The actuarial profession has become extremely competitive. I know many impressive candidates who are struggling to land an entry level role or their dream job. Over the course of my career, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing many aspiring actuaries and hiring my own team. I hope this blog helps you identify how to effectively highlight your skills and knowledge so that you can land that job you’re hoping for!
Format
Let’s start with the basics. The format of your resume matters almost as much as the content. It should be extremely easy for recruiters to skim through to find the information they’re looking for. The more simple and clean, the better.
You should assume that someone will spend less than 30 seconds reviewing your resume. What do you want to stand out? It’s critical that you are CONCISE and list components in order of relevance to the job.
Here is a list of the sections I’d recommend in priority order:
- Personal and Contact Info
- Exams and/or Credentials
- Relevant Work Experience
- Technical Skills
- Education
- Extracurriculars
We’ll dive into the details of each next. Then, I’ll wrap up by sharing more general tips and tricks to increase your chances of getting an interview!
Personal and Contact Info
You want to make it as easy as possible for a recruiter or hiring manager to contact you for next steps. I would suggest including the following at the top of your resume:
- First and Last Name
- Email address
- Phone number
- LinkedIn profile link
- Permanent address (City, State is likely sufficient)
- I wouldn’t consider this essential, but it can be helpful as some roles require citizenship and/or permanent residence in certain locations
Exams and/or Credentials
If you have actuarial or insurance designations, make sure to include all of them. For candidates taking exams, be sure to include:
- A list of exams you’ve passed and when you cleared them
- Any exams you plan to take in the near future and when you will sit for them
- Especially for those early in your career, this is really helpful to show you are serious about the profession and committed to making progress with exams!
If you received a score of 9 or 10 on any of the exams, I’d consider adding that! Most recruiters will be focused on the number of exams you’ve passed. However, it is VERY impressive if you received these scores or if you’ve passed all exams on a first attempt, so that’s something to consider including as it would help you stand out in a good way!
Relevant Work Experience
There’s SO MUCH that could be included here! If you’ve had an actuarial internship or previous actuarial role, you’ll definitely want to include those. However, most entry level candidates don’t yet have those experiences so get creative!
What have you done that shows you have the following skills or knowledge?
- Problem solving
- Attention to detail
- Teamwork
- Leadership
- Communication
- Insurance and financial services knowledge
This could include full or part time work, internships, volunteer work, job shadows, training programs and more! Anything pertaining to the following could be relevant to the job:
- Actuarial
- Data Science
- Computer Programming
- Insurance and Financial Services
- Math Tutoring or Teaching
- And much more!
For all relevant work experience you list, make sure to include dates and locations in addition to a description of what you did and how you brought value in the role.
Focusing on the results you achieved and providing specific metrics is critical! I’ll share more on this down in the general tips & tricks section.
Technical Skills
Technical skills are one of the most important elements of an actuarial resume. Nearly all jobs will require experience with programming languages, like R, Python and/or SQL/VBA. However, if you’ve never worked with these, there’s still plenty you could include under this section.
Despite the growth in popularity of open source software, it’s often still essential for actuaries to be very comfortable working in Excel. If you’ve used SQL/VBA or functions in Excel to automate a process, be sure to include that! Make sure to detail specific results, such as time to complete a task before and after automation.
If you’ve learned a coding language during school, that could be beneficial to include as well. You may not use the exact language in the role you’re applying for, but aptitude with one shows you likely have the ability to learn another.
Self study is also relevant. Especially if you’re applying for an internship or your first full time job, you likely haven’t had the opportunity to learn a coding language on the job. Fortunately, there are plenty of free resources to learn coding languages on your own! If you’ve completed a bootcamp or taken part in any self study, these are great to add.
Finally, if you have experience with building predictive models, be sure to detail the types you’ve worked with and what you’ve built the models for (for example, line of business, target variable, etc.) If you’ve built models outside of work, such as for a Kaggle competition, cite those and your results as well.
Education
Start with the basics:
- College or University
- Graduation date
- Major and minors
- GPA
Then, I would add the following (if applicable):
- Scholarships and Awards
- Include a brief description of how this was earned or why it is an impressive accomplishment
- Relevant coursework
- If you are majoring in actuarial science, you can definitely skip this. However, if you chose a different focus, it could be helpful to list specific classes you’ve taken that would be useful for the job you’re applying for.
Extracurriculars
This is a catch all section for anything you’ve done or actively participate in that demonstrate the following:
Soft skills needed as an actuary (ie. Leadership, Communication, Teamwork)
Examples could include:
- Led school project
- TedTalk speaker
- Toastmasters Club
- Captain of sports team
- School committees, projects, webinars or conferences you’ve attended
Commitment to the Actuarial Profession
Examples could include:
- Actuarial Club participation
- Gamma Iota Sigma member
- Volunteer opportunities with the Society of Actuaries, Casualty Actuarial Society, American Academy of Actuaries or other industry association
- Training or personal development programs
- Actuarial Accelerator Community (ACC) by Brea from Etched Actuarial
- CAS Student Central Summer Program
You are a well rounded individual capable of juggling many competing priorities
Examples could include:
- Student athlete
- Side hustles or passion projects
- Part time jobs in addition to school
- Non-actuarial volunteer work
Be prepared to speak about these examples during interviews! These can be great discussion starters and help the hiring manager gauge cultural fit with the company.
General Tips
Proofread
Please, please, please… Proofread your resume. In fact, I’d advise having a friend or family member proofread it too.
You don’t want to invest all this time into creating a stand out resume only to be dismissed because you are perceived as unprofessional. Attention to detail is CRITICAL for success as an actuary. Demonstrate this as a strength by submitting a resume free of spelling and grammatical errors.
Customize your Resume
Many companies have applicant tracking systems that sort, scan and rank applications by looking for key words in a resume. Because of this, it is essential to adapt your resume to align with the needs of the job you’re applying for. If you don’t list specific skills they are looking for, your resume may not make it past the initial screen.
However, please DO NOT COPY and paste from the job description directly. You need to phrase your experience in a way that demonstrates you meet the qualifications for the job, but you should not just blindly copy words you think the applicant tracking systems may be looking for.
Metrics
Focus on results rather than buzzwords. Examples could be stating that you are:
- A hard worker
- Organized
- Responsible
- Analytically inclined, etc.
Resume buzzwords sound good, but they are difficult to quantify and nearly impossible to compare between candidates, so they are essentially useless to a hiring manager. You need to show these qualities through the work and results you have accomplished.
One way of doing this is to structure your resume by stating:
“I accomplished X as measured by Y by doing Z.”
Invest in a LinkedIn Profile
You should expect that recruiters and hiring managers will review your LinkedIn profile. It is an extension of your resume. While most sources will recommend limiting your resume to a single page, you can include unlimited accomplishments on your LinkedIn profile.
Be sure to invest in your online presence. At a minimum, I would include a headshot, list jobs/descriptions, and seek meaningful connections on LinkedIn.
Skip the Summary and Objective Statements
This one might be somewhat controversial, but I personally do not believe these elements add value to a resume. Rather than summarizing your career goals and what you hope to accomplish in a job, focus on how you bring value to the company you’re seeking to work for.
Space is limited on a resume. Make the most of it to highlight your skills, talents and what makes you a unique asset.
Be honest
Last, but certainly not least, always be truthful in your resume. Many jobs now require projects to be completed as part of the application process. It will become clear quickly if you don’t have the skills you claim to on your resume.
Additionally, you should be prepared to speak to and elaborate on anything in your resume if you get interview.
