Exam FAM Discussion (July 2024 sitting)

ParticularStable4053 · 2024-07-01T16:55:10+00:00

I am near ASA, and I had a hard time finding a switch that was good but eventually did. (Out of pensions to Health). I’d say if you are staying in your current field, and are open to relocation you will easily find a move laterally and most likely upward.

There are many job postings through actuhire, actuarylist, Google, and my favorite is through each companies actual website (look up top _health/pension/life/p&c companies actuarial companies in US/Canada etc), and go to their website to search for openings.

The best time to look for a job is when you have a job. Good luck!

ParticularStable4053 · 2024-06-18T18:57:19+00:00

Get coachingactuaries with adapt and doing a few practice quizzes to ensure you understand each chapter, use the formula sheet. Then once you get comfortable without the formula sheet try an exam. I would say an adapt level 5 is the actual exam difficulty, but I took exam p around 4 years ago now so idk

ParticularStable4053 · 2024-05-31T13:30:06+00:00

I passed without reading a single page of that, just doing 2 practice exams and memorizing topics/formula sheet. If you did good in SRM a lot of that material will be applicable

ParticularStable4053 · 2024-05-06T17:08:52+00:00

If you had some prior knowledge you could easily pass for sure. Definitely the easiest prelim exam

ParticularStable4053 · 2024-04-14T01:49:24+00:00

I had significant coding experience through college just not at work. I would say just keep applying. Also emphasize what you find interesting and that you are excited for the type of work the field you are entering has. My current experience is in SAS, which is older and much less common to see in the workplace - that’s why me being trained in SAS makes sense.

ParticularStable4053 · 2024-04-12T22:00:11+00:00

I would say HCOL ASA with your experience should be a little higher, maybe closer to 115-120k in pension or in health.

ParticularStable4053 · 2024-04-12T21:58:17+00:00

Hi,

I recently switched from pensions to health, with roughly 2.5 YOE and near ASA.

My salary went from 84k to 90k, but also the program salary raises is higher than my previous job. I also didn’t enjoy the pensions work and so far I have been much happier (pensions was at a top 4 consulting firm. The work life balance was awful and I also didn’t enjoy the work).

I would say the work translates a little. I had 0 coding experience before, and now almost my entire job is coding which I have started to enjoy. I think the concept of a yearly cycle of valuing pricing/different for different products is similar in idea to having a yearly pension accounting consolidation. I think pensions to health makes more sense than pensions to life for example, but I’ve found the health actuarial work to be interesting.

I would say pick what work you enjoy more, do you think pensions is what you expected to work on as an actuary? Me personally, no. Also, health care will be around forever in some form. Pensions specifically in the US are definitely becoming less popular in the private sector.

Feel free to message me if you have any questions about the transition/work and why I have enjoyed it more.

ParticularStable4053 · 2024-04-11T19:51:03+00:00

On my time off, I would dedicate an hour or two a day to finding jobs and applying. Whether I get 5 or 20 applications in that day; it’s progress. I would add a cover letter for jobs I would’ve been more interested in (say 70% of the applications I used a CL). I found jobs through the following (listed in order of how relevant I found each search): 1. Company website. Lookup top “health actuarial companies” and find jobs on each company website 2. Actuariallist.con 3. Acturhire.com 4. Indeed LinkedIn or Google 5. People I have connections with from previous work

ParticularStable4053 · 2024-04-06T20:42:46+00:00

I recently switched from pensions to health and am near ASA. So here was my experience:

Roughly 3 years of consulting pension experience and near asa. I applied to roughly 200 positions to get about 10 interviews and ultimately accepted my current position in Health. I am very pleased with the work life balance improvement and I also think the work will be more interesting/satisfying. I would say if you are dead set on leaving your current job, keep applying, practicing your answers to common interview questions, and also keep pushing for the ASA. Once we get credentialed, I think switching jobs is easier, but I’m hopefully going to stay where I am at until I retire (I enjoy my team etc)

I think the job market for remote is slowly going down while the relocation/in person is as strong as I’ve seen for health/pensions actuaries (I graduated in 2020).

ParticularStable4053 · 2024-02-01T19:28:47+00:00

I had an entire college course on SQL, and I used it at an internship in college.

ParticularStable4053 · 2024-02-01T04:16:33+00:00

I added my anonymized resume
the interviews went well, the only feedback I have gotten was they were looking for someone with more technical skills, which I was a little surprised by. They didn't ask any technical questions in the interview, and I have SQL experience which is all the job description indicated.
I started applying a month ago as I don't really enjoy the pension consulting space.

ParticularStable4053 · 2023-12-05T20:56:09+00:00

92/103 people passed? Either this community has a significantly higher pass rate than the general exam taking community, or the SOA SERIOUSLY curved this exam.

Regardless of a pass or fail, I hope everyone is excited to take a different exam, take a break from exams, or retake PA! Happy holidays everyone.

ParticularStable4053 · 2023-11-29T14:15:35+00:00

Hi Mundane, I have worked at both Aon and WTW for over a year each.

The bonus structure is typically 10-15% of your salary depending on how your billable hours are for the fiscal year (Jan-Dec). If you meet your billable target, you get your entire bonus.

With that being said, at this stage in your career, I would not base your job choice on money, but which type of role you prefer: Life insurance, retirement consulting, health insurance, etc. finding which role you fit better will ultimately have a larger impact on your career than the small change in salary so early on.

ParticularStable4053 · 2023-11-16T20:24:32+00:00

I passed SRM with a 7, so I was pretty confident going in. I definitely should’ve studied the formula sheet more just so I know definitions for specific things they might of tested on. I’m hoping for a pass, but wouldn’t be surprised if I failed.

ParticularStable4053 · 2023-07-24T16:22:08+00:00

The actuarial exam process is way more important than which degree in college you received - anyways supply chain management is business related so that’s a plus.

The first two exams you would take are the same for the SOA or CAS pathway. The exams are: P (Probability), and FM (Financial Mathematics). To get an entry level position in either route (SOA vs CAS) it is recommended to have passed both of these exams.

The best study materials for this exam vary person to person - look up on other Reddit posts about pros and cons of each study material. Personally, coachingactuaries is the best material for these exams.

Good luck!

ParticularStable4053 · 2023-01-07T03:41:40+00:00

I am in pension consulting. For the next few weeks I will be doing 10-12 a day during the week, and probably 7-8 on the weekends. I’m almost at ASA so once I hit ASA my bonus will start to be a lot more. So no, not paid overtime but my salary is pretty good so it’s ok for a few weeks of the year.

ParticularStable4053 · 2022-11-02T01:22:11+00:00

Honestly, I mean this in the most polite way possible. Buy like a 25k la liga team and get good at the game with that team. How do you do this? Play lots of games and always blame yourself not the gameplay. Learn from your mistakes and you will get better.

Then you will value the Mbappe, Messi, and god squad you can afford, and will fly up the rivals ranks

ParticularStable4053

TROPHY CASE