For those of you pursuing an actuarial career, how much do you actually know about the line of work you are hoping to join? Sure, you know the basics, but if you were pressed for specifics how would you respond?
Before I was hired for my first actuary job, I knew little about the day-to-day work of an actuary. I had read many articles and forum posts about the career, but my knowledge was still limited. In hindsight, had I been more informed prior to my interviews, I would have performed much better.
The solution to this issue is quick, free, and so obvious that you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it before: talk to a real actuary.
OK, so maybe you have a few actuary contacts. You’ve already talked to them about what they do, but chances are it was surface level conversation about the profession. The trick is that you need to talk to someone in the same role as the one for which you are interviewing, and you need to get very, very specific.
If you have an interview lined up or are otherwise being considered for a specific role, then act now.
Step one is to look for the right actuary. You want an actuary in the same industry as the position you are interviewing for. So if you are interviewing for a P&C job, you’d better talk to a P&C actuary. Next, try to find someone in a role as close as possible to the one you are considering. If it is a non-traditional role such as an ERM position, take care to align the objectives, because roles can sometimes vary widely outside of the typical actuarial positions.
Step two is to contact the actuary. If you have contacts in the industry already, great! Politely ask if you could be put in touch with their colleague in the role that you identified in step one. Say that you would just like ten minutes of their time to better understand what they do. This might be intimidating to ask for, but remember that most people are willing to help and actually will enjoy being sought out for their “expertise.” If you have no contacts in the industry, see my post on how to cold-email actuaries.
Step three is to follow up. Once you get a response from an actuary that you cold-emailed, you can follow-up. Mention that you have an interview with another firm coming up and you were hoping to speak to an actuary doing similar work to better understand the concepts. If that doesn’t work, you probably haven’t tried hard enough; send out more cold e-mails. Another alternative is to ask a recruiter to put you in touch with the appropriate actuary. Recruiters are usually happy to help, since any contact with future actuaries is essentially free advertising for their firm.
Step four is to do your research. You don’t want to waste this person’s time, so start thinking of all of the detailed questions you have about the position and write them down. Use this simply as a guideline since, during the conversation, you will want to go with the flow of the speaker and try to dig deeper into areas you are unfamiliar with.
Step five is to make the call. When you have the actuary on the phone, introduce yourself very briefly and thank them for their time. Assure them you will keep this short, and then dive in with your first question. Try to listen for challenges or parts of the job you don’t understand well, and dig deeper. Don’t be afraid to get technical because it will help you identify your weaknesses. For example, if the actuary says, “I built a model that does X,” don’t just say “I see,” and move on. Instead, ask them how they went about building the model. What programs did they use? How did they learn to do that? What are the mathematical assumptions of the model? The questions are really endless, but you can’t be afraid to ask them. If 15 or 20 minutes go by and you are still talking, politely cut the conversation off. Thank them again and then ask if you can contact them later if you have any follow-up questions. Now you have established a helpful relationship with a real actuary.
In just 20 minutes, you will learn more about the profession than you could from reading 20 articles or threads on Actuarial Outpost. You are armed with information for your future interview and you will be better equipped to ask insightful questions when discussing the work with your interviewer.
Did you find this post useful? Would you like to discuss any of these ideas in more detail? Don’t hesitate to reach out at actuarialplaybook@gmail.com or leave a comment on this post. I encourage you to share your opinion so we can continue to cater the content of the posts to our readers.
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Before I was hired for my first actuary job, I knew little about the day-to-day work of an actuary. I had read many articles and forum posts about the career, but my knowledge was still limited. In hindsight, had I been more informed prior to my interviews, I would have performed much better.
The solution to this issue is quick, free, and so obvious that you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it before: talk to a real actuary.
OK, so maybe you have a few actuary contacts. You’ve already talked to them about what they do, but chances are it was surface level conversation about the profession. The trick is that you need to talk to someone in the same role as the one for which you are interviewing, and you need to get very, very specific.
If you have an interview lined up or are otherwise being considered for a specific role, then act now.
Step one is to look for the right actuary. You want an actuary in the same industry as the position you are interviewing for. So if you are interviewing for a P&C job, you’d better talk to a P&C actuary. Next, try to find someone in a role as close as possible to the one you are considering. If it is a non-traditional role such as an ERM position, take care to align the objectives, because roles can sometimes vary widely outside of the typical actuarial positions.
Step two is to contact the actuary. If you have contacts in the industry already, great! Politely ask if you could be put in touch with their colleague in the role that you identified in step one. Say that you would just like ten minutes of their time to better understand what they do. This might be intimidating to ask for, but remember that most people are willing to help and actually will enjoy being sought out for their “expertise.” If you have no contacts in the industry, see my post on how to cold-email actuaries.
Step three is to follow up. Once you get a response from an actuary that you cold-emailed, you can follow-up. Mention that you have an interview with another firm coming up and you were hoping to speak to an actuary doing similar work to better understand the concepts. If that doesn’t work, you probably haven’t tried hard enough; send out more cold e-mails. Another alternative is to ask a recruiter to put you in touch with the appropriate actuary. Recruiters are usually happy to help, since any contact with future actuaries is essentially free advertising for their firm.
Step four is to do your research. You don’t want to waste this person’s time, so start thinking of all of the detailed questions you have about the position and write them down. Use this simply as a guideline since, during the conversation, you will want to go with the flow of the speaker and try to dig deeper into areas you are unfamiliar with.
Step five is to make the call. When you have the actuary on the phone, introduce yourself very briefly and thank them for their time. Assure them you will keep this short, and then dive in with your first question. Try to listen for challenges or parts of the job you don’t understand well, and dig deeper. Don’t be afraid to get technical because it will help you identify your weaknesses. For example, if the actuary says, “I built a model that does X,” don’t just say “I see,” and move on. Instead, ask them how they went about building the model. What programs did they use? How did they learn to do that? What are the mathematical assumptions of the model? The questions are really endless, but you can’t be afraid to ask them. If 15 or 20 minutes go by and you are still talking, politely cut the conversation off. Thank them again and then ask if you can contact them later if you have any follow-up questions. Now you have established a helpful relationship with a real actuary.
In just 20 minutes, you will learn more about the profession than you could from reading 20 articles or threads on Actuarial Outpost. You are armed with information for your future interview and you will be better equipped to ask insightful questions when discussing the work with your interviewer.
Did you find this post useful? Would you like to discuss any of these ideas in more detail? Don’t hesitate to reach out at actuarialplaybook@gmail.com or leave a comment on this post. I encourage you to share your opinion so we can continue to cater the content of the posts to our readers.
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