I know this is pretty stupid.
"Why do a degree with MATH in the name if you dont like math"
But i'm a first year canadian business student, and I dislike the job outlook, as well as I don't find the job itself to be remotely rewarding.
Since the first year courses are identical, i'd be able to pivot to actuarial math next year without changing any courses this year, and remain in the business school.

My question is do you have to be very naturally skilled in math or love math to be succeed as an actuary?
I don't hate math, but I dont particularly love it either, I just want to grind for it because I find the high pay appealing and the lifestyle after finishing your exams like the work life balance.

I feel there are so many people who love to talk about how they only do their degree out of passion and nobody wants to admit some people just want to do a job that gets paid well so they can go home and use that money for things they actually enjoy.
However, since there are a lot of exams I wonder if i'd be able to brute force them with good study habits and grit, or if they need a level of passion/skill that you can't force.

Been seeing a lot of departures recently, feeling like we’re short on people at every level while projects and work kept coming in and piling up. I was never the type thats easy to be burned out, but it’s starting to get me, any fellow consultant here seeing similar things happening at your places?

Hi everyone, just wanted to come on here and say there is always hope in finding an EL job. I took 3 exams on the CAS track, thinking I was going to specialize in P&C, but randomly applied to a great looking job in Life/Annuities and am proud to say I received an offer this morning! I still have to go back and retake an exam, but there is always hope out there to find a job.

Stats: 70 jobs applied, 5 HR interviews, 1 Actuary interview, 1 offer

Coming from a non-traditional background and having no internship experience, it only took me about 2 months to find something I am excited about. Continue to grow your resume and reach out to people and it's entirely possible. And a big shoutout to this subreddit, I learned so very much about what I needed to be successful from here, I could not have done it without you.

For anyone who attended APC 480, looks like we won’t be on the ASA list till November.

Hi guys! I'm really happy and relieved to finally receive an internship offer for next summer. I just wanted to share some data about my applications.

For context, I have 1 exam and no experience. I would say what made me stand out were some excel projects I had on my resume as well as a variety of extracurriculars.

Good luck to those who are applying and I hope it works out for you! I'm also happy to answer any questions.

For those who track their study hours, and have also completed at least one of the new 3-hour FSA exams, how did your study time for the FSA exams compare to the prelims?

I guess more specifically, how did your FSA study time compare to FAM/ALTAM/ASTAM?

Similar? More? Less?

Just a reminder that with the extensions granted, the CAS Exam window doesn’t actually end tomorrow. There are still people taking upper level exams down to Friday, so reactions should wait until the window is actually closed 🙃

I debated on the right thread to post this resume on and I landed here because the ultimate goal is to eventually get into an actuarial role when I get enough exams passed and many of you used to positions in underwriting and CAT Modeling. I am a SWE that lost his job back in august 2024 and I have since been a school bus driver to keep the house. I discovered this industry over last summer and I believe the right move for me would be to find a job as an underwriter or CAT Modeler while I get my exams passed because my current job couldn't be less relevant. Any advice you guys could offer to help me land either of those roles would be greatly appreciated... the current job I have is grueling and I need out bad.

Hi guys, I've passed exam P and FM and am now looking to do SRM. Unfortunately, as I'm not in an actuarial role yet my exams are not reimbursed. I eventually want to move into actuarial but my life has taken the long path (recent immigrant) to get there. Anyway, for my last 2 exams I have used coaching actuaries and find it to be very good. Since I'm funding this out of pocket for now and CA is expensive, I want some advice. I've seen some people say you can use ISLR and budget actuary videos as well as the SOA questions. Is that the best route for me or should I go with CA and bite the bullet? I'm not sure how well I'm able to be exam ready just by using a text. Any advice is appreciated.

After FAM this October, I am planning on taking ASTAM in April. I’ve used TIA for FM in the spring and FAM this October and I found it made the process for both exams go very smoothly besides a few stressful high hours weeks before I got over the practice question hump. I really like the flash cards and practice tools within TIA. I was wondering if anyone has used TIA for ASTAM and what they thought of it? It seems like it may be a more of a work in progress than their other courses and since the format is different from the other multiple choice exams I’ve taken thus far I wanted to make sure it was as good as their other courses before pulling the trigger and buying the TIA course within the next few months. Thanks!

I’m in a position deciding between milliman health and AIG (p&c). I am more interested in p&c but I think consulting would be more stimulating. I also really liked both teams that I spoke with during the interview process. For context, my prior internship was p&c carrier and I liked the work but I thought it was a bit rote. If anyone has any insight or personal experience I would love to hear from you! Thanks!

Note to the Mods: Please let me know if this post is considered irrelevant.

Today, I received an email stating that my Actuarial Outpost password had been changed without my consent. I emailed Director Arturo Aguilera and will update if I hear back. I haven't logged into my AO account in such a long time.

Did this happen to anyone else?

Some FSAs told me they work anywhere between 10-20 hours a week, another common answer I hear is 20-30. One told me he works an hour a day but not sure if I believe it.

I find it hard to believe that FSAs where u r supposed to have more responsibilities work less. How about ASAs and everyone below that, same with the CAS side.

I know generally consulting has bad hours, so mostly wondering about non consulting. Is it most associates and fellows that work less or more-so those who don’t have those titles yet

I thought the benefits of this career over big 4 accounting was the significantly higher pay, better job security, we are likely to be pushed out by AI way later and no 60-80 hour busy season.

I've been applying to claims roles and operations roles at this point. Also working on data skills on datacamp to maybe broaden to analyst roles related to insurance. I thought this hiring season would've been better but it's been brutal.

I’ve been in life for around 6 years and was wondering if it is possible to switch to health.

I’ve enjoyed working in life and have held various rotations, but I feel like I no longer see roles that would be appealing to me in life.

When I logged in at 7 last night to start my assessment, the End-of-Module Assessment button said "In Progress." I had tried to open it a few days ago, but it just showed an error page, and I definitely never downloaded anything or got a warning that I was starting (per the FAQ ). When I open the EMA window, it also doesn't tell me that I've started the clock. When I click "Read the Terms and Conditions Agreement for Online Candidates," it takes me to an error page.

I have now downloaded the assessment PDF, but it never showed a warning that the clock was starting, and I don't see anything about a time window now.

How tf am I supposed to know how long I have to turn in the assessment? It seems bad faith to say "there is a hard deadline, but we won't tell you when it is."

Guess I better get back to work and turn it in ASAP.

Hi everyone,

My last FSA exam will be CFE 101 this Spring. I am on the Group Health track and have passed GHDP and GH201-U. For those who have taken CFE 101 from other tracks, how was your experience? What advice do you have? I'm a little intimidated by the difference in content.

Recent ACAS here trying to decide what exam to take in the Spring. My background is reserving, but I’ll be moving into a more pricing centered role soon.

Any recommendations on which exam to take first? My thinking is to take 7 first while the concepts are very familiar. However I could see an argument for 8 first as a way to jump start the experience in pricing.

• Source: LO text is copied verbatim from the SOA's ILA 201-U syllabus (Nov 2025 / Mar 2026 / Jul 2026 version). TIA lesson numbers are from TIA's F2026 course.
• LO 3 "crediting rating agency" is the SOA's wording, not my typo
• I'd say I'm happy to share a plain-text/table version if anyone wants it for copying or accessibility... but also I can't guarantee whether I'll check and see within the next 4 weeks

Good luck to everyone sitting for the 11/18 exam!

At higher levels when you start having bonuses you are leaving behind in the 30-40k+ range are people getting this fully covered by a sign on bonus? It seems like that is the main way the math works without taking a "promotion" and not coming ahead for over year, but I feel I have ran into multiple situations where they have a "cap" of 10-15k for sign on bonuses.

hey, i submitted a post on this channel last week and it absolutely blew up. we had so many applications go through. a bunch of the job postings shut down in the days following my post because of the large influx of applications that were going in. i've gone ahead and updated the job links in this new link. please make sure to apply as soon as possible to ensure that your application is at the top of the pile. i've pulled the freshest job postings that i could.

here are the actuarial, pricing, reserving and catastrophe modelling roles open right now, pulled from employers' own careers pages:

• UK insurers and Lloyd's syndicates (30): https://github.com/mehek-builds/UK-Insurance-and-London-Market-Jobs/blob/main/lists/actuarial-pricing-modelling.md
  • 30 roles at 17 employers (AXIS Capital, Chaucer, Hiscox, MS Amlin, Tokio Marine HCC, Markel, Starr, Travelers, Bupa, Rothesay)
  • pricing actuaries and analysts, reserving and capital modelling, exposure management and cat modelling; every level except director and head
  • placement and graduate roles are in the same repo
• US remote actuarial roles (44): https://github.com/mehek-builds/Remote-Jobs/blob/main/lists/actuarial.md
  • 44 roles at 23 companies (CareSource, Centene, Oscar Health, The Standard)

rebuilt every monday.

comment which area and country you're after and i'll send you a list for it.

My wife and I have a new born. I did not purchase banquet ticket because we would have to bring the new born with us. Is it possible for them just to attend the diploma and skip the banquet? Or a guest pass must be purchased?