This blog states the tips which are important for any job seeker to consider for his actuarial resume. This blog is written by Carlo Lahura, FCAS.
As university recruiting season is underway, I thought I’d share some of my top tips for creating a actuarial resume that will stand out!
This comes from my own experience of screening 100+ resumes for internship/executive volunteer positions & resume critiques, as well as my own application experience for dozens of jobs throughout universities
Let’s see what we have for tips on having a better resume:
1. Peer review of your actuarial resume
I am a STRONG believer of peer reviews. There is absolutely NO resume out there that is too perfect to not benefit off another peer review.
Other people can almost ALWAYS add perspectives and opinions on items you would never have thought twice on. My final university resume was not a compilation of my own ideas, but rather, the product of the best advice my dozens of peer reviewers had throughout my five years.
2. Quantify
Solely-qualitative phrases will have a hard time showing the true size of your accomplishments. Furthermore, quantify your results to help make you stand out and give the recruiter a true feel of just how much you’ve achieved!
I honestly don’t see this one being done enough, and am surprised at just how much some actuarial resume are lacking this extra firepower. It really can make a difference.
3. Avoid Job Description
Leaders don’t want someone who JUST DOES the job description. They want someone who goes ABOVE & BEYOND the job duties. This being said you should answer following questions.
Did you bring significant change in your prior positions? Large results that were felt throughout the team? Spearheaded new initiatives?
MENTION IT!
For Example:
My interviewers were always interested and amazed in the new initiatives I spearheaded within my club presidencies. It really is something that can make you stand out.
4. Quality Over Quantity
The first ~2-3 bullet points (per position) usually give a good idea of what you did – anything beyond that is valuable space real estate that could be used for other sections in an actuarial resume.
5. Cut The 2-Page Resume
Similarly to above, if the first page with your STRONGEST points isn’t enough to convince a recruiter, the second one with your WEAKER points will definitely NOT make the difference!
Although I held 5 club presidencies during university, I did not include all of them on my graduating resume. Why? Because I knew if my top presidencies did not convince the recruiter of my value, the other lesser-value presidencies would not be the tipping point.
Stick to your guns, focus on what matters, and make sure that it’s knocked out of the park.
6. Color
Making your actuarial resume stand out with a simple, light color template can be a complete game changer. Search in Google Images for “color resume” to get an idea of what I’m referring to.
This is an easy but effective way to make your resume stand out to recruiters. I believe it will definitely stand out among the hundreds of black-and-white resumes that seem to yell “generic”.
Nonetheless, I’d suggest to not be too wild with the colors. Keep the perceived professionalism level of your desired industry in mind.
In addition to this, I can’t think of why any industry would frown upon a light coloring enhancement of the resume. It shows creativity in distinguishing one’s product from the hundreds of others on the market.
7. Avoid Generic Phrases
If anyone can steal a line from your resume and have it still be possibly true, it should be taken off.
I’m referring to:
“Strong communication skills”
“Proven team leader”
These are statements with little-to-no-value because anyone can use them. It proves NOTHING. HOWEVER, if you pair them with a specific piece from your experience, then it can actually be worth keeping. Such as:
“Strong communication skills developed through 20+ presentations”
“Proven team leader of 2 club presidencies”
See the difference?
FAQs on Actuarial Resume
If you have any questions on your actuarial resume, feel free to read all of our job tips here.
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Carlo Lahura, FCAS has written this blog for us. I thank him for writing this article and giving us permission to post it here. I urge you to visit his LinkedIn profile and share your views/ideas/comments/feedback with him. Thanks for reading.
Vitthal has published this article.