Mock Interview with Co-worker and Senior Actuary

Today I had the opportunity to do a mock interview with a co-worker at Western & Southern Life Insurance Company, Isaac. About two weeks ago, I was eating lunch with him and he told me that he was the hiring manager at Lafayette Life Insurance Company, before they were acquired by Western & Southern. Per my request, he looked over my resume and cover letter then, and he was also willing to do a mock interview with me today.

Overall, he said I interviewed very well with a few things I could work on. First off, he said that I could be a little better with my eye contact – I tend to look slightly up and to the left when I think about how to respond to a question. Secondly, he said I shouldn’t be too forward about the possibilities of being hired on my first interview, as I somewhat asked what my chances were of getting the position. Finally, he warned me not to come off too confident, as it could seem arrogant.

This was great advice, as it applies to my current goal of finding a career as an actuary. Two things that could improve all aspects of my future goals is improving my eye contact and remembering people’s names. Further, my future goal of becoming an actuary doesn’t end with finding my future career: becoming an actuary will require extensive study time after work for next 5 years of my life. Isaac helped me realize that making “significant” progress as an actuarial college student isn’t the same as making significant progress towards being an actuary. His advice will help keep my confidence level in-check during my next career interview in May.

There were also things I did do well during my interview. After giving a horrific interview my freshman year in the attempt to become an RA, I really took the time to refine my interviewing skills. The most important thing I learned is to always answer a question through a personal experience. My number one tip would be not only to bring a resume for everyone you might interview with, but bring one for yourself too – that way when you draw a blank on one of the behavior type questions, you’ll have your resume sitting in front of you and you can quickly scan it for an answer.

Rarely will you be interviewed by someone who hasn’t at least glanced over your resume (and cover letter). I’ve spent a ton of time on both and the critique was light. Once again the main point Isaac made was to not to come off too confident. Secondly, Isaac recommended switching my second paragraph detailing my transferable skills, and my third paragraph which talked about my relevant actuarial experience. Obviously I took Isaac up on his advice, and made the appropriate changes.

All in all, I got some very important pointers, which will hopefully sharpen my appeal to future employers. Further, I’m glad that I got some practice before my big interview with an insurance company in May. I also now have a better idea as to how I will be perceived by senior actuaries in the field. Hopefully I will continue to sharpen these skills that ultimately will make a major impact on my life for years to come.

Work Expectations and Starting Out

Expectations: 

•  I have to work 40 hours per week. Each day I have to be at work from 9am - 3pm and I can fill in the rest of my 40 hours at anytime I want.
•  A major expectation I have in my work place is to manage my time extremely well. Since much of the work I do is independent and long-term projects, I have to be sure that I continuously make progress in ALL my assignments.
•  I have to wear a suit and tie everyday to work.
•  I have 3 supervisors: I report to two of them 1-3 times a day (each) and report to their boss about one time a week.

Other Information:

•  Western and Southern is a very conservative company and it's reflected in my expectations. While I believe that W&S goes very far out of their way to hire people with the highest standard of morals -- people that are incredibly willing to go out of their way to help you -- I find that I am expected to share and ask about personal lives with caution. 
•  I had an orientation which introduced me to the company. It was half a day long and included a tour, company history, some expectations, and current structure.
•  I rarely busy, but I always have something to do. Other people would probably say that I'm always busy, but actuaries have very low stress jobs, so even though I do a lot each day, I am almost never stressing over a deadline. If I can't figure something out, most the people around me have the time to help me too.
•  I love working both as a team and independently. In my job I do mostly the latter, and I wish I did work more work in a team. It seems like most actuarial analyst (actuaries in process of passes of their exams to become a licensed actuary) work mostly with others when they have someone check over their work, or when they are having another actuary teach them something. It seems like being an actuary is 60% work and 40% learning. 
• I love everything so far! -- I'm so lucky to have this job!!!

Me and My Job!

Hello, welcome to my blog! This is my first post, so I thought I would tell you a little about me.

Name: Zachariah Muhlenkamp

Graduation Date: August 2012

Major: Statistics

I am working as an Actuarial Intern in the Valuation Department of Western and Southern. W&S is a fortune 500 company based in Cincinnati, that develops life insurance products (i.e. life annuities). An actuary is a person who compiles and analyzes statistics to calculate risk (typically associated with insurance), to help determine what a customer should pay so that the company will be likely to make money. I work in the valuation department, which is a sub-group of the actuarial department. The valuation department typically requires a greater knowledge in accounting and finance as we determine how valuable the products W&S offers are to the company as market conditions change over time. For example, in 2000 W&S may have sold your father a life annuity. Perhaps your father agrees to give W&S $100 a month until 2015, when he is 65 years old. Then your father will receive $150 dollars each month for the rest of his life. As an actuary, I would determine when your father is likely to die, and what is the chance that my company would make so much money on the deal. However, I wouldn't ever look at just your father's information, instead I would look at the information of all the people like your father, who bought the same annuity as your father and I would only determine if the company will make money overall. 

I'm so excited to gain some actuarial experience! Some of my goals for my internship include:

1) Have career options at the end of my internship (I am graduating the same time my internship ends).

2) Increase my overall knowledge of insurance and actuarial sciences

3) Sharpen skills that will make me more valuable as an actuary