I have a daunting task in front of me, and that is to find a job in the actuarial field. I've actually had this task for a while, but I didn't attack the goal very strongly while studying for the MLC exam. Now, while I have to wait to find out the results, I must job-search.
There are a couple of actuarial recruiters out there. One letter from DW Simpson discouraged me enough to get behind on my studying: I shouldn't have had 11 months between my 2nd and 3rd exams, but what they told me - unless you're willing to live anywhere in the country, you don't have a shot - slowed down my pursuit. Only a nice visit to the actuarial conference picked up my spirits.
A few interviews later, I'm still worried. But what choice do I have? Margie's been feeling the pressure of picking up lots of overtime and knowing that she MUST continue to work. She'd like for me to start tutoring again, but I can only get those gigs when she's at home, and I don't want to lose quality time with her. It would be nice if I could pick up a couple of local students, meet them right after school, and still be able to pick up Margie at the train station around 5:30. But I had no success getting local kids when I put up lots of posters. Why would I be more successful now?
So it's Thanksgiving week. A short work week. I should use this day and the next to prepare for my onslaught.
About six months, I made up a spreadsheet of contacts from local insurance companies and consulting firms. The names I acquired from the Society of Actuaries' directory. I sent each contact (about 200 of them!) a somewhat-personalized e-mail, explaining my situation and asking for advice. About 10-15% of them wrote back, most with helpful insight. It got me a couple of interviews, but the phone-screening with Coventry didn't go well (wish I hadn't called when I did) and the Allstate interview, despite feeling good, wasn't good enough. (I've since had a phone screening with CVS Caremark, which didn't lead to anything more.)
What I think I should do at this point is update that letter and send it to different contacts in the companies that didn't write me back. For most of those companies, there wasn't an obvious single point of contact, so why not try another one? For companies that did contact me back, write them again, let them know that I took the third exam, and ask if there are any open slots now. This is what I'll do first, as most of those original contacts will likely have nothing and will forward my information to their HR departments.
The second step is to contact all of the HR departments that have yet to get my information.
The third step is to immerse myself in a LinkedIN group that a member of the other recruiter (Ezra Penland) created: The Entry-Level Actuary. I fear that "immersing" myself won't take long in such a group. Sally Ezra said that supply outweighs demand for entry-level positions. This scares me.
But then again, imagine if I were a college grad with two exams under my belt. How could I make myself stand-out against the others? Perhaps by having seven years of high school math teaching under my belt. Or by working at a newspaper for five years and a radio station for two. Maybe I wouldn't be willing to trade-off 18 years of my life for that experience, but I'm hoping that one company will see it as a good trade-off and give me the chance to work with them.
Those are good places to start. I still need to find the other contacts - wish I had just written down alternate contacts when I was originally making the list - and HR department contact info. The smaller consultants firms, which would likely be more open to my diverse background, lack HR departments.
One contact from my initial push suggested that I call directly, as e-mails are easily ignorable. I need to find the courage to call. Cold-calling is very hard to do. Perhaps I could e-mail everyone and let them know that I look forward to hearing from them and will follow-up with them shortly. That might pressure them to e-mail me back or prepare them to accept a phone call of mine. I like this idea. It won't feel so intrusive. It's opening the screen door, knocking, and asking to be let in, rather than opening both doors and meeting them in their kitchen.
Funny how nearly every contact before before had good things to say about my background and said that two exams should be enough but three wouldn't hurt.
When I was studying for the MLC exam, I had confidence that, if I put in the hours, I would pass the exam. Now I should have the confidence that, if I put in the hours, I will make the contacts and get the interviews, and if I have enough interviews, I will eventually land a job. Or at least an internship. Which poses one more question. How and when should I make my "I'll be happy to intern with your company" pitch? I think that actuarial intern get paid, but likely don't receive benefits. (No problem for me, thanks to being married.) Hm. I should consider that in wording my e-mail. Better get to that.
Bowling note: for the first time in my life, I was too rev-heavy. Fortunately, it was likely because the lanes were pretty dry, but I had one hell of a time staying in the 1-3 pocket as my curve ball kept curving well past it. I still had a couple of 190 games, but it was pretty frustrating. I'm getting some nice rotation with my full follow-through and don't want to stray from it.
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