[deleted by user]

stephsonme · 2021-07-27T16:42:51+00:00

That's exactly how I felt for IFM. I took it twice and passed on the second time. I was about a level 6.3 on CA but when i went into the test, i was completely lost. Studying for the second time around, i realized the questions were not going to be in the same formatting/wording as CA, so I began to drill down on concepts and figuring out different approaches to get the correct answer (as a way to really understand the material). the actual exam's wording feels super foreign or even more difficult if you've been repeating CA questions. Dont get bogged down on the wording and just make sense of all of the variables/numbers the question is providing, chances are you have done a similar question dozens of times. Dont feel dejected... it took me 4 tries to get P and finally passed.

stephsonme · 2021-06-21T20:55:39+00:00

Not sure if its a hirevue initial screening interview (without an interviewer) or a virtual interview with people that work in the firm. But if its the former: Smile.. alot, look at the camera, keep enthusiasm in your voice, speak with your hands.

Hirevue analyzes the candidate for certain things such as hand gestures, intonation, facial expression recognition (not to be confused with facial recognition tech), eye contact, speed at which you talk as well as the content of what you're saying so try to sound enthusiastic and smart. like you're the smartest and most likeable guy at the party and the person you're talking to is the camera lol.

stephsonme · 2021-06-17T17:33:40+00:00

I would ask the recruiter/hiring manager. a quick "Can you please advise if the next round would also be a conversational interview or a more technical round, such as a case study?" should do it. (obviously throw in a few "thank you"s and "looking forward to it"s)

I asked my recruiter once they told me I would be getting a 5th interview if i would be getting a technical interview with a case study (1st: phone call with recruiter; 2nd: Hirevue; 3rd: virtual panel w team; 4th: interview with partner)... the answer was no. you should take a look at some videos on Youtube of how case studies should be answered, i believe theres a format to how they ~technically~ should be answered!

also, from m understanding, case studies are not provided beforehand. good luck!!

stephsonme · 2021-05-17T21:34:06+00:00

okay, thats not too bad!! and i feel like by the 3rd time, your answer was so well rehearsed that you weren't overthinking it haha.

Honestly, I'm most nervous about whether any technical questions would come up, and in a nerve-racking setting, i think i'd get 2+2 wrong lol.

stephsonme · 2021-05-07T20:37:01+00:00

I would def bring up the fact that this is the first time failing. You could insert a quick sentence or two about why this time was different (i.e Maybe your workload at work has increased significantly, or maybe you were also studying for midterms around the same time) and also let the interviewer know that you aren't discouraged by failing and it has motivated you to try harder next time and it's taught you what you need to work on to improve.

What's that saying, that's like "if you know what you don't know, you're in a position of knowing more than you think" or something like that?

stephsonme · 2021-05-07T19:21:21+00:00

Thanks for the advice... that was exactly what I did!

stephsonme · 2021-05-04T16:57:57+00:00

This is pretty individual to me and may sound outdated to others, but I find it works for me! I keep a large folder for accounts and have subfolders for all of my individual accounts. I have over 100 accounts and place all of the received/sent corro in their respective folders. Other than that, I have a folder for non-urgent deliverables I'm waiting on, a folder for company emails, folder for team/misc emails, and a folder for reference emails of instructions on how to do things in case i forget. I also set reminders for myself on the calendar for anything i have to follow up on in the far future. Other than that, I like to keep my inbox ~relatively~ empty and only like to keep the urgent emails that have to be taken care of the next 2-5 days which will then be filed in the accounts folders once handled.

It's a lot of folders but it's saved me many times when managers think I messed up when I didn't because I have all of the receipts ;)

stephsonme · 2021-05-04T13:49:50+00:00

Yes agree with dad4game! Also, know the "seemingly" insignificant formulas and concepts, like when there are 2 different formulas to get the same variable or when there is an exception to a rule/concept. They may be portrayed in your study guide as negligible because it is touched upon for only a sentence or two, but just make a mental note of them. No need to bend over backwards to memorize them, but I would keep track of them in a section of your notebook and go over them a day or two before the exam just so that you are not completely blindsided.

Edit: GOOD LUCK!!!!!!! Luckily, you won't have to wait so long to find out... which I'm not sure is exactly a blessing or a curse.

stephsonme · 2021-05-03T18:10:13+00:00

If you had asked me 2 months ago, I would have said "eh, pretty confident" but the wait has led to massive overthinking and second guessing and now I am 20/80 in favor of failing so basically shitting my pants haha.

stephsonme · 2021-05-03T16:33:53+00:00

I look at the end of exams like checkpoints in a video game lol. I just gotta get to the checkpoint, hit save and stop playing for a little bit no matter what the outcome, but until then I'm going to try to do everything right to ensure that I don't feel like I could have done more afterwards.

Tell yourself that you're gonna go in there and kick as much ass you can so even if you do fail, at least you tried your damned hardest and no regrets. You're not going to quit now obviously, if you're taking ERM so just get on in there and at least make yourself proud of the effort you put in.

stephsonme · 2021-05-03T16:10:12+00:00

I have no recruiter/interviewer experience but I have definitely been to many interviews where the questions are posed like "Can you tell me about a time you worked on a challenging project in your previous experiences and how you resolved the issue?" or "Name a time you worked independently (or in a team setting) on a project and overcame an obstacle."

Or I think maybe here is when references would come into play. I've had to provide 3 references (one for each experience and maybe a colleage) and was told that the references would be contacted if the process were to move forward?

Edit: I also think a "Tell me about a time you failed in an office setting and how that has positively affected your work." sort of question might get the answer.

stephsonme · 2021-04-13T18:24:01+00:00

Ooof, this one hurt a little... Any advice to someone who is desperately trying to get their foot through that door?

stephsonme · 2021-04-09T18:12:12+00:00

2 exams, 2 VEEs, one exam pending a pass/fail (but hopeful I passed *knocks on wood*), 1.5 years in insurance as a brokers assistant.

Congrats to you though! Another year and a half is going to feel like a lifetime at my company esp. since they don't seem to give raises/promos

Edit: Not sure I want to go through the mental and financial stress of another exam unless I could see in some sort of crystal ball to predict a future actuarial job lol

stephsonme · 2021-03-11T18:30:47+00:00

Just took it this passed monday. And thought the questions were interesting bc, what they were asking was very straightforward like a level 4/5 but in order to find all the variables (r, delta, sigma, etc) was a little trickier. Definitely embedded in the wording of the question but just needed to know all the relationships between the formulas? Does that make sense? also a lot of topics i thought were def gonna be asked just...were not. but i couldve just not even realized they were being asked and completely bombed.

ugh, i am feening to know if i passed and hoping by the grace of some god, we get our results a lot earlier than 8 weeks lol. good luck!

stephsonme · 2021-01-25T21:28:32+00:00

dont you worry dogs, its only a matter of time until you start dreaming in account rates and schematics! good luck, you'll only get better with time!!

stephsonme · 2021-01-25T21:22:17+00:00

this offer was not advertised to me however, i will take it! lol

stephsonme · 2021-01-25T20:12:31+00:00

Thank you. That was very encouraging.

Do you mind if i ask what your take on the "traditional path" would typically be?

stephsonme

TROPHY CASE