The Actuarial Internship Interview - What to Expect

By David C. Jones

Last week I had my first interview for an actuarial internship and it was NOTHING like what I was expecting. I thought that I would share the experience with you, for those who haven't been put through the rigors of one yet.

Every job I have ever applied for, up until now, has been your typical McDonald's interview. You sit down with the boss for 20 minutes, answer a few questions, and hope for a phone call the next day. This is totally not what interviewing for an actuary position is like.

First, I met the site manager. She didn't really ask any questions. She was not an actuary herself; her job was to keep the office running. This doesn't mean you should underestimate somebody in this position. It is quite the opposite. After all, she has final say in who gets the job. We talked a little bit about my work experience and it was a nice way to warm-up.

Second, I gave a brief introductory speech about myself to the eight people who would be interviewing me later. This is your basic "tell me about yourself" routine. They didn't ask me anything, so it was a nice "open-mic" for me to say all the things to them I wanted to make sure I said. Unfortunately, I didn't practice for this before the interview (even though I knew better), so I may have not done so well here. It was good though because, since I was going to be interviewed by these people individually, it prevented me from having to repeat important things about my life in each of the individual interviews. In any case, "tell me about yourself" is always the most important question in an interview, so prep yourself for it.

Next, I had an interview with the two "senior" actuaries of the firm. This was probably the most intense portion of the interview. Many questions were asked about my career goals and how my previous jobs fit in with those goals. Important lesson learned: be prepared to justify why you want to be an actuary. Odds are that when you are awarded an internship you will be there for a couple of years, or at least they will expect you to stay that long. Nobody is going to hire you in this profession if they don't think you are seriously interested in this or if they think you're just here to "try it out" as a possible job.

Next, I interviewed with two of the higher ups. They tended to talk about what type of projects the firm gets involved in and how I can use my existing skills toward those projects. I did my homework, so I knew what types of projects the company did in a broad sense. However, the firm I interviewed with was a national firm and it turns out the branch I was applying at did have a specialty. I really had to wing this part because I wasn't prepared for questions about their particular specialty, but the research I had done beforehand was still helpful. Lesson learned: Actuaries really deal with a lot of issues besides life and health insurance. Some actuary firms do some work in terms of business consulting and risk analysis instead of what you might think of as "typical" actuary work. If you are applying for a small firm, find out what field they specialize in, if any. Does the company you are applying for perform actuarial services or do they do consulting work, or both? Which of these options interests you most?

The next interview was with the two people who would be my immediate supervisors. Surprisingly this was not as intensive as one might think, but I was also pretty much in the flow of interviewing at this point. I don't remember much of the specifics of this part of the interview, but this was the portion where they talked about the "team player" aspect of the job. Remember that in any project that comes into the company, there will be a lot of numbers to crunch. The crunching duties will be dispersed among several people. How well you work in an environment where you have to share those responsibilities with your co-workers will be important.

These were also the people who asked me a lot of questions about the actuarial program itself. It's hard for me to know how important this aspect of the interview is. On one hand, I fear it may have hurt me because there were some things about the whole certification process that I was clueless on. On the other hand, it was a great opportunity for me to clarify those issues with people who had actually gone through them. My advice would be that when you get to this part of the interview, simply admit what you don't know and milk the interviewer for everything you can. Sure, it may make you look ignorant, but you will be that much less ignorant for the next interview.

Cool things I did not know: Most companies will pay for your study materials, your exam fees, and even give you time to study while you are at work. During your interview, find out what they are willing to offer you in that respect. I don't know that I would turn down a job offer based on this factor alone, but if you have other interviews, it could be the factor that helps you choose one firm over the other. Also, many companies will give you a bonus or a raise (or both) after you pass an exam. Personally, I don't think of salary as a major issue, but if you are the type of person who does, this is the time to ask about bonuses. However, I would not ask about your hiring salary at the point. That is an issue best discussed after somebody is willing to hire you.

The last phase of the interview was with the two current interns at the company. These two will be my co-workers should I be hired. It was the most leisurely time of the interview and very few questions were asked of me. It's really your time to ask questions about the company and about the job. If you are a candidate who has several interviews or you have concerns over this particular employer, this is the time to needle the company grunts and ask them what you care about. This will help you find out if this is really the right company for you.

All together, I spent two and a half hours on the entire interview. This is obviously a huge difference compared to the 20 minutes I was expecting. If you have another job or classes or something, make sure you get at least a half-day off. Don't drink anything before the interview. If you start wiggling around in your chair an hour into the interview because you're holding in those two cups of coffee, you're going to look nervous. Studies show that you think better on an empty stomach than you do on days when you don't eat well. I don't eat before interviews, but if you don't think you can make it through two hours of interviews without food, eat healthy and eat lightly.

I'm sure everybody is smart enough to know this, but do your homework and find out about the company. If you think you can make it through 2 hours of interviews without knowing anything about who you are interviewing with, you are going to look clueless. I have to admit, I didn't use half of what I researched, but the half that I did use was invaluable.

Read "101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions". Granted, I think only about five of the questions in the book were asked of me in the interview, but many of the other questions they asked I knew how to answer because I borrowed knowledge from the other 96 questions I had prepared for. Because of that book, there was only one question in the whole interview that caught me off guard. (Unfortunately, I forget what the question was.)

I hope this helped somebody. Lots of luck to you all.

David C. Jones davy@nightswimming.com

This story was originally posted to the Study Group1 e-mail list on September 5, 2000.