After putting hours of work into creating the "perfect" resume, you hear back from one of your potential employers - they want you to come in for an interview! Congrats! 

At this point, the potential employer likes what they see - if you had no shot, they wouldn't be calling you in for an interview! Now, it's up to you to make a great impression during the interview to land the job. 

While this post is focused on how to stand out in an actuarial interview, the same can go for many other types of interviews, too. Follow the tips in this post in order to go above and beyond so you can have a competitive edge in your interview!

Do not EVER go into an interview without researching the position and company further! Most importantly, you do not want to talk about passing SOA exams when the company you are interviewing with is a property & casualty insurance company! This happens! Don't let it happen to you - make sure you know before going into the interview. 

You should at least know the basics - know what industry the company operates in, lines of business, and other basics. The company website, job posting and a basic google search can give you the information you need about the company.

Do some digging! Can you find any recent news articles featuring the company or the business unit with the job posting? The company website and social media for the company can help you find this relevant information. In both of my full-time positions since graduating, I brought up news articles in the interviews. It's important to do your due diligence and to make sure you can show what you know at the appropriate times.

​For example, if you find an article saying the business unit recently won an award for innovation, don't just blurt it out! Find a way to naturally bring it up in conversation or create a question based around it - "I saw this business unit won an award this last year for innovation regarding XYZ - I would love to hear more on how your team is able to continue innovating and staying competitive in the market." You may also find a new product or service the hiring business unit is offering - leverage that information in your interview to show you are interested in the work the group is currently doing and show you are aware of at least one of the things they are working on. 

Anything on your resume is fair game. Make sure you can speak to anything listed on your resume - you don't want to be caught off guard by a question. At this point, once you're called in for an interview - it's not in your best interest to send a revised resume with information omitted. If it's been a while since submitting your resume and the interview, feel free to send a revised resume with more recent information, but still be prepared to answer to any of the information from the original resume you submitted.

If you have a few years of experience, it's possible you may not remember a lot from something you listed on your resume from your first year. Make sure you are able to put together a few sentences to discuss those points since they won't be as fresh in your mind. 

For your technical skills, take quick crash courses on the basics and applications for the skills. For example, if you list SAS, SQL and R on your resume and you are most familiar with R but have basic experience using SAS and SQL, spend a few hours learning about the basics of SAS and SQL and how they are applied. Find out what the necessary building blocks are to create code and try to find some examples of applications in the insurance industry.

This could be useful for some potential questions you may be asked in an interview and some of your answers. Instead of just saying you know the basics of SQL, you could say you know how to use joins to combine data or pull from multiple databases using the same criteria. Make sure you are familiar with the different types of joins and can elaborate on any of your answers if necessary. If you are familiar with the concepts and can walk through your reasoning on how you would perform a process in any of the programs (VBA, R, SAS, SQL, etc.), this is gold for the interview!

Make sure you know what the job posting is asking for in terms of requirements and the job description. If you are applying to multiple jobs at once, it helps to keep a spreadsheet or another method to keep track of job postings you are applying for. The last thing you want to do is ask the person who called or emailed you to remind you of what position you applied for! 

Going into the interview, you should have an understanding of the skills or experience the hiring manager is looking for, so make sure you know the areas of your resume to highlight to show that you are a qualified candidate.

Perform a full integration between the job posting and your resume. Create a table in Excel or Word and add each point from the job posting on the left and anything that is relevant from your resume on the right. If you do not have an experience that fully correlates with one of the points, find a skill you have that could help you perform that duty. 

Once you've done this, you know what you should focus on from your resume when you are preparing for the interview. You don't want to sound too rehearsed, but there's nothing wrong with saying something along the lines of, "When I saw this job posting, I was really excited to see XYZ in the job description. In my current role, I've not only had the opportunity to work on a similar project/process, but I've been able to refine the process through my knowledge of ABC. I'd be really excited to work through this process on this team and see if there are ways to make it more efficient!". You wouldn't want to do this for every point in the job description, but doing this for a couple of points can show you are really interested in the position and have ideas you can bring to the team to improve workflows.

Don't ever go into an interview without any questions! You also don't want to go in with a limited set of questions that are answered throughout the interview. The questions you ask at the end of an interview are 100% in your control - don't be the person who answers, "No, I think you answered all of the questions I have at the moment." You also don't want to be put on the spot scrambling for questions to ask. 

If you have at least five questions to ask going into an interview, you should be set. There are also tons of articles out there that can help you out if you're stuck. This Actuarial Outpost thread has a couple of good ideas... but there are a few horrible ones mixed in, so just don't be that guy/girl that tries to fit "body bag" into the interview somewhere. This is another good AO thread with slightly less sarcasm (I mean, the second comment in the first thread listed was already sarcastic, so I guess can't get much more sarcastic than that) and more comments. 

For bigger companies, it's pretty easy to find information on company culture from sites like Glassdoor. You can also find one or two people to reach out to on Linkedin to get a more candid view on the company, work, etc. Typically, if you are pleasant when you are reaching out and mindful of their time, people who work at the company will get back to you and be happy to answer your questions and tell you more about the company culture. In some cases, this may be the better route to really find out about the company culture instead of asking your interviewer.

Since you can find out about the company culture elsewhere, use the time for questions to ask thoughtful questions about the department and position. Don't be boring and ask the standard "what does the career path look like for someone who starts in this position" or "what type of skills would make a future candidate successful". Instead, set yourself apart by asking thoughtful questions such as "what are some of the metrics used to evaluate the results of this team in terms of annual and longterm goals" or "how does the work of this team affect the bottom line". Don't be afraid to ask follow up questions, too. You may want to follow up one of the questions by asking whether or not the team is on track to meet their goals and the impact someone coming in to fill this position could have on meeting these goals. If you are confident enough to run with it and the conversation is going well, you may even be able to tie in some of your skills to show you are quick on your feet and you'd be able to work through problems and develop solutions on the job.

This shouldn't come as a surprise - practice is essential to acing an interview! If you are still in university, check to see if you can sign up for a mock interview at your career services center. If you aren't able to practice interviewing with another person, at least make sure you are speaking out loud. You could even record yourself answering questions and see if what you are saying is making sense or if you unknowingly use filler words to break a silence or end a statement. This is even more important if English isn't your first language.

You want to make sure you are getting your points across in a concise manner. Don't ramble, but at the same time, you don't want to leave out important information. You also don't want to practice in a way that will make you sound too rehearsed in an interview. The point of practicing is making sure you are able to speak on all of the points you need to cover without rambling or using filler words.

It's the easiest to ramble when an interview asks the "tell me about yourself question" or "why are you here". The Muse has a short video to help you answer this question in a clear and concise manner. This is a gimme question - I've been asked this question on almost all of my interviews, so make sure you have a solid answer!

This list of actuarial interview questions is a pretty comprehensive list and a great start to practicing potential interview questions. Using these questions, along with the list you made based on the job description and resume, practice answering these questions using the experience and skills that will clearly display the traits the interviewer is looking for. Try to keep each answer to only a few sentences. So for example, if the interviewer were to ask you for a time you went above and beyond, you would want to make sure to use an example that is relatable to a point in the job description. 

With some creativity, you should be able to tie back a lot of your experiences and skills to what the interviewer is looking for in a candidate based on the job description. Practicing out loud will help you refine your answers and help you work through how to display your answers in a way that will make you irresistible to your potential employer!

If you have any experiences you are really passionate about, volunteer work for example, practice how you would broach that subject and how you can relate that to the skills the interviewer is looking for. This is important because in most cases, these extracurriculars are experiences you are passionate about and the passion can come off as enthusiasm while also making you (and even the interviewer) more comfortable. 

Once you land an actuarial role, you're typically set for life, especially if you keep passing exams to become an ASA/ACAS/FSA/FCAS and continue learning and developing your actuarial skills. The actuarial designation, along with a few years of actuarial experience, makes a huge difference - every day, I see multiple roles pop up in my LinkedIn feed looking for actuaries with 5+ years of experience and at least ASA/ACAS.

All you have to do to one day land that coveted role is pass a few exams (I may have a pretty loose definition of 'few') and land an entry-level actuarial role to begin your journey. Easy right?! Not in an oversaturated entry-level actuarial job market! Many recruiters won't work with entry-level candidates for this reason, so it's even more important to make sure you are doing everything you can to stand out from other actuarial candidates. 

The first step toward standing out is having a great resume that is able to showcase your qualifications while also being easy to follow and aesthetically pleasing (if you haven't yet, check out my blog post with some great tips for actuarial resumes!).The second step toward standing out is using your resume to differentiate yourself from other candidates. This is really important since a lot of candidates have similar qualifications!

If you have at least one exam passed, a couple of solid technical skills (definitely excel and then some experience using SAS, SQL, R, or VBA), a decent GPA (3.0+), a well-formatted resume with some work experience (doesn't need to be actuarial) and differentiating experiences, you can get an entry-level actuarial interview. 

Your resume does not need to scream 'MATH' in order to get you an entry-level actuarial interview. In fact, I advise against everything on your resume being math/stats/actuarial related - it may be impressive, but it's boring! Make sure your qualifications are on your resume and then include some of your unique experiences to help showcase other important skills such as communication skills, critical thinking, passion, leadership and teamwork. I'll provide some example experiences that can showcase these skills, but of course, this is not an exhaustive list! 

For education related experiences, it's probably best to keep those under 'Education'. Extracurriculars can probably go into a 'Leadership Experience' section or 'Volunteer Experience' section. If you did an independent project, you might want to add it under 'Education' or 'Skills & Interests'. For some differentiating experiences, try to come up with 2-3 bullets that show how the experience demonstrates that you possess some of the five skills below. There are some interests/hobbies that may be better being grouped with a couple of other interests on one line. For example, Mountain Climbing is an experience that could either be two bullets showing important qualities or part of a list. If you are in a mountain climbing club and travel regularly with others to certain areas for intense climbs, you could incorporate that into two bullets to show a variety of skills:

• Train with team members weekly for bi-monthly rock climbing trips of varying difficulty. (Passion)
• Strategically climb peaks while quickly evaluating the safest path to the top, assisting team members as necessary. (Critical Thinking, Teamwork)

If you enjoy mountain climbing but don't do it often, it should go on an interest line with 3-4 other interests (Interests: Mountain Climbing, Traveling, Photography, Blogging). For the record, I know nothing about mountain climbing. 

If you had two identical resumes, with the only difference being Mountain Climbing Club on one versus Math Club on the other, and could only interview one person, who would you choose? Interviewers are in this position all the time - make it an easy choice for them to choose your resume! 

Having the right communication skills are SO important in an entry-level position, especially if you are applying for a role in a division that works closely with clients or employees in different divisions, such as underwriting or claims. It's important to make sure someone looking at your resume can clearly see you have the communication skills they are looking for. Here are some ways you can differentiate yourself while showing you have this important skill:

• Volunteer for community outreach at your favorite non-profit organization
• Become an events coordinator/secretary for a college organization you are passionate about
• Cold-call to raise money for your college/non-profit organization (this helped my verbal communication skills tremendously!)
• Participate in college case competitions (these will be helpful if you want to go into actuarial consulting) 
• Enroll in a writing/communication elective course or major in a communications-related field
• Start your own blog about something you are passionate about (keep it professional, though!)
• Start your own business (be careful with this, you want to make sure it's not seen as a conflict of interest!)

As an actuary, you will need to be a good problem solver and able to quickly think through solutions or other work-related tasks. It's important to show you are able to think quickly on your feet and pick things up on the fly - there is a lot of on the job learning as an actuary! There are a lot of ways you can show your critical thinking skills outside of the math bubble:

• Study abroad or volunteer abroad (bonus points if you learn a foreign language)
• Play a musical instrument
• Attend Improv/theatre classes
• Blog (specifically if your are blogging about different technical skills)
• Play sports or other physical activities that require you to think on your feet
• Develop your own model to predict game outcomes for fantasy sports (or regular sports)

Leadership comes in all different forms - you can show leadership through a variety of different experiences. Sometimes, leadership can be shown just by pursuing a hobby or activity you are interested in. For example, if you are really passionate about animals and begin volunteering at an animal shelter and then pick up a role where you are posting on social media to help get animals adopted or community outreach, that definitely shows leadership. Here are some other examples:

• You can mentor underclassmen or high school students
• Join the board of a college organization or get involved in committees
• Take on and lead an independent project (kaggle competitions are pretty cool and a good way to gain a better understanding of data science)
• Become a captain of an intramural sports team 
• Lead a volunteer project 

Being able to work well with others on a team is an important skill to have as you enter the job force. Employers want a team player - someone who can work on projects with others and help  out when necessary without any issue. A lot of the activities listed above can also show you are able to work well with others on a team. Here are a few more:

• ​Join a team to compete in a college competition - many colleges have competitions throughout the year across a variety of interests
• If you loved playing a sport in high school, continue playing in college - you could play for the college, intramural or join a local recreational sports team
• If you are part of a board or committee, you can also show you work well on a team, especially if you are working with others to put processes together or create events

A lot of students make the mistake of thinking that everything they do in college should reflect that they want to be an actuary - math related major, math related clubs, math related work experience, etc. That's not true at all! Remember, there's more to work than just work - there are going to be happy hours where you need to interact with other human beings, so if you have interests you pursue outside of the realm of math, it will make you much more interesting to your fellow coworkers and make for great relationships with those you work with. This list is truly endless, but here are some ideas to consider:

• Don't be afraid to pursue a major outside of math/actuarial science if you have another subject you are passionate about (passing the first couple of actuarial exams will prove you are good at math) or double major in a math related course and a non-math related course
• Volunteer/fundraise for a cause you are passionate about
• Become involved and active in an organization regularly

Anything you do outside of studying for exams and math-related classes/organizations/work can show you have passions and interests outside of your career which will help differentiate you from other candidates. This will also have a great impact during your interview since you will be able to spend a few minutes talking about something you do that you are really passionate about!

I recently came across John Rohn's quote, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” It's an interesting quote, bound to make you think about your closest friends or colleagues, and many people seem to have their thoughts on whether or not that quote is actually true.

How does this quote relate to success and mentoring? What if the quote was changed to "Your success is the average of the success of your five most valuable mentors." Alright, you're probably rolling your eyes at this revised quote. But what if this new quote was true? Do you have five mentors? Do you think your success can be tied to them? Or do you think your success is completely independent of others?

Success can be defined differently for everyone and each individual has their own path to success. Very few paths are the same. Based on personal experience, I believe every aspiring actuary should have at least five mentors with the traits below. If you're scoffing at five, here's my definition of mentorship (thanks wikipedia!):  

​Surround yourself with the five ideal mentors below and you will be well on your way toward a successful (actuarial) career!

By committing yourself to an actuarial career, you are sentencing yourself to years of studying. Sure, you can go at it alone (I struggled with Exam P/1 because I didn't bother reaching out to anyone for advice), but why choose to do that when there are so many people who have gotten through these exams? Find someone who is a couple of exams ahead of you and passing them at a quick pace. Ask them how they are doing it. Do they have a specific study schedule they stick to? Do they have a specific order of studying? Do they have any tips and tricks for the exam you're about to start studying for? 

Build connections with those ahead of you in the exams and reach out to them every so often. Congratulate them when they pass an exam. Ask them what the exam was like and their recommendations. Usually, people are so happy when they pass exams that they would love to share any information they can. 

Having this type of mentor throughout your exam progress is important - especially when you feel like you are up against a roadblock. If you've failed an exam multiple times, reach out to your mentor and let them know. Let them know how you are studying and if they have any suggestions. If they do provide advice or thoughts, make sure you thank them once you pass the exam. It's a great feeling on both sides - especially when someone knows their advice helped someone else through a problem!

Starting a new job is overwhelming. You're trying to get used to a new environment and new people while also juggling your work. It is so important to develop a good relationship with someone more senior on the team, especially if they are known for their good work, early on. Chances are, you are going to have someone walking you through certain projects or reviewing your work. Don't be afraid to let that relationship morph into something more than just project walk-throughs or reviews. 

Ask that person if they want to grab coffee. Show your interest in their work and what they've accomplished. Find out what they enjoy most about the work they do and ask how they got to where they are. Do they have any tools they can provide you to get you up to speed with some work? Do they have any time-saving tips or tricks?

When I first started working, I thought I was pretty good at excel. When I would go over to a co-worker's desk, I was amazed at how fast he was able to navigate through excel workbooks and his use of quick formulas and shortcuts to speed up processes. I would make him slow down and walk me through the steps he would go through so I could use those same shortcuts. I was able to save hours of work just based on this new knowledge. 

So many times, people are too afraid or unwilling to reach out and ask others how to do things if they are not directly working with that person on a project. This is why it's important to develop relationships with senior staff early on so these conversations can occur naturally as you take on more projects. In turn, you will become more knowledgeable and more efficient, leading to success!

The best managers are those who can be both a manager and a mentor. Your manager has the ability to distribute and assign projects - both the good projects and not so good projects. Having an open channel of communication with your manager can help you better understand your strengths and areas for improvement and in turn give your manager an idea of the types of projects you enjoy. 

If you're unhappy with the majority of the work you are doing and wish you were working on more of the projects others on your team are working on, you need to be able to have that conversation with your manager. If you are afraid or feel that you may not be able to have that discussion, this should be a red flag. Your manager is vital to your success and if you are not happy with most of the work you are doing, it could quickly lead to burnout and detract from your success. 

There are a lot of great managers that can quickly assess your strengths after working on a few projects and continue to give you increasingly difficult projects that will be both challenging and rewarding, helping you continue to grow and be successful. These managers can pinpoint your strengths and the work you enjoy doing without even having a discussion about it. You'll find throughout your career, you will experience different types of managers - all of which could be valuable mentors - but some may need more guidance on your strengths and what you enjoy. 

In many cases, your manager will not be a mindreader. If you want feedback on your work and areas needing improvement, you will need to ask. If you want to be successful, this shouldn't wait until your annual performance review - this discussion should happen on a regular basis. If you don't like the projects you are currently working on, ask your manager what areas you need to improve on in order to be staffed on the projects that interest you. 

These discussions may feel unnatural and uncomfortable at first, but having them can make a huge difference in both your relationship with your manager and your work performance - in some cases, bringing your performance from meets expectations to exceeds expectations!

There are so many great companies for actuaries out there - both insurance companies and non-insurance companies. In college, you may have your heart set on getting a job at a specific company, but fall short of receiving an offer. You get an offer at another company, but you would still love to work at your dream company. 

Linkedin connections are overlooked mentors. The majority of messages I've received on Linkedin have mainly revolved around an open position at my company or asking if there is an open position. A lot of times, I will end up ignoring these messages because I'm busy or I don't feel comfortable referring someone I don't know. However, the messages I do reply to are those asking for advice or asking about my past experiences. 

If you find a couple of connections at your dream company whose backgrounds you are genuinely interested in, reach out to them. They might be a level ahead of you with a couple more exams passed. Maybe they also went to your alma mater and were a couple of years ahead. Find some common ground and introduce yourself.

Form a relationship where you are connecting to chat or message every month or every other month. Make sure to have a few questions to create a dialogue each time you reach out. Find out about the types of projects they are working on, the types of skills they need to complete the projects, or any growth areas in their division. Let them know a little about yourself and what you are working on. You can say you would love to work at their company, but don't flat out ask them to refer you or direct your to an HR contact until you've developed a solid relationship.

Over time, as your relationship grows, this informal mentor would be able to submit you as a quality referral to their company without feeling like they know nothing about you. This is way better than cold emailing someone about a job because not only could regular contact with this person lead to a referral, but they could also give you solid advice that could help you advance your career in other ways, too. 

Some colleges may have actuarial organizations with mentorship opportunities . If you're part of an actuarial organization without a mentorship program - create one! College is the best time to start having these meaningful connections to get ahead of the game and become more informed on the exam process and career in general. Mentoring doesn't have to stop at graduation!

Stay connected with some of the top performers from your actuarial program after graduating - they can give you a lot of great work tips and give you an idea of what to expect as you start your career. If you are still in the same city after graduation, keep in contact with them and try to meet up a couple times a year. Share your experiences with each other. Ask them if they have any advice on passing exams. Ask them about the work they do. 

In some cases, you may feel more comfortable reaching out to someone who you knew in college when you have any serious issues or self doubts. Those you graduated with most likely know how hard you worked to get where you are and could be the best at providing the most relevant wisdom or guidance at a personal level.
​

Landing an actuarial position isn't easy, especially when actuary has been a top ranked job for years. Some may argue it's more difficult than passing the exams! In my opinion, networking and reaching out to professionals is important no matter what level you are at in your career, but it's especially important when you are beginning your career. You never know - networking may lead to an interview, or even better, a job!

Follow the steps below to help build your network and get noticed in the actuarial crowd!

Prior to stepping up your networking game, make sure your resume is top notch! If you are looking for an entry level actuarial position, your resume should not be more than a page. There shouldn't be any typos and your resume should be consistent. For some tips on formatting and content, check out Resume Advice (for aspiring actuaries). Even if you're not actively looking for a position, it never hurts to have an updated resume ready in case someone is interested in your background!

LinkedIn is perfect for showcasing your skills and experience! Use your resume to help get your LinkedIn profile started and then expand upon your experience whenever you can. Unlike your resume, you're not limited by space and you should use LinkedIn to really articulate what you've done in past roles or in college. If you were the president of a club, add it to your LinkedIn and describe your impact on that organization. Over time, your resume will change as you decide to remove older items to make space for more relevant experience. You don't need to do that for your LinkedIn - you can always keep expanding on your experience and achievements! 

If you have a few sentences summarizing your experience and what you can offer in the summary section, along with a few bullets for each position you've held, you're off to a great start. There are tons of recruiters who use LinkedIn daily to find potential candidates to interview - it starts with having an all-star LinkedIn profile!

There are a lot of different ways to network, so I will break this section into different parts from least stressful to most stressful (in my opinion). 

Once you've worked on building your network, try to share an article or insight at least once a week through LinkedIn. Sign up for alerts from Insurance Journal or other related sites so you are keeping up with industry news. Don't just share a post or article - try to add a sentence or two on why you are sharing it. What compelled you to repost? Is it something you're interested in learning more about? You never know who will see these posts - one post might catch the attention of a hiring manager looking for someone with specific interests and skillsets. Even if posting articles doesn't get you a job, it might lead to discussions with experienced professionals, helping to build meaningful connections in the industry. 

Even though LinkedIn is definitely the best network for professional networking, you never know who you might find through other social media platforms. Look up common hashtags, such as #actuarialscience, #actuarialexams, and #actuarylife and see who's posting with these hashtags. If you share any interests based on their posts, send them a message to find out more about what they do and what they're interested in. It could be as easy as asking what exam they are currently studying for! 

Prior to connecting with recruiters on LinkedIn, make sure you are sharing your job interests with recruiters. This will let recruiters know you are open to positions and let them know you are interested in receiving messages regarding new job opportunities. Once you've shared your interests, begin searching for recruiters. These can be both actuarial recruiters at recruiting agencies or HR recruiters for specific companies. Usually, recruiters are happy to connect. Prior to sending a message to a HR recruiter - check to see if there are any open positions at that company.  Use that information, or information on why you may be interested in that company, to send a short, personalized message expressing interest and seeing if it would be possible to set up a time to speak about the position. Do NOT use a generic email for every recruiter. You are far more likely to get a response if the person on the other end sees that you put some thought into your message.

If you find yourself in a position where you need to start sending out emails to professionals, make sure you are sending a personalized message rather than a generic message that could've been sent to anyone. The message doesn't need to be long - in fact some professionals probably prefer shorter emails. Find some common ground, show your interest in their work and set up a time to speak further about what they do or see if they would be interested in answering questions. It's possible the person you are reaching out to may have no control over hiring, but they could put in a good word for you if you have a good discussion. 

Prior to hitting send, review your email/message. Make sure the name is correct. A few weeks ago, I received a message through LinkedIn addressed to the wrong person. Seconds later, the same message with the name changed. That's another reason why you shouldn't use a generic copy/paste email when cold emailing!