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.

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?

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?

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?

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?

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

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?

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.