<p>Also, do you necessarilly have to pass 1 or 2 actuarial exams before you graduate from college?</p>
<p>You have to pass 1 or 2 exams in order to get an actuarial analyst job.</p>
<p>There are a few programs where you can intern, get a full time offer, and then pass the P or FM exam within your first year but normally, entry level actuarial jobs require at least 1 exam.</p>
<p>THe honest truth is that it’s a tough market. I don’t have time, but I’ll tell you more if I can later. Just know that it’s no walk in the park to find a job. Think three exams.</p>
<p>You need some exams. The days of one exam=job are long over. And you need an internship. I know some people with three exams, no internship, and can’t find a job. The average person out there seems to have 2-3 exams when graduating college, plus an internship. (You can’t really get an internship without an exam). Sites like beanactuary.org pump up the profession past reality. Look at forums like actuary.com and actuarial outpost (google it). Those people should also be taken with a grain of salt, though, because satisfied actuaries are less likely to hang out on forums than the ones who can’t find jobs.</p>
<p>In any case, it’s a competitive market. Every job opening has a flood of applicants. I don’t mean to discourage you from doing it, if you’re dedicated, but it’s not the kind of career you fall into if you have nothing else. You have a long and difficult road of exams before you, good luck. If you really want, you’ll make it. But don’t believe everything people tell you about how it’s a great field, recession proof, or whatever. The actuarial field is hurting right now from the recession.</p>
<p>thanks for the reply! I actually took back the idea of becoming one</p>
<p>To become an actuary is like playing russian roulette, for you will find that of the few actuarial positions available, many an other seeks the same position; therefore, you are at very difficult lottery playing odds. Furthermore, it is who you know not what you know, and, yes, if you are the son of the executives or know the executives of the firm, you stand the better chance. If you choose a math degree, you better support it with an accounting or computer science degree. Good luck!!! These power ball numbers 3-7-18-21-23; powerball 3 may do you better, though.</p>
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<p>Becoming an actuary is a good idea, if you like to do complicated math. It is definitely not a major that you choose because you are unsure about what you want in life. I don’t know what kkrugerud is talking about because actuaries are one of the most sought out people. I am a new actuary that recently passed the P exam, which is the first exam, as a freshman at Penn State University, and I had little trouble getting an internship. Furthermore, you do not have to take all of the exams that are offered, and many of the current actuaries don’t take all the exams. You can choose to stop whener you desire to.</p>
<p>It is almost imperative however, that you have at least one exam passed to get an internship since companies rarely hire without one (the only exception is to be hired “in contingency” which basically means that you will pass an exam while you are in the internship).</p>
<p>I don’t know how the market is in the US, but it is an extremely bad time to become an actuary in Canada. </p>
<p>Usually students here graduate with 3-5 exams passed and still have a hard time getting a job because universities here pump out hundreds of students every year. </p>
<p>To make matters worse, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries is going to grant EXAM CREDIT for taking university courses in Actuarial, which means that almost all students will graduate with 5 exams.</p>
<p><strong>You don’t get paid as much in Canada if you are an actuary as you do in the States.</strong> You would be lucky to make $100,000 in Canada at the age of 35 if you’re an actuary, and that is after you finish all the exams.</p>
<p>And don’t forget that most people haven’t heard of this profession so you would be back to school studying for another degree if you can’t find a job as an actuary or even more likely hate the job since it’s so mind-numbingly boring (you study complicated math at university but your day-to-day job requires nothing more than basic addition and multiplication).</p>