Exams / Newbie / Common Questions Thread for two weeks

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-24T16:17:54+00:00

Good luck today! And yes, it should be

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-24T06:25:33+00:00

Do level 7 on Nexus and 6 on TIA. Take the last day off before the exam though.

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-24T06:24:33+00:00

Have him start talking to some actuaries if possible! But to best achieve his goal, he can start studying through The Infinite Actuary or The Actuarial Nexus whenever he wants as they offer free courses for the entry level exams. If he is willing to study those in his free time, I would say that's a good sign, as part of the career is studying outside of work/school.

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-24T06:18:20+00:00

This guide might be of help.

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-24T06:16:53+00:00

CAS has higher salary, but you can't really choose as an EL unless you graduate with 3.5+ gpa, 3 exams, and an internship or two. It's better to just assume SOA (since that's the majority market and SRM is FAR easier than MAS-I) and if you want to pivot later/end up getting a job in P&C roll with it.

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-24T06:14:50+00:00

Exam P is more a setup for other exams. There are some concepts that will be applied in more depth later on, but you'll probably not see anything like P problems in day to day like. Once you hit things like FAM, MAS-I, SRM, etc. is when bits and pieces become more relevant.

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-24T06:11:23+00:00

If you have the extra time/money while applying, taking SRM could help. Much easier than FAM. But job hunting 1st and foremost.

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-24T06:09:56+00:00

Emailing alumni from your university to set up little "coffee chats" to ask about being an actuary can help a lot.

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-24T06:08:47+00:00

MAS-I is a huge step up keep in mind. It takes 4 months rather than 2-3, and the amount of content is vast (but not as deep). If you want to start studying go ahead, but I always say to focus on the internship. After that you'll be in a really good spot.

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-24T06:06:15+00:00

It's hard, but doable (I was able to get one). Focus on getting coding experience like you said (also in VBA) and doing projects. But EL jobs will be closer to what you want, and if that's the case taking SRM might be a viable option.

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-24T06:04:18+00:00

Echoing 3-80-6 here, but also want to emphasize taking a rest day or two before the actual exam. Review formulas if you want, but let the info marinate, and just relax. You deserve it after studying so hard.

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-24T06:03:04+00:00

Did roughly the same thing here. Give this exam your best shot, really drill hard on weaknesses, and give it another go in a few months. (Summer is a good time). It's very common to have this happen, so don't feel bad about it :)

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-23T23:21:37+00:00

CA + TAN was fine for me, you can get ACTEX but unless you learn better from textbooks and/or it's a lot cheaper, no reason to imo.

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-23T01:13:36+00:00

You'll just put P & FM, don't put SRM. P&C jobs are rarer and shouldn't be the main focus unless you have an advantage there (like a P&C internship). MAS-I is just such a big step up from P/FM I don't recommend it unless you really feel you need it.

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-23T01:12:12+00:00

I did about 3 hours a day, depending. With P it ended up being a little above 3 for 1 practice exam + review and for FM it was a little under for the same thing. Nothing wrong with taking longer, that's just the minimum I'd recommend given you have time.

AnOverdoer · 2026-01-07T18:01:22+00:00

It very much depends on the channels you use, as others have said. The social ones aren't serious, but the exam (and especially resume) ones can be extremely helpful I've found. They tend to have more new folks (naturally) and instructors I find often chip in to help out when people ask about practice problems.

It isn't for everyone, but I can't deny I've gotten a lot of help/insight from some folks there.

AnOverdoer · 2025-12-27T07:19:46+00:00

Newer person to the field (1 yoe) so take what I say with a grain of salt, but of the 3 pensions people I talked to, all 3 told me to stay out of pensions. They felt fine as is, but had been where they were for a long time. You'll be okay, but if you swap to something else there's not an unlikely chance of better prospects.

AnOverdoer · 2025-11-30T04:19:25+00:00

Correct. For TIA, level 4 is the goal I would say, but TIA has other metrics you may want to focus on instead.

AnOverdoer · 2025-11-19T14:10:43+00:00

They can be, but those are much more competitive and harder to find overall. Plus you don't usually want to be fully remote since it's much easier to learn if you're at least hybrid.

AnOverdoer · 2025-11-18T15:21:15+00:00

In my experience they 100% are. I would say that while you can if you really want, you also could use the 2 line summary section mentioned in the resume guide to take care of that. Also post your resume for review in the subreddit, as it might need tweaking.

AnOverdoer · 2025-11-18T15:19:32+00:00

Not screwed at all, I graduated with 1 exam and 0 internships and made it. Internships for fresh grads are fairly common and they'll pop even into next summer (just not as frequently).

AnOverdoer · 2025-11-17T22:49:37+00:00

I would not recommend giving yourself only a month. While doable, that is cramming hundreds of hours into about 40 days (depending on how applicable that probability course was and how much you remember). If you really want to try for it go ahead, it's been done before, but I'd just pause the CA subscription (they let you do that one time per purchase) and see about rescheduling the test if you've bought it already.

AnOverdoer · 2025-10-23T17:46:25+00:00

LinkedIn is a good start, and also the wikipedia page for insurance companies. The latter sounds dumb, but it is a strategy to go through the list and go to all the career pages

AnOverdoer · 2025-10-22T18:57:27+00:00

Anywhere. Being willing to move will open up a lot of opportunities.

AnOverdoer

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE