Can I get into actuarial profession with a Music degree...

Original post by jj193

I don't think it's worth it, in industry most employers are smart enough to know that exams mean absolutely nothing when it comes to doing the job and they're really looking for someone who is an expert in that area that can get a good job done. Studying actuarial exams is only a starting point to becoming a subject matter expert and it is a very inefficient method of doing so. For what it's worth, in my department the people commanding the best salaries have never studied exams. I would recommend something like Maths/CS/Data Science.

I think if you want to qualify quickly it can be a good route. I was talking to someone at work about this recently and he said he was really envious of people who have exemptions - that being said, I disagree! I am glad I studied something else. I'll learn everything I need to know while working.

Reply 2143

DH.

14

Hello guys, just have a few questions about peoples past experience before getting an internship/graduate job. I've currently finished my 2nd year out of four and I'm studying mathematics. I have two jobs as a waiter over the summer (one at an agency and another at a restaurant) and I'm wondering what else I should be doing ot be competitive for internships next year.

Thanks

Reply 2144

Johnny SPal

*Spews helpfulness from every orifice*

Yo. I was just looking back at the early days of this thread from way back when and it is unbelievable a) how many questions I asked you, mostly tedious ones, and b) how helpful you were. So, you know, thanks once again :bhangra: What would I have done without you??? Seriously.

X assignment due tomorrow. WHY DO I ALWAYS SIGN UP FOR THE MARKING.

ALSO, hang on, have you qualified????

Reply 2145

Slumpy

Original post by Jelkin

Yo. I was just looking back at the early days of this thread from way back when and it is unbelievable a) how many questions I asked you, mostly tedious ones, and b) how helpful you were. So, you know, thanks once again :bhangra: What would I have done without you??? Seriously.

X assignment due tomorrow. WHY DO I ALWAYS SIGN UP FOR THE MARKING.

ALSO, hang on, have you qualified????

Was up till late doing an assignment last night. Yay ST6. Accidentally way behind...

Reply 2146

JohnnySPal

2

Original post by Jelkin

Yo. I was just looking back at the early days of this thread from way back when and it is unbelievable a) how many questions I asked you, mostly tedious ones, and b) how helpful you were. So, you know, thanks once again :bhangra: What would I have done without you??? Seriously.

X assignment due tomorrow. WHY DO I ALWAYS SIGN UP FOR THE MARKING.

ALSO, hang on, have you qualified????

And no

I'm nearly there, but the profession decided that a 32% pass rate on their fellowship exam was the best way forward. It's almost as if they want to destroy the confidence of their entire member base before they qualify...

Reply 2147

Original post by Slumpy

Was up till late doing an assignment last night. Yay ST6. Accidentally way behind...

Know exactly what you mean. I have to study hard tomorrow. Maybe I'll post on here a lot as I'm doing it - a throwback to my university days.

Original post by JohnnySPal

And no

I'm nearly there, but the profession decided that a 32% pass rate on their fellowship exam was the best way forward. It's almost as if they want to destroy the confidence of their entire member base before they qualify...

Oh maaaan, sorry to hear that. It's the man trying to keep you down! Resitting in October?

Reply 2148

TomLeigh

2

Checking in again guys... somehow passed CA1 WAHOOOOOO.

Now onto CT6 and ST4.. what a strange sitting...!

Reply 2149

munn

Woohoo CA1 (re)done for now.

Now, I have to relearn CT5 from start to finish in a week. I have not managed my time very well.

I made a game for you all to try and work out the answer

http://playfamilyfortunes.com/play/wa9puv?lives=3&showLetterHints=true&playStarPrize=false&showIntro=false

Reply 2150

Original post by munn

Woohoo CA1 (re)done for now.

Now, I have to relearn CT5 from start to finish in a week. I have not managed my time very well.

I made a game for you all to try and work out the answer

http://playfamilyfortunes.com/play/wa9puv?lives=3&showLetterHints=true&playStarPrize=false&showIntro=false

I'm doing similar with CT8. Facepalm.

GAH exams. I've been so unmotivated in this sitting. How was CA1?

Reply 2151

munn

Original post by Jelkin

I'm doing similar with CT8. Facepalm.

GAH exams. I've been so unmotivated in this sitting. How was CA1?

How'd it go? Heard it was a brutal paper. CT5 wasn't much better, looks like I may have to sit it a 4th time.
I don't get it either, I find it all so easy when I'm studying and everything is intuitive, yet as soon as I get in the exam room the paper just looks like a whole new language. The worst.

CA1 I can't really tell. You know how it is. Loads of questions coming up with ideas that may or may not be on the marking schedule.
Let's just hope at least one of them went well, I haven't passed and exam (except CA2 and CT9 I guess) since April 2014 sitting now ugh

Reply 2152

Original post by munn

How'd it go? Heard it was a brutal paper. CT5 wasn't much better, looks like I may have to sit it a 4th time.
I don't get it either, I find it all so easy when I'm studying and everything is intuitive, yet as soon as I get in the exam room the paper just looks like a whole new language. The worst.

CA1 I can't really tell. You know how it is. Loads of questions coming up with ideas that may or may not be on the marking schedule.
Let's just hope at least one of them went well, I haven't passed and exam (except CA2 and CT9 I guess) since April 2014 sitting now ugh

I'm glad you heard that, makes me feel better! I was about to write more about it but realised that we're still in the exam period so don't want to reveal anything ... anyway, I didn't feel like it went well, but it wasn't a complete disaster. I wouldn't be surprised if I failed but I haven't definitely (which is better than last time!).

CA1 is awful. Fingers crossed for you! I have SA4 next but I don't think I'm going to be very well-prepared. We'll see ...

And April 2014 isn't that bad, it means you had two sittings where you didn't pass anything which isn't too uncommon. Chin up :smile:

Reply 2153

mizzsnazzter

Original post by TomLeigh

Checking in again guys... somehow passed CA1 WAHOOOOOO.

Now onto CT6 and ST4.. what a strange sitting...!

CT6 is a pain in the arse! Good luck for Tuesday! (Ps is this a retake for you?)

Also did anyone take ct2 or ct4 this sitting? If so how do you think it went?

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Reply 2154

Antzlck

Original post by mizzsnazzter

CT6 is a pain in the arse! Good luck for Tuesday! (Ps is this a retake for you?)

Also did anyone take ct2 or ct4 this sitting? If so how do you think it went?

Posted from TSR Mobile

We're not allowed to say too much but ... I sat CT4 and thought it was a nice paper, having said that, it was the first CT I've done so far that I was a little time pressured. I make a note in the exam how long I've got to answer each question (marks x 1.8) and if I'm not done by then I move on and come back to it later if I have time. Don't know how true this but I think examiners want to see that you can answer questions from across the course so this strategy is a good idea. In previous CTs I've been able to complete the paper fully (well, everything I'm able to answer!) with time to spare to go back over questions. I didn't have time to do that with CT4. I haven't sat CT5 which I've heard is very time pressured. How'd you find it?

Reply 2155

mizzsnazzter

Original post by Antzlck

We're not allowed to say too much but ... I sat CT4 and thought it was a nice paper, having said that, it was the first CT I've done so far that I was a little time pressured. I make a note in the exam how long I've got to answer each question (marks x 1.8) and if I'm not done by then I move on and come back to it later if I have time. Don't know how true this but I think examiners want to see that you can answer questions from across the course so this strategy is a good idea. In previous CTs I've been able to complete the paper fully (well, everything I'm able to answer!) with time to spare to go back over questions. I didn't have time to do that with CT4. I haven't sat CT5 which I've heard is very time pressured. How'd you find it?

Yeah I thought it was a nice paper too which is annoying because I felt I knew the course pretty well so the pass mark is going to be much higher :/ and yeah I felt the same, although the past papers I was doing for ct4 were well within time but this one was more of a push. Do you know what the rough pass mark is for ct4? Around 55%? Ct5 is very time pressured! I think I had to miss 5-8marks because I ran out of time, but I still managed to pass :smile:

I believe the pass mark is much lower for ct5 because no one finishes in time!

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 2156

Antzlck

Original post by mizzsnazzter

Yeah I thought it was a nice paper too which is annoying because I felt I knew the course pretty well so the pass mark is going to be much higher :/ and yeah I felt the same, although the past papers I was doing for ct4 were well within time but this one was more of a push. Do you know what the rough pass mark is for ct4? Around 55%? Ct5 is very time pressured! I think I had to miss 5-8marks because I ran out of time, but I still managed to pass :smile:

I believe the pass mark is much lower for ct5 because no one finishes in time!

Posted from TSR Mobile

Given how the pass rates for these exams fluctuate so much it seems that an "easier" paper is a good thing for the candidates sitting that paper, as in easier paper= higher pass rate, harder paper = lower pass rate, I bet we see this for CT4 when he results of released. I see comments from ActEd such as "this was a difficult paper compared with past exams and this is reflected in the low pass rate" which backs up what I'm saying. I don't know how pass marks are actually set but it seems odd to me that pass rates would vary so much; the overall standard of candidates can't fluctuate so much in each sitting(?) so it has to be the difficulty of the paper. Wouldn't a fairer system adjust for the difficulty of the paper and so pass rates would be more consistent? Does anyone know if the institute have ever provided any clarity around this?

This April's CT6 pass rate was c. 45%. It was a hard paper and I came out of it thinking I had failed but didn't which tells me there there is clearly some adjustment for the difficulty of the exam. There have been other sittings where the pass rate approached 70% though! Why? Because they were much easier papers!

I never attempted to complete a full CT4 past paper in a single sitting before sitting the actual exam- just did past questions by topics- so no idea how the time pressure compared with previous papers.

CT7 tomorrow then I'm done .... For a bit. :biggrin:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 2157

BestBehaviour

1

How far into each sitting is it you guys get started with the core materials?

Reply 2158

JohnnySPal

2

Original post by Jelkin

I'm glad you heard that, makes me feel better! I was about to write more about it but realised that we're still in the exam period so don't want to reveal anything ... anyway, I didn't feel like it went well, but it wasn't a complete disaster. I wouldn't be surprised if I failed but I haven't definitely (which is better than last time!).

CA1 is awful. Fingers crossed for you! I have SA4 next but I don't think I'm going to be very well-prepared. We'll see ...

And April 2014 isn't that bad, it means you had two sittings where you didn't pass anything which isn't too uncommon. Chin up :smile:

Indeed - I'm still to sit mine this time 'round! :frown:

I went two years without passing any exams, if I recall correctly. It was getting me down a lot, but I changed things up a bit and ended up getting two of the CAs and the two STs in less than a year. I'm sure the passes will start to flow again with experience and a spot of luck.

The other thing to consider with later exams is that the pass rates go down quite dramatically and you're competing against better quality candidates. Lots of people are bound to succumb to the step-change in the required standard, and if anything failing a couple of exams will be a good learning experience for most people. Dare I say that something ended up clicking with CA1, for example, and I think I benefited from having to do the resit - I'm almost sort-of very weirdly glad that I was made to do it again! (Don't hurt me, guys.)

Reply 2159

Slumpy