News Type: Future Focus Blog Posts

Application Season

The application season for summer internships begins the preceding fall, typically starting in September and lasting until February. Highly competitive paid summer internships sometimes see deadlines as early as November. Acceptances generally begin rolling out in  January, so it’s important not to wait until the last minute to apply. You don’t have to wait until the application information is posted for the current cycle if you want to start preparing. Looking up companies’ postings from previous years will help give you a sense of their specific timelines, required qualifications, and what the intern’s responsibilities will be.

Exams

While a high GPA is important, the best way to demonstrate both your intellectual capacity for actuarial work and your dedication to joining the field is by passing exams. Though not ubiquitous, some companies require that a candidate pass at least one exam in order to qualify for their internship program. In general, you can expect to spend 200+ hours over the course of 3 – 4 months studying in order to pass Exam P.

Quality time spent is as important as quantity, so prepare to set aside enough quality time to give yourself the best chance. The importance of passing exams cannot be overstated. Beyond the internship, when it comes time for your first full time job, you will be hard pressed to find a position that does not require at least two exams passed.

Technical Skills

To give your application a competitive edge, make sure you can express your technical ability. The three main data analytics tools used by actuarial employers today are:

SQL/SAS – Have been the market leaders in the commercial analytics space. SAS is generally regarded as intuitive with great technical support, but with the drawback of being the most expensive of the three. SQL is regarded as having more flexibility and variety of analytical uses.

R – The open source counterpart of SAS. Due to the nature of being open source, the latest techniques get released quickly.

Python – Currently, the most popular programming language overall and one that is in high demand with actuarial employers.

While proficiency in any one of these will not make up for a lack of exams or a low GPA, they may make an already strong candidate even more impressive.

Emotional Intelligence

In a world moving towards automation, emotional intelligence is one of the most valuable skills one can cultivate. Daniel Goleman, American psychologist, was the first to popularize the term “Emotional Intelligence”, quantified as EQ (Emotional Quotient), in the 90s. He outlined the five components of emotional intelligence as:

• Self-Awareness – the ability to recognize and understands ones emotions
• Self-Regulation – the ability to control impulses and express oneself appropriately
• Motivation – having an interest and ability to learn and improve
• Empathy – the ability to understand other peoples emotions and reactions
• Social Skills – the ability to maintain friends and relationships through finding common ground with others

Why is this pertinent to getting an actuarial internship? Particularly in the STEM world, companies are finding that an employee’s EQ is the best predictor of job performance. You will most likely encounter an EQ assessment in the form of behavioral questions during an interview. These questions will likely be about a personal experience or hypothetical situation that may resemble challenges you’ll likely face in that role in order to assess your ability to collaborate, communicate effectively, and be aware of both your own emotions and the emotions of those around you.

Networking and Extracurricular Activities

As a college student, you should be encouraged to take advantage of the resources that are available to you – not only your professors and colleagues, but also the third parties that come to campus by way of career fairs and networking events. These are excellent opportunities to grow your list of contacts, as well as expand your knowledge about the actuarial profession. Speaking with actuaries from different disciplines may give you a better idea of what subject matter is the most exciting to you or what exam track to follow. Recruiters, both in-house and third party, may be able to give you an idea of what a company’s functions are and what the culture is like. Sufficed to say, attending these events will both expand your network and give you access to a wealth of industry knowledge.

Extracurricular activities don’t have to be geared towards professional development, either. Excelling in a sport or hobby is a great way to show perseverance and dedication and holding an executive position in a club or society shows the maturity and capability to be a leader, all while honing your soft skills and showing your personality.

It takes a lot of dedication to become an actuary. But it’s worth it! Actuaries tend to enjoy their work and the field has a high satisfaction rating. That the pay is better than most other professions is a plus, too, of course. All the time you are spending to develop and hone your skills, pass the exams, and search for an internship will all be worth it!

About author: Elizabeth Owen, Recruiter, Ezra Penland Actuarial Recruitment

Do you ever want to travel to cool places around the country? Do you want to meet and network with actuarial students from other universities? Do you want the opportunity to learn about insurance from seasoned industry professionals? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should keep reading to learn about some of the experiences we’ve had at insurance conferences throughout the United States. As Gamma Iota Sigma (GIS) officers and CAS Ambassadors at Temple University, we’ve had the privilege of attending many events where we got to learn, network, interview, and experience some of the greatest moments of our collegiate careers.

Nitai discusses his experiences attending the CAS Annual Meeting and the GIS International Conference. Jessica discusses her experiences attending a GIS chartering ceremony and Philadelphia Insurance Day. We also interviewed a fellow actuarial student, Joel Kuruvilla, about his experience attending the Risk Management Society (RIMS) Annual Conference.

CAS Annual Meeting

As a CAS Student Ambassador, I was invited by the CAS to attend the Annual Meeting in Las Vegas this past semester. For me, a big part of the conference involved networking with other ambassadors across the country and discussing ways to increase awareness of the property and casualty industry at our schools. I also got to sit in on some of the general sessions at the meeting including a talk that discussed some of the similarities and differences between actuaries and data scientists. My favorite part of the conference was a speed networking session with mentors from companies such as Travelers, AIG, and Uber (pictured above). The CAS is hosting student programs in New Orleans, Bermuda, and Austin in the next few months. Click here for more info!

Gamma Iota Sigma International Conference

Every year, GIS hosts an international conference for students from chapters across the country. The conference is packed with 3 days full of networking, speaker sessions, luncheons with AMAZING food, and a career fair with 80+ companies. Several schools also get the opportunity to have their own breakout sessions. Last year in Chicago, Temple partnered with Butler University on a session to help students increase passion for community service at their own schools. My favorite part of the conference, apart from eating all the food, was the stand-up comedy session at the end of the conference. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard! This year’s meeting is from September 26th – 28th in Dallas, Texas. GIS recently started offering an at-large member category open to any college student attending a school where no GIS chapter exists. Click here for more info on the conference and how to join if you’re not already a member!

Gamma Iota Sigma Chartering Ceremony

Being a part of an initiation ceremony for a new chapter of GIS is a unique and celebratory experience. Because the first insurance transaction involved insuring ships and cargo, the members of the initiation team serve as ship officers navigating the new candidates to membership. The ceremony also includes a speech from the president of the new chapter detailing the chapter’s goals as well as a speech from a student of an active chapter discussing the benefits of membership. Additionally, students from the new chapter have an opportunity to meet and interact with students from active chapters. Discussions include ways to operate a new chapter, increase membership, and gain experiences to develop professionally. These conversations provide new members with a network of students to reach out to regarding GIS. Initiated on Thursday, April 18th, 2019, the newest chapter is the Gamma Lambda chapter at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Philadelphia Insurance Day

Every spring, The Insurance Society of Philadelphia partners with The CPCU Philadelphia Chapter to offer a full day of education and networking with insurance, risk management, and actuarial science professionals. This year’s keynote speakers were Inaki Berenguer, the CEO of CoverWallet, Mark Purowitz, a senior partner at Deloitte Consulting LLP, and Jonathan Kalman, founding partner of Eos Venture Partners. Their panel discussion centered around the future of insurtech. Expert sessions continued throughout the day on topics such as active shooter policies and current niche insurtech examples. As an attendee of this event, I can say the speakers were very captivating and genuinely made me enthusiastic about a future career in insurance. Click here for more info!

RIMS Annual Conference and Exhibition

To learn more about RIMS, we interviewed Joel Kuruvilla (pictured far left), a junior actuarial science major who attended the RIMS conference last year along with several other students from Temple. He stated that the RIMS conference was one of the highlights of his time in college because he had the opportunity to see some of the newest technological innovations that insurance companies have to offer, with his favorite being virtual reality software. Other technologies included a health instrument that measures how firm a person’s grip is relative to that of other people of the same age and gender. Apart from the technology, Joel also enjoyed sitting in on several breakout sessions such as a diversity and inclusion roundtable and a presentation on cyber security. Finally, Joel loved touring San Antonio and meeting students from other schools across the country. “I met students that I saw at future conferences and in New York during my summer internship. RIMS helped me make meaningful, lasting connections, and I’m very thankful for that.” This year’s meeting is in Boston from April 28th – May 1st, and Jessica will be in attendance! Click here for more info!

We hope you enjoyed reading about all the cool events we’ve been to, and we hope to see you at one in the future!

Nitai Patel and Jessica Zimmerman are both seniors at Temple University. Nitai is majoring in Actuarial Science, and Jessica is double majoring in Actuarial Science and Risk Management and Insurance. In addition to being CAS Student Ambassadors for Temple University, they both serve as officers of Temple University’s GIS chapter, where Nitai is Director of Management Information Systems, and Jessica is Director of Student Affairs.

I’m an aspiring actuary and a college senior whose journey began in Mongolia where I grew up envisioning a future as a superhero.

Let me take you back in time … to Mongolia.

“Uugii, you’re too slow, the water is starting to spill and freeze into our hands. We need to go faster!” yelled my older cousin.

“Well, that’s because I’m carrying the heaviest 20-liter cans!” I replied.

My cousin responded with a smirk on his face, “Haha! Thank me later. You’ll look like Arnold Schwarzenegger if you keep it up.”

We chatted back and forth as we carried the heavy cans of water from the well back to our home that -40 degree winter night in Mongolia. The destination was an almost 20-person household in an old wooden house on the outskirts of the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.

After cooking with the water over an open fire lit by wood, an hour of electricity would come on and we all shared a movie together. The kids sat in the front, close to the television, ready to give it a hard smack with the speed of a cobra so we wouldn’t miss anything in case it went blank. When bedtime came, my cousins and I, who were only a couple years older than me, would sleep on the floor and have a friendly tug of war, pulling the blankets back and forth to secure more real estate.

During playtime, my cousins and I would often play a game where we pretended to have a superpower. This was our ultimate fun! My cousins would choose superpowers such as “speed of light,” “invisibility” or “super strength,” and when my turn came, the answer would always be the same: “The ability to see the future.” To me this was the definition of a superhero, the ultimate power. I would envision myself pulling my cousins out of danger by foreseeing the future. I was always the unnamed superhero, without much credit, when we accomplished our conquest of climbing the nearby mountain by successfully opposing the imaginary mountain guards and spirit animals. Did I mention these were the best times of my life?

Fast forward many years later to present day.

I recently found out as I looked in the mirror that my older cousin was exaggerating — I am nowhere close to Arnold. However, as an actuarial student at University of Wisconsin-Madison, my fantasy of becoming an unnamed superhero who sees the future for the well-being of others is coming true, because that is what an actuary does. In fact, the insurance industry as a whole is about making a difference in the lives of others by safeguarding people’s future and having a helping hand ready when they need it.

The insurance industry contributes to the welfare of society in many ways. With an actuarial career ahead of me, I’m excited to reimagine the future with self-driving cars, buildings beyond our imagination, and everything else the mind has yet to conceive. Insurance companies are already looking ahead to determine what these changes will mean and how they will adjust to ensure our society is protected. Also, the insurance industry goes beyond its role of helping by means of our superpower; the industry also donates millions of dollars to charities and thousands of hours of volunteering time to support local communities. The industry is the invisible force that protects society, and behind that are people like me, who started a career journey as the little kid shielding his cousins from the mountain guards and spirit animals.

Uugii Jargalsaikhan is from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He is currently a senior majoring in actuarial science and information systems at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He previously served as Vice President of Member Relations for his university’s actuarial club and is currently a CAS Student Ambassador.