entire months of June and July between junior and senior year to study for P and passed.

Looking back now, I don't know how I expected to pass P during the school year. I barely had time to eat, let alone study for an extra exam. There I was thinking I was stupid, when really, I was just stretching myself way too thin. It's easy to realize that now, after the fact.

I ended up passing FM two months after starting full-time and a little over a year after passing P. I could've given up, but I'm happy I didn't.

Study Time

While the material covered on these exams is relatively challenging, chances are, if you are even considering being an actuary, you can learn the material and pass. The issue is time and effort. Memorizing formulas isn't enough to get through these exams. You need to work efficiently on every question and understand how to solve the problem within seconds. That is why doing practice problems AND practice exams is essential. On all of my failed attempts, I put way too much time into reading the material and trying to understand what I read instead of diving into practice problems and learning through applying the formulas. 

Third Time's a Charm

I sat for MFE for the first time in March. I used the Coaching Actuaries' bundle with ASM and ADAPT. I tried to follow the recommended study schedule on their site, but I quickly fell behind. I was also cutting the study time close - only two and a half months of studying. About a month before the exam, I realized there was no way I would be able to finish the material in the manual and still have time for practice exams, so I ended up skimming the last ~10 chapters. I think I took about 15 ADAPT practice exams (my EL was below 3) by the time I sat for the exam and was barely passing them. 

I showed up at the Prometric Testing Center at Penn Plaza about half an hour early. Of course, I forgot the most essential item - my calculator (TI-30XS MultiView - BEST CALCULATOR EVER!!). I was horrified and quickly ran to the Kmart hoping they would have something similar to my calculator. The one they had was close to the TI-30XS, but some of the keys were different and in different places. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I literally had to practice using the calculator a few minutes before the exam. Who says that?! Who PRACTICES using a calculator.

Anyway, I was about 10 minutes into the exam when I needed to use 'ln'. It wasn't listed. It wasn't a button. I frantically searched through my calculator trying to find it. After coming close to another mental breakdown, I found it. Apparently you have to press one button and scroll down to get to it. I had to do that EVERY SINGLE TIME.

I pressed submit with about 13 questions marked and 5 questions I guessed on. Somehow I passed. And just like that, the spell was broken. 
Moral of the story, you're allowed to struggle on the first exams. That doesn't mean you're not good enough to be an actuary. It means you're still learning how to study and prepare for these difficult exams. Part of the process is figuring out how best to study and how to use your study time wisely. If I chose to get through the entire manual before MFE, I wouldn't have passed. Thanks to failed attempts on other exams, I knew to switch my focus from the manual to practice problems to be better prepared for exam day. 
I can't say I love taking exams or love studying, but I can say that passing an actuarial exam is a really great feeling. Best of luck on future exams!
Picture
Picture
Most recent exam struggle: two cats who insist on using my study manuals as beds. 
1 Comment
    Picture


    Stephanie Borowiec is a former Actuarial Analyst. She graduated from New York University's Stern School of Business in 2014 with a degree in
    Actuarial Science and Finance. She hopes this blog will help others in their pursuit of a career in the insurance industry as an actuary and related disciplines. 
    ​​
    For her travel blog, please visit: www.stephanieborowiec.com/blog !

      Subscribe for new blog post alerts!

    Subscribe

    Archives

    August 2019
    March 2018
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    April 2016
    November 2015
    July 2015

    Categories

    All
    Actuarial Job Search
    Actuarial Vs Analytics
    Airport
    Big Data
    Branding
    Business Travel
    Career Advice
    Data Visualizations
    Differentiate Yourself
    Entry Level Actuarial
    Entry-level Actuarial
    EWR
    Exam FM
    Exam MFE
    Exam P
    Exams
    Giveaway
    Hotel
    IDMA
    Insurance Data Management Association
    Insurance Industry
    Job Search
    Mentoring
    Networking
    Performance Reviews
    Personal Experience
    Preliminary Actuarial Exams
    Resume
    Rewards
    TPA
    Travel

    RSS Feed

BLOG


TRAVEL


ACTUARIAL


© 2018 Stephanie Borowiec
*Everything found on this site is based on my own experiences and opinions*

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.