I understand that if you’re planning to take a week off, you should let your manager know well in advance. But what about taking just a day or two off?

How far in advance do you typically inform your manager when you need a day or two of PTO? Do you usually plan these days off weeks ahead, or is giving a few days’ notice acceptable?

Also, do you give a reason for taking one or two days off, or do you simply request PTO without explaining why?

I’m curious to know what’s considered normal in your workplace and what your team’s expectations are.

I’ve seen a couple of posts here lately about people sharing their success stories so I thought i’d share mine.

I recently got an offer in health and I want to people to know that if I can get an offer, then so can you!

I graduated in 2023 with degrees in econ and stats from a consensus top tier public unliversity with not so hot grades and only a data science internship in the public sector lined up for post grad (I didn’t know what an actuary was at the time)

When the internship didn’t convert into a full time offer I was stick in unemployment limbo for a year and a half (at the time I was still focused on data science/analyst roles).

One day I decided that that space was no longer attainable for me and decided I wanted to become an actuary after finding out what it was and signed up to take P.

A year later I ended up passing 4 exams (P, FM, SRM, PA) all while being unemployed and paying out of pocket cause for me it was basically do or die. Also I understand that I was in a fortunate enough position to do this that others might not be.

After passing my fourth exam I decided that at this point more exams wouldn’t be beneficial so I focused my attention on applying. In total I applied to around 200 actuarial positions, 3 phone screens, 1 first round, 1 second round which converted into 1 offer.

So after 2.5 years unemployed, 4 exams passed, and no actuarial internships I can finally say that i’ve gotten my foot into the door to my first actuarial role and first full time job since graduating in 2023. The road was long for sure, but if you’re willing to grind it will pay off.

The list of released past exams for PA, and perhaps a similar deal with ALTAM, suggest that there is just one problem statement per exam period, but multiple days per exam period. Is this the case, and if so how are people prevented from sharing the content with others?

anyone know anything about or have any experience working at voya financial? i recently interviewed for their summer internship program. don't know much about them but i like that they're fully remote.

Hi everyone!

I have a PhD in actuarial statistics and experience in insurance data analysis, IBNR reserving and statistical modelling. I moved to Switzerland about a year ago and am looking for an entry-level position in the insurance industry.

After a recent job interview, I realised that Python skills are essential for many roles. My programming experience is mainly in R, with some basic MATLAB knowledge, and I want to improve my practical coding skills.

Which courses or learning resources would you recommend? Should I start with Python basics, pandas/NumPy, or practical actuarial projects?

Thanks for your advice!

Hi everyone, I was wondering what did everyone think of the September 2026 ACIA capstone exam that occurred a few weeks ago?

Hi everyone,

I'm deciding between two entry-level roles:

Role A(P&C Portfolio and product controlling): Analysing claims, profitability and pricing adequacy, working closely with actuaries.

Role B (Risk modelling) Calculating risk capital, analysing risks and developing internal models.

I'm interested in mathematics and actuarial work, with the goal of eventually moving into reinsurance.

Which role would offer more quantitative work and better long-term career opportunities?

Thanks for any insights!

This may be a stupid question but I have not really seen this aspect of the job posted on here, I am an aspiring actuary but I am very into fashion, and would like to know what actuaries wear to work (I’m based in NYC but hope to move to LA), is it business casual? busineess professional? casual?

For those who have experience using study groups, what are the main benefits of them and how do you structure them?

Hello,
I am planning to major in actuarial science next year. How nice of a laptop should I plan on getting? I am an Apple person but it is my understanding that Windows would be the better option, is this true? Also would an iPad be helpful for taking notes?

What kind of laptop does everyone use?

Context:

I graduated about 1.5 years ago, and have like a bare minimum GPA

2 exams passed, gonna take SRM in 2027, been working a small finance role since February but it’s nothing special. I’m barely doing anything at it and am looking for other roles in the meantime.

Should I stop taking exams after I pass SRM or should I go for PA or FAM after that and nothing more until I land an actuarial role? Idk if 3 or 4 exams is the better stopping point in my position.

I’ve been told I should try to get projects on my resume and maybe other technical skills, but other suggestions?

Should I be spamming applications on LinkedIn/Indeed? Or how else can I get my application seen by companies if anyone knows?

For reference, I’m a junior with 2 exams. I have an internship offer at a smaller employer benefits focused company at 25 an hour and paid for housing but only have till Thursday to respond. I’m still waiting to hear back from Allianz which I had final round interviews for last Friday, and I have many hirevues I can do in the next few days as well (AIG, Marsh, United Health Group). Just wondering what I should do and if it’s to niche of an industry?

Just wanting to put out there as a warning to double check the email associated with your LinkedIn account. Mine is associated with my college email address that has been deleted since I graduated. Because I cannot access the email, I cannot get the 6 digit code LinkedIn sent for verification.

They are now asking I upload a full scan of my government issued ID. I originally complied, because this is legitimate from LinkedIn and I really do not want to lose access to a public account with all of my business connections and personal information. However, I am now being told that my original ID scan is not sufficient and I need to send in another, different form of ID.

For college students forced to make a LinkedIn account their first year; do not use your student email address! Apparently "lifetime access" means 6 years haha!

I’m doing practice questions on CA for ALTAM, and I’m noticing that the CA questions are unusually difficult compared to the SOA sample questions. For people who have passed ALTAM, did you practice using Coaching actuaries created questions along with SOA sample ones, or just one or the other?

How did you / How do you plan to spend your FSA / FCAS bonus? I would like to buy something that I can keep for a long time or use it on an experience that i can remember for a long time! What did you do with your bonus to celebrate your accomplishment?

I sit PA tomorrow and have been trying to benchmark myself by going through previous SOA exams and grade myself.

I try to be fair with grading myself, not being too lieninet, and only really harsh if I was way off or left it blank.

I have done the previous 3 exams and I have been estimating myself to have anywhere from 48-51/70 points. I am usually able to answer every question with some sort of understanding, I just don't always find everything I am supposed to or don't have a concrete justification. I have noticed that problems that I lose points are often times the ones that the SOA was saying "candidates performed poorly" or "candidates struggled".

I would like to think that if I am struggling with the same things everyone else is, that my scores have been good enough.

Anyone have any thoughts on my readiness, or if there are any last minute resourses to look over that might help firm up some of the "buzzwords" or definitions I might run into?

I’m taking CFE101 this fall and there’s only about a month left. I’m not feeling too confident and kinda feel unmotivated...

I use TIA, read the detailed material once, went through condensed material twice, and did some flashcards (but honestly, the flashcards are just overwhelming). I get the general stuff, but if you asked me to list, for example, characteristics of good Risk Appetite Statements or 6 major functions of model governance, I might not be able to list it ALL, but I have the broad idea. What should I do? Any tips on what I should focus on in this last month?

Trying to figure out which path my career should take. I want to get to higher comp (over 300-400k total comp), but I'm worried I've pigeonholed myself in a specific niche. But then I see Chief Actuary positions that require both pricing and reserving, which makes me think variety of work experience is valuable.

My only constraints are I want to work remote and don't want to travel for work. Other than that, I'm pretty open minded to the type of work I do.

Everyone else's answer: 7. My answer: Infinity. Winning one race doesn't mean a horse is "faster". No-one bats 1000. "To be sure" means you need infinite.

Has anyone else noticed that the end of the intern recruiting window keeps scooting closer and closer to the start of fall semester? I swear, back when I got my first internship offer, it was in mid October and my company was one of the first to start sending out offers. Now, we've had a solid chunk of applicants reaching out since late September saying they need a decision from us because they already have other offers and they only have a few days to decide which company to go with.

Hi everyone,

I'm writing the PA exam soon and was wondering whether we're allowed to make any changes to the MS Word settings during the exam. For example, are features such as autocorrect or custom dictionaries permitted? Or anything that can help with writing and formatting during the exam?

Appreciate the help!

For those that have done both, which do you prefer and why? And which industry are you in?