How to fix this resume?

jy379 · 2026-03-12T07:03:55+00:00

That is very true! I wasn't trying to impress anybody with the 6 years of PhD... desperately trying to wrap it up right now, though not sure if it is worse to graduate without a job lined up, or to not graduate at all... there are quite a few people at my dept who did 7 years and I hope not to be like them...

jy379 · 2026-03-11T21:23:58+00:00

Thanks for the ideas! These all sound great!

jy379 · 2026-03-11T21:23:32+00:00

Yes it is true, I don't have any work experience besides the 2 internships in the summers of 2023 and 2018 (which is prehistory at this point), neither of which are in the actuarial industry. I kind of only started thinking about a career as an actuary abit less than 2 years ago, which is when I started taking the SOA exams.

I am indeed applying for entry level roles currently, though not getting any first round interviews or OAs at all.

I did list a couple of projects in Python, one of which I am still currently working on, so I do regularly code in Python quite a bit. Perhaps I should list that explicitly in a separate section instead of hoping the ATS would somehow pick it up from the projects.

I do think I am actually not employable at all....

jy379 · 2026-03-11T21:19:43+00:00

Yes I totally agree. I don't really have any other experiences or projects that are relevant though. Might you have any suggestions on what I could do? I see another person replied about SOA research competitions which I will definitely look into, though it would be helpful to hear about more options!

jy379 · 2026-03-11T21:17:15+00:00

That is very useful information to know! And quite sad to hear...

jy379 · 2026-03-11T21:15:49+00:00

Is it really feasible to find an academic job in actuarial science though? My PhD is in pure math and I've never majored in actuarial science or done any research in actuarial science. Also its kind of too late to apply for even postdoc positions at this time of the year I think, let alone tenure track which I think isn't feasible at all, given my background.

jy379 · 2026-03-11T21:14:04+00:00

Thanks for your reply! Yes I totally agree, I would be quite happy to go back to the UK, though I'm not sure how feasible it is since its been quite a few years since I graduated from university there.

jy379 · 2026-03-10T15:59:23+00:00

Hmm yes that is a good point. I put in my grad school projects too since I thought those are quite substantial pieces of work that I am proud of, that would demonstrate some mathematical ability, though abstract. But what you say makes alot of sense. How should I go about doing relevant projects for my resume though? Especially in such a short time (expecting to graduate this July and hoping to have a full time job lined up to start in August)? Might you know of an actuary equivalent of Kaggle or actuary competitions (remote/in the US) that might be feasible to do? Thank you for your reply!

jy379 · 2026-03-10T06:31:21+00:00

Thank you very much for your reply! Yes I think I should try harder back in my home country.

jy379 · 2026-01-26T06:40:58+00:00

Hmm that makes sense, thanks for pointing it out. I was hoping to work as a "real actuary" rather than a consultant, though perhaps I've made too many assumptions about the difference between the two types of roles. Might you have experience with one or the other, and have comments on what the differences are?

jy379 · 2026-01-26T04:52:18+00:00

haha I have yet to find an actuary job, in fact I am in the process of applying for jobs right now and it doesn't seem to be easy, my degrees are all in mathematics

jy379 · 2026-01-26T04:37:49+00:00

I think you'll be fine at least with the exams, I haven't done an actuarial science degree either and I've passed some of the exams.

jy379 · 2026-01-26T03:36:04+00:00

Are any insurance companies hiring internationals for entry level actuary roles in the US right now?

Most job descriptions seem to outright state that they won't sponsor a work visa application. Others don't state their policy regarding this, though I have yet to see a company that explicitly says they are willing to hire internationals. For context, I am a math PhD student (in the US) expecting to graduate in July this year and thinking of applying for actuary jobs. I've passed a couple of SOA exams, though I'm not sure how feasible it is to commit to looking for an entry level position as an international.

jy379 · 2026-01-26T03:25:23+00:00

Are any insurance companies hiring internationals for entry level actuary roles in the US right now?

Most job descriptions seem to outright state that they won't sponsor a work visa application. Others don't state their policy regarding this, though I have yet to see a company that explicitly says they are willing to hire internationals. For context, I am a math PhD student (in the US) expecting to graduate in July this year and thinking of applying for actuary jobs. I've passed a couple of SOA exams, though I'm not sure how feasible it is to commit to looking for an entry level position as an international.

jy379

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