I've been a retirement actuarial analyst at a large consulting firm for about 1.5 years (plus an internship there before that). I have P passed and I'm sitting for FM in August. I also have an MA in statistics, and the stats side of the work is what I actually enjoy — ideally I'd be doing modeling and data analysis most of the day.

The problem is I'm just not a fan of consulting. I hate tracking billable hours, I hate the constant context switching between clients, and it's hard to feel any real ownership over my projects. I get that some of this is because I'm junior, but I don't see the parts I dislike going away with seniority. I'd also like a job where when work is done for the day, I'm actually done — I have two small kids at home, so schedule flexibility matters a lot, but the flexibility I have now comes bundled with billable hour goals, which kind of defeats the purpose.

I'm not opposed to insurance or government work, and I'm not opposed to health or life. I'm currently on the SOA track, but with my stats background I've wondered whether P&C pricing (CAS) would be a better fit since MAS-I/II overlap so much with my grad coursework. Health pricing and predictive analytics teams at carriers are also on my radar.

For those of you who left consulting for a carrier, government, or something else: what did you switch to, and did it actually fix the billable hours / ownership / context switching problems? Anything you wish you'd known before making the move? And is pension experience as transferable as I'm hoping, or should I expect to start over?

How would people generally rank the FSA exams they’ve taken in terms of difficulty? Within the bounds of what is allowed, obviously.

Hard to compare tracks but looking for a general sense aimed at those who need one elective to be done!!

I failed the recent Final Assessment and am waiting for the solutions to be released. I plan to retake sometime in the next few weeks. Anyone want to do a discord or something? I think collaboration is OK?

Is anyone taking the final assessment over the weekend? If there’s already a discord study group out there, I’m interested in joining. And if not, I’m happy to create one for anyone who’d like to join. Please comment or DM me for either option!

I’m a younger actuary in training and graduated college early so I have some time on my hands. I just passed exam P 3 days ago, and I scheduled FM a little too close for my comfort (and I can’t change it). I haven’t started studying at all but scheduled my exam for August 17th😩

Any advice on cramming for this? It’s not the end of the world if I don’t pass since I have my course pack for another 6 months. I’m just wondering if anyone has successfully crammed?? Also how did you do it🤣

So due to the 3 module = 1 exam credit, I only have one exam left after taking both ILA exams. I was wondering what makes the most sense after ILA? I kind of want to just take the highest pass rate exam, but I more so want to take an exam relevant to my current path. That would be CP 341 but its not available in November. Are there any others closely related to life and anns? GI seems related but might be too general to help. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Hello, I’m looking to get some criticism on my resume. I’ve sent out to people and they, for the majority, liked it. I’ve attached my draft, the analyst intern position is now content developer.

I’m eager to get into the field, and I feel I’m qualified for it. But if my resume is throwing recruiters off I’d like to know. Thanks in advance.

Candidate numbers don’t release until Friday but I checked my transcript this morning and there it was!

Hi all,

I'm about to study CFE101, and I decided TIA as my study method.

However, I was wondering whether I should buy Study Notes from SOA and all the books on the FSA book list?

If so, all the followings are needed? or Study notes include the books on the list?

As it's my first FSA exam, I'm a bit confused :(

1. TIA
2. Study Notes (Complete or Revision?)
3. Books on the list: Financial Enterprise Risk Management, Sweeting, P. and Quantitative Enterprise Risk Management, Hardy, M., Saunders, J.

Thanks in advance!

I am not sure if this is the right subreedit to ask. But does anybody know a book or a paper where scenarios are defined in a mathematically rigorous way? I often see people use the concept (e.g. in ESGs, scenarios for regulatory purposes, etc.) but I have not yet seen a proper definition.

I just accepted my first ASA position after spending a few years in the industry. My first day is next week.

While I’m excited for the opportunity and the pay is great, I still have another company interviewing me, and that position pays even more. Their final round is tomorrow and I likely will get an offer.

And then a small carrier that has an office down the street for me just listed a new position. I’ve worked remote my entire career, and wouldn’t mind the option to go into an office when I feel like it. From a manager’s POV, would you understand if a new hire left for an opportunity like that? trying not to burn bridges.

I need some insight into other people’s thoughts.
When I just had 2 ASA exams, I met a person who got their ASA and when I asked when they will start FSA study they laughed and said they are happy with ASA.

Now I’m at that stage and I feel conflicted:
-just got out of GH101 and I know I bombed it. I hate it with all of my empty heart and don’t feel like studying anymore. It’s not like I have a life outside of work and studying anyway, but SOA’s dumb ambiguous questions where there shouldn’t be any ambiguity make me question my sanity and drive me nuts.

-constant nerves trigger my overthinking, overeating, anxiety, and flare up my psoriasis.

-continuously failing just one exam, even the 4th one, makes the whole ordeal of time and nerves useless.

-life and dental material is kind of fun, but soooooo useless for me that it also makes me hate the idea of studying it.

BUT:

-FSA’s have higher chance of promotion
-$300k extra over lifetime would be nice
-if shit hits the fan with A-intelligence or universal healthcare, FSA’s have higher chance of relevance
-not getting FSA feels like a waste of my potential.
-i know this is dumb and untrue, but getting FSA would make me “happy” through “accomplishment”

I don’t know, maybe I’m just weak and it’s just a useless rant, so just write what you think, don’t mind my feelings, I’ve got none at this point.

Hi all, recently passed ATPA as my last ASA requirement before the APC and was surprised when the raise associated with it was only $1k. I asked some other people that either passed the same sitting as me or the sitting before me, and they said their raises were 2K and 2.8K.

This is the only time I’ve seen inconsistent raises from an exam within the company, and I want to bring it up with my manager but wanted some advice of how to bring it up. I don’t want it to negatively affect the other employees, and I’m a bit worried that admitting I’ve been discussing salary with others will attract bad attention. Any advice would be appreciated!

Hi! I need some advice with ALTAM studying on CA. I have been using the learn as CA prescribes such as going through the videos reading the lecture if needed doing the multiple-choice, concept checker, written answer for each lesson. It is taking forever. is it more efficient just to watch the videos and wait to do the written answer questions until I get through the learn and just maybe review the solution I’m noticing that CA is very shallow in the lecture videos but then asks really complex questions for the written answer questions, which is fine and typical but the written answer questions takes so long, especially for me to understand after such a brief video that I’m spending like 60 to 90 minutes sometimes which takes a lot of my study time. I’m just wondering if it would be more beneficial to wait to do written answer questions until I get to the practice portion of studying and maybe just do the multiple-choice now?

Hello, I am currently engaged in the pricing of life insurance products in mainland China. I have been working in this area for two years. It is expected that I will get my asa certificate next year(I have passed 5 exams), and my Japanese learning is also in the process. Because I like Japanese life very much, I want to work in Japan in the future. I would like to ask if anyone has successfully gone to Japan to work without Japanese education or work experience. I can accept life insurance, reinsurance, consulting and other actuarial-related jobs. Looking forward to your reply.

I’m fortunate to be deciding between these two opportunities and would love to hear from anyone who has worked in either role.
Compensation is comparable, so my decision is more about career fit than pay.
One thing I’ve realized is that I really enjoy the people side of work. I like presenting analyses, working with stakeholders, collaborating across teams, and solving different business problems. I don’t want to become overly siloed in one area.
The Optum role seems like a great opportunity in value-based care, but I’m concerned it may be more specialized and internally focused. PwC seems like it would offer more client interaction, variety, and opportunities to build consulting and communication skills, but likely with longer hours.
For those with experience in either:
What are the hours actually like in PwC Health Actuarial?
Which role do you think provides better long-term career growth?
Which would you choose and why?
Thanks!

Hi everyone!

Was looking for feedback on my resume and general advice as internship hiring season approaches. For some added context, i'm a fourth year commerce student from the Toronto area who decided half-way through their degree to pivot to actuarial after some experience auditing P&C insurers. Just started sending out applications to internship/co-op positions earlier this month. Some specific questions/points I had:

1. Technical skills: I'm worried this is my biggest weakness right now (aside from my major if it matters to ATS filters or hiring managers). I learned R over the past few months and did the project listed, but was wondering where to go from here. Was thinking doing something with SQL should be my first priority, then maybe VBA? (Since I already have R, I guess learning and doing a project with Python isn't really necessary?). Or maybe I should fully document and post my existing project on Github first? (heard some conflicting stuff about this on this sub)
2. Networking: I'm attending a (somewhat informal) networking event with a local actuarial club this week where I can chat with a bunch of actuaries from my area. Any tips for making the most of this? Also curious if anyone has advice/experience cold dming people on linkedin asking for coffee chats and such - using the right approach there could save time.
3. Exams: Was wondering if taking Exam 5 before MAS-II is doable (i.e. is there a bunch of prerequisite knowledge from MAS-II needed for 5?). Or maybe i should forget about exams altogether? (In case i get into a L&H position - in which case, should I put MAS-I at all?). Asking about this because I feel like creating good relevant projects and doing well on technical interview questions might be infinitely easier if I was more familiar with core actuarial work (Pricing & Reserving) in the absence of real experience.
4. Underwriting: Thinking of applying to underwriting (+claims or anything insurance) in any case as well since i've heard it can be a great pathway to actuarial, but I was wondering if actually getting an underwriting co-op/internship is realistically any easier than getting an actuarial one (considering the current market and my specific profile)? Should I pretend I've never taken an exam on my resume/interview if I get anything?

Thanks to all who read/reply - I greatly appreciate any feedback/insight/advice here.

I attached the files and then just clicked Finish button without reading the page. Does anyone remember if there is another step to upload the files, like clicking upload button after attaching the files?

Just wondering which P&C companies are generally regarded as desirable to work at in the US.

Hi! I’m one exam away from my FCAS and starting to look at jobs outside the United States. For those who have worked in Bermuda, what was your experience like? Anything you regret? How was relocating? Did you have exposure to pricing methods outside what’s used in the US?

Thanks in advance !

Suppose you finish ILA101 mid July 2026. You feel confident enough you passed you want to study for ILA 201 which is in November, ~4 months later. Is that a reasonable amount of time?

Hi everyone! Has anyone here taken the GI 201 exam before?

I’m wondering whether the exam is mostly theory-based or if it also includes calculation questions.

Also, for anyone planning to take GI 201 this November, feel free to message me. It would be great to form a study group and prepare together.

Thanks!

I have scrolled through this Reddit page on the resume and took some advice, and even some posts of others' resumes, to see what I can do for mine. I even used ChatGPT to judge it, but I'm still getting no responses. I, so far, have gotten two HR phone class but those were more than two weeks ago, and I have heard crickets since.

I see many posts on LinkedIn that match my qualifications, but I get crickets.

I do have some self-criticisms, but I do not know what to do with them.

1. School Club. 2024-2023 is now kinda long ago. I want to get rid of it, I don't think it's relevant, but then I don't know what to add instead. Sure, I can expand my current position more, but I legit routinely do the same thing over and over again. I can add on the work I do with annuities, pensions, and Taft-Harley plans, but I don't know if that's relevant.
2. Projects. These are just there to show recruiting I do have experience in coding, and I am familiar, but I haven't done any recent projects. I mostly just go to work and go home, study, repeat.
3. I'm on the SOA track. After passing FM, I gave it three weeks to see buzz (~30 jobs), but I didn't, and I didn't want to wait long, so I decided to choose my track. I'm currently studying for FAM.