Advancing the cause

In my quest to land an actuarial job - a quest that I often seem to forget about - I finally sent out a "got advice?" email to a BUNCH of people in the know.

A few weeks ago, I went through the actuarial society's web site directory, and I came up with actuarial contacts to companies in the Chicagoland area. 117 contacts in all. So I've spent the last few hours personalizing emails to these contacts. I've gotten through 80 of them; the rest can wait until tomorrow.

I wasn't expecting much, but I've gotten some very nice advice. And I even got a nibble for a paying internship. However, I called the woman to set up a time for an interview, and she wanted to do the interview over the phone, right at that moment. I couldn't tell her no, but it wasn't my best. I may have used conflicting statements in describing my desires for a long-term career in one field.

But I want to become an actuary because, not only does it sound interesting, it appears to offer job security and financial security. If it's not exciting enough, I'll join another band. Enough of these jobs that offer nothing but unpredictability.

When boys are young, they go after the sexy girls, the wild ones, the girls that you'd want to spend the night with, but not much longer than that. Then, as boys wise up, they stop living for the night, and they look to find partners for a lifetime.

If I had met Margie when I was younger, I'm not sure if I would've been smart her to realize how great she is. Don't get me wrong; she's gorgeous, and I drool at pictures of her as a young woman. But she's never been the wild type. A recovering shy person, she calls herself. Would she have attracted me when I chased the wind?

In a similar regard, maybe I've finally wised up in my career path. Teaching was a good choice, but the world's not friendly to teachers. The life of an actuary sounds wonderful and worthy of a life-long pursuit, even if my life's already 39 years long.