Overview of Actuarial Internships

Think of it as a free trial period with no obligation for either party to buy. That's one actuary's advice on co-op employment and summer internships. Scott Sadler, Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (FCIA), formerly in charge of Manufacturer's Life (Manulife) Insurance Company's internship program, Waterloo, Ontario, said these temporary forms of employment let students and companies take a good, long look at each other before committing to permanent relationships. Though snagging a co-op job or internship does not guarantee a permanent job at that company, many students find it opens the door to employment. In addition to work experience, it provides an insider's view of a company and the day-to-day work of actuaries, Sadler said.

Recent Allstate Insurance Company, Northbrook, Ill., summer intern, Stacey Haller, agreed. "It is difficult to learn what an actuary does on a daily basis from a professor. They can supply you with the immense knowledge needed on actuarial exams, but the internship can show you the responsibilities and tasks of an actuary."

Georgia State University, headed by Robert Batten, Fellow of the SoA (FSA), has one of the United States’ largest actuarial science programs. "While I don't think it's essential to have an internship to get hired, it does help give a picture of the job," said Batten, whose program currently has between 175-180 undergraduate and graduate students.

Steve Kopp, FCIA, of the University of Western Ontario, said his two-year-old internship program allows students to gain experience and really drives home to them the value companies place on actuarial exams.

Where to find them

University placement offices are a good starting point in locating such opportunities. Companies often do on-campus interviews for interns and co-op students, usually during January and February when companies are on campus anyway to interview candidates for permanent hire.

Haller who graduated from Illinois State University, took advantage of her campus's "Intern Day," a program allowing students to meet representatives of insurance companies and to leave their resumes for consideration.

The Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) and Society of Actuaries (SOA) offer an online resource, Actuarial Training Programs, listing companies offering internships and co-ops. It lists the contact person, address, phone, fax, hiring requirements of the company, and an idea of the salary range. However, Jennifer Cohen, who interned at Metropolitan Life Insurance Co, New York, suggested students should not rely on that source alone. "If you are interested in a firm that's not listed, apply for an internship anyway. The company may create an opportunity for you."

How to get hired

In this process, as in the "real world" job marketplace, interviews and resumes are extremely important. Many companies do not set a minimum grade point average or a minimum number of exams, but most calculate pay on the basis of exams passed. As for GPA, Batten said, "Basically, every student we have who is a quality student can get an internship." He thinks a GPA of 3.0 plus is adequate for most employers.

Hiring decisions are largely based on interviews. Dale Porfilio, Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS) with Allstate, is actively involved in hiring interns for his company. Allstate representatives do a pre-selection process based on resumes and arrange personal interviews on campus during the winter months. The interviewers work in pairs doing either two separate one-on-one interviews, or, one two-on-one interview. The campus interviews are then followed by an expense-paid trip to the company's headquarters for a tour and a second interview.

Porfilio said Allstate extensively uses behavior description interviewing, which asks candidates to describe the way he or she responded to actual situations. "Past behavior is the strongest predictor of successful job performance," Porfilio said. Adaptability and team work are two of the intangibles Porfilio said Allstate seeks.

He recommended students get help creating a professional resume from their campus placement offices. "Because we pre-select for interviews from resumes, it is of the utmost importance that a candidate's resume be clear and concise. Keep it to one page, attach a cover letter if you have more to tell us."

Students should put GPA and exam history at the top of that page, said Porfilio. "If they don't, we're going to ask. Often candidates tell us they don't include those things because they're not proud of their exam or grade point record. But having sat for an exam and failed shows more interest and commitment to the career than not having sat for an exam."

At London Life Insurance Co., London, Ontario, Anne Toal, FCIA, coordinates recruiting of students from the University of Waterloo for co-op jobs. The company has employed students in the university co-op program for more than 20 years. The university asks the students to rank the companies with which they interview and, of course, the companies rank students. It is a process Toal calls "complicated, but efficient."

What will you do all day?

According to GSU's Batten, the work interns and co-op students do is substantive. "You used to have to worry that students were going to be given clerical work to do during their internships, which isn't useful at all to them. But that has changed. I haven't head a complaint about doing menial tasks from an intern in 10-15 years."

Sadler said, "The work involves doing a lot of system conversion and migrations. It's solid actuarial stuff." The computer skills require working with the Windows 95 package and spreadsheet.

Porfilio said Allstate's interns do the same work as full-time analysts. After an intensive three-week training program, "they do meaningful work, not menial jobs," he said. "If the interns were not here, full-time analysts would be responsible for these projects."

Stacey Haller seconded that opinion. "Immediately on starting, I was given an auto rate revision to work on over the summer. The training at the start of my internship, along with the hands-on experience, gave me a solid foundation in insurance and actuarial processes."

An open door to a permanent job?

While all the companies interviewed for this story stressed that internships and co-ops are not guarantees of permanent employment with a company, hiring former interns is quite common. Haller accepted a full-time offer upon her graduation. Cohen ended up with MetLife. Porfilio said Allstate made full-time permanent offers to 11 of its 14 interns last year.

Many co-op students at London Life are offered permanent positions, according to Toal. Batten estimates more than half of the students doing internships from GSU are permanently hired by the companies they interned at, which he pointed out, is, "A good reason to do some significant research on a company before accepting an internship."

What will I be paid?

Annualized pay at Manulife is based on number of actuarial exam credits and is virtually the same money as for a new hire. With 50-75 credits, a student a Manulife would be earning in the mid-high $20's (Canadian).

London Life, which has almost 100 full-time permanent actuaries worldwide, can pay co-op or summer students anywhere from $23,000-$35,000 (Canadian) in annualized salary, depending on their academic status and prior experience. There is no exam minimum for the low end of the pay scale.

At Allstate, the salary is a substantial percentage of the starting salary for full-time permanent employees. For recent graduates, it is linked to the number of exams passed. An additional benefit is for interns accepting permanent positions. Allstate offers tuition reimbursement of up to $8,000 for a student's senior year costs, or students can elect a one-time "signing bonus."