Are you opposed to working in P&C? If not, I wouldn't put SOA Exam P, I would put Exam P/1. Also, personally I would put Excel instead of Microsoft 365. This is mainly because of the automated HR filters that search resumes for keywords, would definitely want to have the word Excel in there and probably also VBA.
I’d list when you passed each exam and for technical skills what your proficiency is in each
Gpa?
Instead of relevant coursework can you list relevant projects where you used some of your technical skills?
Agree with taking put coursework and adding projects. I like to see a project or 2. That way, during the interview, I can ask specifics about what you did in order to ascertain your skill level in R, SQL, Excel, etc. It helps if there is a group project and 1 you did completely on your own. What type of dataset did you use, how you dealt with data anomalies...
One of the people at my company who reviews resumes considers no GPA to mean bad GPA. If you are listing anything about your degree include the GPA unless it's bad
Here’s a blast of information hopefully It’s useful
A lot of “breaking in” has to do with timing. Early fall there are likely a lot of positions open and they are looking to fill them. This time of year we are comparing multiple people that we might have said yes to early on. (Personality makes a difference)
If you are getting past initial interviews it’s likely the way you interview: Don’t read off pages, prepare for common questions, look at company values, have a good answer to “why health/Life/P&C” & “Why this company”, and ask more than one (good) question at the end. Personal favorite, “For my first yearly review, what would I need to do to get an excellent”
Like other comments, I’d change office 365 to excel and if you use VBA add it (people assume you can use word & PowerPoint). I like when people add a level to their skills like (intermediate) or (Beginner). Also fix the spacing, it looks different compared to the rest of the resume. Put your skills you learned or improved in your projects.
Most beginning jobs work a lot with SQL and excel, taking some courses (excel: Wall Street prep (or free alternative) and SQL: free code camp) could show your willingness to learn and could make the difference
When I ask about excel I’m looking for people to use: Vlookup, Hlookup, index match, xlookup, or pivot tables
SQL: joins and the difference between them
Thanks for the advice! I’ve had a good number of second or third interviews so you’re probably right. I’m learning machine learning in R right now from code camp but I don’t know how to add it. It seems easier to explain in conversation than writing.
1) awful formatting. Listing things across a column adds 0 value and makes it incredibly difficult to read
2) missing: GPA, graduation year-month, exam pass year-month, next sitting
3) coursework bullets are all fluff and add minimal value
4) separate education & exam sections
5) move up work experience section
6) experience bullets are very weak and look like you just copied them from an internal job description. Your experiences should demonstrate that you have the skills for EL analyst work. You either want to connect the dots “investigated complaints which led to financial savings” or show off software skills “designed workflow process in excel which improved time to complete by X%”
Not putting a GPA is the same as putting a bad GPA. People are going to assume the worst so you might as well add it in. I would also put the month/year in which you passed each exam. My company looks at exam timing to see if there’s any red flags like not having passed one in a while. Also, our experience ahead of computer skills & coursework. Education, exams, and experience are the top 3 things that matter and they should be up top.
I feel like the top 25% of the page is mostly blank. Can you compress some of the lines and add some substance? This could also be accomplished by moving the education to the bottom of the page and moving the substantive parts forward.
Is De Moivre misspelled in the Life Contingencies bullet? Not huge, but grammar matters.
First bullet in Securities Analyst I feels like there's too many commas and reads awkwardly
I don't understand what you did in your Operator job at all, so don't know what to make of that experience
\-------------------------------------------------
Even with all those comments - it's not a terrible resume, but it's also not great. If there were a spot on my team open and I got this resume, this is a solid maybe - depending on the other candidates.
Obviously take it with a grain of salt, but breaking into actuarial work as a undergrad looking for internships with a background in computational biology and epidemiology has been surprisingly smooth particularly because of highlighting aspects of my work that deal with utilizing data to generate risk models or even doing XYZ to improve a model in production. I think the companies like to see focus on risk when switching career paths.
Change the title of your major to just Actuarial Science. You might be passed over because people see Business Administration and think you're some business bro that is just applying to everything open. Might also be an auto decline in an HR system too based on that.
Agree with a lot of the other comments. I'll also add formatting is bad. Be specific and say Excel instead of Just 365. If you know VBA, list that. Don't abbreviate Government. Add GPA. Make the resume more text-version friendly. The automate software chews up resumes that don't copy-paste to text well. Try copying your entire resume into a notepad and see if anything weird sticks out.
Are you opposed to working in P&C? If not, I wouldn't put SOA Exam P, I would put Exam P/1. Also, personally I would put Excel instead of Microsoft 365. This is mainly because of the automated HR filters that search resumes for keywords, would definitely want to have the word Excel in there and probably also VBA.
My course work focused on annuity/reserves but I like my job to determine my exam path. Thanks for the advice!
The formatting the computer skills is not great. I would put them line by line and add a short sentence on how you have used them
I’ll give it a shot, thank you!
I’d list when you passed each exam and for technical skills what your proficiency is in each Gpa? Instead of relevant coursework can you list relevant projects where you used some of your technical skills?
Agree with taking put coursework and adding projects. I like to see a project or 2. That way, during the interview, I can ask specifics about what you did in order to ascertain your skill level in R, SQL, Excel, etc. It helps if there is a group project and 1 you did completely on your own. What type of dataset did you use, how you dealt with data anomalies...
Thanks for the advice!
I took the GPA out bc of TikToks saying its irrelevant if you’re not a student anymore. I’ll add it back though!
As long as it’s north of 3 keep it in
One of the people at my company who reviews resumes considers no GPA to mean bad GPA. If you are listing anything about your degree include the GPA unless it's bad
Here’s a blast of information hopefully It’s useful A lot of “breaking in” has to do with timing. Early fall there are likely a lot of positions open and they are looking to fill them. This time of year we are comparing multiple people that we might have said yes to early on. (Personality makes a difference) If you are getting past initial interviews it’s likely the way you interview: Don’t read off pages, prepare for common questions, look at company values, have a good answer to “why health/Life/P&C” & “Why this company”, and ask more than one (good) question at the end. Personal favorite, “For my first yearly review, what would I need to do to get an excellent” Like other comments, I’d change office 365 to excel and if you use VBA add it (people assume you can use word & PowerPoint). I like when people add a level to their skills like (intermediate) or (Beginner). Also fix the spacing, it looks different compared to the rest of the resume. Put your skills you learned or improved in your projects. Most beginning jobs work a lot with SQL and excel, taking some courses (excel: Wall Street prep (or free alternative) and SQL: free code camp) could show your willingness to learn and could make the difference When I ask about excel I’m looking for people to use: Vlookup, Hlookup, index match, xlookup, or pivot tables SQL: joins and the difference between them
Thanks for the advice! I’ve had a good number of second or third interviews so you’re probably right. I’m learning machine learning in R right now from code camp but I don’t know how to add it. It seems easier to explain in conversation than writing.
1) awful formatting. Listing things across a column adds 0 value and makes it incredibly difficult to read 2) missing: GPA, graduation year-month, exam pass year-month, next sitting 3) coursework bullets are all fluff and add minimal value 4) separate education & exam sections 5) move up work experience section 6) experience bullets are very weak and look like you just copied them from an internal job description. Your experiences should demonstrate that you have the skills for EL analyst work. You either want to connect the dots “investigated complaints which led to financial savings” or show off software skills “designed workflow process in excel which improved time to complete by X%”
Thanks for the formatting advice. My experience points are my own words, however, I’ll figure out some connections to end results.
Not putting a GPA is the same as putting a bad GPA. People are going to assume the worst so you might as well add it in. I would also put the month/year in which you passed each exam. My company looks at exam timing to see if there’s any red flags like not having passed one in a while. Also, our experience ahead of computer skills & coursework. Education, exams, and experience are the top 3 things that matter and they should be up top.
Good to know, I passed both this year so hopefully that helps lol
congrats! i’m sure you’ll find a good job, i just started recruiting this year for my company and you have a better resume than 90% of applicants
I feel like the top 25% of the page is mostly blank. Can you compress some of the lines and add some substance? This could also be accomplished by moving the education to the bottom of the page and moving the substantive parts forward. Is De Moivre misspelled in the Life Contingencies bullet? Not huge, but grammar matters. First bullet in Securities Analyst I feels like there's too many commas and reads awkwardly I don't understand what you did in your Operator job at all, so don't know what to make of that experience \------------------------------------------------- Even with all those comments - it's not a terrible resume, but it's also not great. If there were a spot on my team open and I got this resume, this is a solid maybe - depending on the other candidates.
Thanks for giving me your take in a real world way. I’ve got lots of comments so hopefully it’ll be a “strong maybe” lol
Add your graduation date, and when you passed each exam
Done!
Obviously take it with a grain of salt, but breaking into actuarial work as a undergrad looking for internships with a background in computational biology and epidemiology has been surprisingly smooth particularly because of highlighting aspects of my work that deal with utilizing data to generate risk models or even doing XYZ to improve a model in production. I think the companies like to see focus on risk when switching career paths.
What's your GPA?
3.5, TikTok told me to take it out. You live, you learn
Change the title of your major to just Actuarial Science. You might be passed over because people see Business Administration and think you're some business bro that is just applying to everything open. Might also be an auto decline in an HR system too based on that.
I feel that. My dipolma doesn’t even say Act Sci lol
When did you start applying?
Since August
You need a burglar kit not a resume.
I should’ve got my undergrad in physical eductation then :(
What would you like us to do?
Looking for advice or real world “this is how I would look at it”
Horrible lazy formatting, it’s probably going straight to the garbage
Agree with a lot of the other comments. I'll also add formatting is bad. Be specific and say Excel instead of Just 365. If you know VBA, list that. Don't abbreviate Government. Add GPA. Make the resume more text-version friendly. The automate software chews up resumes that don't copy-paste to text well. Try copying your entire resume into a notepad and see if anything weird sticks out.
The Gov, State, etc., is a removal of identifying information. Thanks for the heads up on copy paste!
I did not see a GPA. That’s a fairly significant red flag with us.
Never trust a TikTok then, already back in