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mrsavealot

Stopped with one exam left to fsa after going from a 5 to 3 to 0 on it. Company was fine with stopping. I was just sick of taking exams. That was a number of years ago I’m making plans to finish up. Primarily because it makes changing practice area easier.


Negotiator1226

Took P. I realized I didn’t want to follow such a planned out path. Became a quant instead.


asuravith

How? Did you take a masters in financial engineering that too at a prestigious university?


SxxnMc122

I was looking into this before but would love to know your opinion on it, what would you say are the better things about quant compared to actuarial? work/life , pay ect?


tacothecat

I stopped at FCAS. Couldn't stand it and haven't taken an exam since. 10/10 would recommend.


CapitalKoala

You recommended too much if it’s more than 6/10


First_Victory9793

What's left to do after FCAS?


GuineaPigLover98

Lol why stop at FCAS when you can just stop at ACAS for almost all of the same benefits


dinoian

Stopped with just exam 7 to go for my FCAS. I saw what I was becoming around exam time and how much dread it was causing in me, I just had to make a switch. I decided to leave the insurance industry as a whole and got into the gaming industry in an analytics role where I’m using the most fun parts of my pricing job for results in much quicker timeframes. It’s a pay drop but I’m so much happier in this role that it’s absolutely worth my sanity.


TheSardonicCrayon

I’d be interested in hearing more about this. What kind of work do you do day to day?


dinoian

Right now I’m redeveloping our A/B testing process to allow it to be more flexible and remove confounding factors, basically creating a rating plan (pure premium equivalent is revenue spent by players), so for now it’s establishing data pipelines, working to establish base models for predicting revenue and other stats that I can then throw the A/B classes in to see if it’s significant. We have a pretty big live ops team, so I’m supporting them in any special sales or rewards they want to run, helping to set up dashboards and player lists for them to use in targeted marketing. I also get to be involved in developing new features for our game, so a good chunk of my day is playing it (and looking for bugs when they come up, or helping with the user experience).


Peekaboaa

As long as it makes you happy!


OneAd2967

What part about it did you not like and how did you transition away from actuary?


dinoian

I hated that I was basing my self worth is "did I pass this exam?". I applied for data analyst roles in the casino/social casino industry because I felt it would be a lot of fun, and it has been. I just applied online to companies that were local to me in the Austin area even if the title and ask were below my actual experience. I probably should have tried to network my way into the industry but it worked out well. I applied for a total of 6 roles across 3 companies so I kept my applications very focused and highly tailored to the role with personalized cover letters describing why I was changing industries. I later learned that it was the cover letter that got talent acquisition to even share my resume with the hiring manager who read it and saw the skills aligned exactly with what he was looking for - TA didn't know what an actuary was but the manager did an actuarial internship before changing to tech so he understood the skill set well. Emphasize the transferrable skills and technology more than title of "actuary" as you look to transition out. Skill set lined up nicely, and a bunch of the actuarial concepts like credibility theory and class pricing have been really helpful, allowing the company to see data from another direction and get better models. I've never been happier in my work than I am now (almost) a year into this job!


Deltamelon

Studied for months and passed P and FM on my first tries. I figured that could get my foot in the door but I couldn't get past any first interview. The place I wanted required you to internship there, but you could only do so as a student, which my college advisor never told me. My degree has helped me get two jobs in banking, so it wasn't a complete waste at least, but I'm still low-level and not making much. I completed those exams several years ago now, so they've lost all use anyway.


perpetual_studying

Given your banking experience, if you pass another exam I’m pretty confident you could land an actuarial role tbh. You might even be able to land one now if you apply to a bunch of places


Deltamelon

With the amount of dedication one exam takes, plus the fact that everything I learned for the first two exams is basically gone from my brain, I can't start that up again for the possibility of an actuary job, you know? And even if I land one, that alone wouldn't mean it'd be better than any other job I can get in the future. I've considered applying again in the present, and yeah shotgunning my resume can't hurt, but I doubt most people want to hire someone who completed two exams several years ago and only hold entry-level bank jobs. *I* know I could learn fast enough and handle whatever might be needed up me, but I'm not impressive enough on paper for that. Won't hurt to try again eventually, though. A-holes I'm current contracted through aren't giving me a yearly raise anyway.


NoTAP3435

I think you're pretty overly pessimistic. One of the best things about the actuarial career path is that it *does* guarantee you the better jobs and it's pretty likely you could find a job with another exam pass. This career takes career switchers all the time.


Peekaboaa

If you don't really like taking SOA, maybe just forget it. Then maybe take CFA and programming (Master in IT)? I know banking pays well for this


hanginonwith2fingers

Same thing happened to me. Very disappointing when your advisor doesn't tell you that an internship is basically required. It feels like your last 4 years were useless.


hanginonwith2fingers

My position didn't require it and there isn't a ton of upward mobility. I had two completed but after getting the job I got married, bought a house, had a kid and the exams just faded out as a priority. Then they changed the requirements from 5 exams to 6(or was it 7?) just for ASA and I didn't think there was a point to moving. Now that the kid is a little older I might try to start again. My department said they would reimburse the cost, but after hearing how miserable everyone here is studying for them, I'm leaning against it. My job pays well enough, not great, but has very good benefits and stability.


ramonacoaster

Passed my first FSA exam 2018. Had first child in 2019. Covid hit. Then I was pregnant and had my second in 2021. In the 2019-2022 time span I attempted my second FSA exam too many times. It was a battle of getting 5’s and giving it everything I had and driving myself mad. Working too much in addition. I put myself on pause. Maybe I’ll come back. Right now my kids are more important and need me more than I need to study


Ill_Membership586

Don't worry I'm sure your children and family life bring you infinity more happiness than some dumb exam


ramonacoaster

Absolutely. Took me longer than I wanted to realize that. It’s ok to change course and not finish exams right away.


Peekaboaa

Kids and family are more important


broccoliniyum

I stopped after 2 bc I was just drained from work, studying, the pandemic, and also got a few concussions in there. I went back to school and got my masters in something kind of related and then couldn’t find a job that matched my actuarial salary so now I am going back to actuarial and feeling refreshed to start studying again!


YoureNotMom

I was flooded with work from day one. My firm had 3 ppl before me at my level, but replaced them with only me and 1 other guy. I did the ole 9-5 literally never. 2 days a week, id stay less than 3 hours extra. The other 3 days, id stay at least 3 hours (stayed past midnight a couple times too). And then I'd come in once on the weekend for at least 5 hours. In 10 months, i took only 1 half day off, and that was for a dental visit. Meanwhile, the healthcare actuary students had plenty of time to not only study on the job but also to go home on time. I got reprimanded for not studying. Cant imagine why i wasnt studying 🙃 i had 2 exams done when i got hired and simply got stonewalled on the third, fyi Anyway, i got burnt out, fired, and then went to do admin work at a pension fund. Half the work, 90% of the pay, and way better benefits. I've since gone on to a Legal position at the Fund, and I'm having a blast. No, i don't use any of my math skills, but i get a kick out of shutting down entitled boomers in the appeals process. It's not *the dream* but it's a dream i can get behind.


Silent_Mike

Got my associate credential, and then realized I wanted to pursue a PhD in a related field instead of actuarial work before sitting for my first fellowship exam, so I just took all my exams days as PTO, took a 0 on the exam and then went to grad school. I was 24 when I made the call, so I knew I had plenty of time to sort out what I wanted to do, and I'm still enjoying life as a grad student :)


Peekaboaa

I assume it is PhD in Applied Math?


Silent_Mike

Yep, in stats


Accurate_Lab_8498

Im in Canada, so a lot of this may only apply here. I got my ASA and realized the effort/reward ratio is probably the worst I’ve ever seen for any profession. The pay is no where near adequate for what you have to do, the work was incredibly boring in my opinion, and no one knows what an actuary is (VERY problematic when trying to leave this profession). I quit my job, did a masters degree in financial math, worked in banking market risk management (made more than an FSA doing this fyi) and now I’m a front office trader at a large bank (a big step up in pay from banking risk, astronomical step up from an actuary). By the way, there are zero exit opportunities for an actuary. Breaking into banking would have been impossible without the financial math degree. I had several interviews and they wouldn’t even mention my actuarial experience because it’s just nothing to them. My advice here would be: - don’t do this profession for money (in Canada anyway). Go into banking. - don’t do this profession for prestige (no one knows what an actuary is and you’ll never be able to exit without additional schooling) Maybe the above two points are obvious for some, but they weren’t for me when I was student, so I wasted a lot of time doing the exams and such.


pandasgorawr

It applies just as much to the US. I was one exam short of my ASA, which took forever because I was overworked and so demotivated to study, when I decided to pivot to data in tech. Basically started from the bottom because no one valued or knew of actuarial work but that didn't even matter to me because I made more right off the bat as an entry level data analyst and within 3 years doubled my pay as a data scientist compared to when I left my actuarial role.


Fantastic_Idea_1040

Realized I was missing my son's childhood


uderani

one paper short currently homeless in toronto ill get back to it oneday i just love that subject ask me more if you have questions


FSAaCTUARY

Wtf


wagiethrowaway

You will still be homeless with a job with gta prices.


uderani

true should have rather gone into the rental exploitation market and made bank from scamming new immigrants. but stats and maths are more fun and interesting.


Integer_Domain

Studied for a month or two for P while adjuncting before I realized I don’t have the chops to study for and pass all the other exams. I’m a statistical programmer for clinical trials now. I don’t regret it. The starting pay is lower, but right out of the gate the quality of life and work is what I expected from an actuarial career. I have great opportunities to attend conferences and get paid to do “research” and learn things that are orthogonal to my work.


decrementsf

Poached by a client offering more. Role became the local data analyst / data engineer / data scientish catch all for ad hoc data projects, modeling, and business intelligence for whatever management wanted to dig into that day. In terms of time, added more technical skills. Will probably pick back up anyway. I like to grind. Had a gym arc and started thinking of daily math reps, considering the time is going to pass anyway. My professional elevator pitch is convoluted at the moment. Need to narrow it back in to figure out how to sell the skill stack.


SushiGradeChicken

I'm at this crossroads. I love actuarial work and I'm doing well with it, but I'm so far behind on my exam progress. I have a competitor looking to bring me in for the same exact thing you're doing (data catch all based on whatever the current flight of fancy is). Any regrets? Did you like actuarial work before? Any sense of what your advancement prospects are, either internally or externally?


actuarialgirl

I stopped with just STAM and PA left before ASA, I even finished my modules. LTAM was miserable enough for me that I knew I didn't want to study ever again. Not that the grass is necessarily greener on the other side, but it sure is wonderful having free time without feeling guilty about studying. Now I listen to my friends complaining about exams and feel sorry for them but very happy for myself haha! Never once regretted it, it was a very liberating feeling for me to leave a career I wasn't happy with. I've said this before but I wasn't a huge fan of working in a profession where everyone had the exact same background, too many similar personalities and very little variety in life experiences. That was just my experience though, not to lump all actuaries in the same pool haha!


Mathguy_314159

I passed FM, P and C (I think they changed names now) and worked in group health pricing. I just wanted to do more with data than pricing so I went in a data science direction. I do regret it sometimes because I think the math behind it was super fascinating. Not advanced or anything but the number of factors that had to be considered and when they fit into the pricing model. I definitely miss the job sometimes.


seejoshrun

I passed two exams in college, then failed the third one twice and was not in a good place mentally. Decided to work my way back in gradually. I've worked as an actuarial analyst for a couple years, and now I'm studying for a different third exam and planning to get an exam-track job. We'll see if I decide to stick with it this time, but I think I'm in a much better place than I was before.


ghostwriter2110

I passed exam P on my second try and was so exhausted from studying. The day after I passed I got a call to apply to a product analyst role that paid ~$100k so I took it. I thought I wouldn’t make as much in an entry level actuary position. I have been second guessing my choice because I miss the math and working with numbers/data where now I’m dealing with change management, training, and product development. If anyone has advice on how it is starting out I’d appreciate it. I’ve been wondering if I should try again (it’s only been 7 months since I passed exam P).


SamusLovesMath

I’m about to drop out. 4 (hopefully 5) exams in the bank. I think I got really bad luck with my first actuarial employer. It’s a toxic environment. Just secured a non actuarial government job. I am sad I can’t finish the exam process.


cowboomboom

I’m one exam away from getting ACAS. Never wanted to be an actuary in the first place and wasn’t that good at math to begin with. Decided to do this mainly cuz I screwed around in college and couldn’t find a job when I graduated. Somehow got into a niche area of insurance that crossed over more with finance than P&C. Ended up switching out of insurance to a front office banking role. Never looked back. No exams to worry about and my comp is about the double the average FCAS.


himynameisadam2397

Got my ASA, realized I wanted to do something a lot more technical (was in consulting working on employer sponsored health plans which is the most boring shit ever). Learned some programming and moved to a data science role, best decision I've ever made.


IndependentVillage1

I took a class in college that was about teaching to the fm exam. I decided it was boring and I didn't want to do it. I just left my job where I was doing scientific research and looking for a data science job.


zilly10

I've never been great with tests, graduated college right before COVID and got super depressed during the pandemic. I landed a good non-actuarial banking job I'm content in. I'm in a much better place mentally now and may start again, but probably not in the near future. I needed a break to feel like myself again.


[deleted]

I transitioned into a developer-esque role within the pricing and analytics division at a Lloyd’s of London insurance company. This is really a great ‘in between / hybrid’ role to be in because nobody expects me to finish my exams. We are a multidisciplinary actuarial function comprised of roughly 70% actuaries and 30% data engineers / model developers. Here I am valued for my contributions to the company’s internal optimisation software. As to why I made the switch (and why I haven’t looked back): I quickly abandoned the notion of becoming an actuary once I realised just how passionate I was about data science. Ironically, the exams felt like an unnecessary hindrance to my own personal development, as I wanted to spend my time learning more about programming and practicing data science with realistic inputs.


internet-is-a-lie

Studied 70% of exam P, but got an underwriter job before I finished and decided to just go that route instead. Pretty sure I make same or more than a similar experienced actuary, so I’m happy with outcome.


onlyinsurance-ca

I was probably 75 percent of the way to asa., No degree. Didn't see a future for me in corporate. Stayed in insurance but pivoted. Done well financially, eventually got an actsci degree part time as a bucket list kind of thing. Currently finishing off a master's. I'm considerimg finishing my asa after that. I.just enjoy the math, plus I feel like the asa is an unfinished thing.


Dependent-Ad-4252

do you HAVE to finish the exams to keep your job? Like how does that work as an actuary?


onlyinsurance-ca

The US might be different, I'm in Canada, but either way there's always exceptions. Generally speaking you would either finish up associateship and be a 'career asa', or continue the exams to fellowship.


pintobrains

Stopped after finishing exams P and FM. After not getting an internship and also not having the motivation to want to take more exams while applying. I decided to get into health insurance via an underwriter position. Been happy since and always can go back the Actuarial route given my current position.


exitoppthrowaway69

Failed P, changed major from math to Accounting and I’m a CPA now lol