The "Lining up jobs" Thread, 2007

[skeetshooter]

I've passed Exam P and Exam FM and I'll be starting with a somewhat large actuarial consulting firm in Chicago in June. I interned last summer with Mercer, probably the largest act. consulting firm, got some good experience there. Anyone who has any questions let me know (note: if you're coming out of school with only one exam I wouldn't hold your breath on still getting a job by summer, most summer starts already interviewed...there's a few positions that always come open, but not so many for entry-level.)

Omaha,
Why would you want to go from management consulting to actuarial work? As long as you're talking about a legit MC firm such as McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Mercer, IBM, Deloitte, Accenture, etc. you aren't going to want to move into Actuarial from here..you can get into top B-school and go anywhere you want. With the 4.0(unless your school sucks) you should get interviews here(well, not if you're a senior..they're all already done hiring. I'm pretty sure that if you didn't know this by now, though, you aren't a very serious candidate.)

However the actuarial consulting areas are much more defined and less BS oriented, i'm going into Health and Benefits, which should be a great career. You'll have a lot of options later, but the thing is, exam-passing is what keeps the $ raises coming.

kbinder--i agree with your statement. no reason for math grad school unless you have a defined reason.

TFA is an absolutely horrible idea. The program is designed so when you, the high-achieving student, get your high-achieving paycheck later in life; you will want to help out the public school systems. Also, imagine if a TFA alum becomes a politician..they will change the system. This is what the program is for: NOT for helping the individual schools out, they are way too underfunded for that.

[Thremp]

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Math grad school here I come?

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what do you plan on doing with the math degree?

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Getting a good finance job.

[kbinder]

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Math grad school here I come?

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what do you plan on doing with the math degree?

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Getting a good finance job.

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heh, my plans exactly. unfortunately, a general master's program in math isn't going to train you to do cool stuff with finance (unless it's a specialized program), but companies will still hire you because they value your thinking skills.

[Thremp]

kbinder,

Yeah, that stuff doesn't matter. Your quant skillz do.

[T50_Omaha8]

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Math grad school here I come?

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what do you plan on doing with the math degree?

[/ QUOTE ]

Getting a good finance job.

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Quite possibly same here. I really like math finance--I've studied it independently, although I can't derive black-scholes (sp) or anything. And I wasn't really being too serious about math grad school anyways--it's just want I might like to do.

skeetshooter--you think someone from UGA actually has a shot at McKinsey, etc? I haven't even gotten that much interest from lower-level consulting companies. I like math and probability a lot--I post in the probability forum all the time--and I can see the actual value actuaries have to society. Management consultants? Not so much...

I guess it's a moot point since I haven't interviewed for the top-tier or submitted a resume or anything. I kind of took the hint when they didn't make any sort of recruitment effort at my school whatsoever--not even an online resume drop.

[Thremp]

T50,

Almost none.

[T50_Omaha8]

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T50,

Almost none.

[/ QUOTE ]None what?

[Thremp]

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T50,

Almost none.

[/ QUOTE ]None what?

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Chance to get a big time consulting job.

[skeetshooter]

agreed. if they don't interview on your campus, the chances are very slim. i'd have thought a few mid-level firms would interview there, but originally i thought you had a 4.0 in math, which is another beast entirely. econ at a state school just isn't THAT tough to where that can make you competitive with those who went to tougher schools.
that said, do any actuarial consulting firms interview there? I know Georgia State has a large actuarial program that feeds into a lot of the Atlanta offices, so you might want to check into some of their career fairs and so on. That said, the earliest you could get an act. consulting job would probably be sept/oct...you'd have to pass P in May, and then you'd have a shot.

Note that some actuaries are not good personality-wise, and this leaves some room for people who are "not good at interviews" to get jobs. I'd say I am pretty good at interviewing, and several people I interviewed with(meaning kids going for the same jobs, they bring in 5 per interview day) were very awkward, however if you can work behind the computers there's a place for you.

Without exams passed, it's hard to tell if you can actually do this though.

The great thing about actuarial consulting is exams can make up for a low GPA or lower school attended.(I had a very low GPA, but go to a very hard school that isn't quite "nationally" known)

[T50_Omaha8]

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do any actuarial consulting firms interview there?

[/ QUOTE ] Not to my knowledge. I had kind of put all my chips into some sort of management consulting position. But having a few months off before finding something to do isn't the end of the world. I just feel kind of let down by all the [censored] you hear in high school/college about how you have plenty of time to decide what to do and it doesn't really matter, you should just do what you want right now, etc. I [censored] did that and now it's biting me in the ass. I really wish I had just gone and been a math/finance double major.

I will definitely sign up/study for the first couple actuarial exams and try to get a job for the fall.

And here's an opportunity I've been loath to take up so far: my dad is president of a very small trnasportation engineering consultancy. I suspect the reason he wants me to do management consulting is so I can get an MBA and eventually take over some day. The vice president (other principal) seems to really want me to work for them now. I've always kind of wanted to get off on my own though, and I feel like a privileged [censored] for taking up something like this. (note that I DO know the industry extemely well, and I have done very well working for them in the past.) I'm pretty sure that's why my dad doesn't want me to specialize in some business operation (actuary, finance etc).

That opportunity is looking more appealing by the day.