Seeking resume critique and comments/suggestions

[Darin]

Hi, everyone,

I'm looking for critiques or suggestions on my resume (attached). A few comments first, though:

1. I'm arriving late(r) in the actuarial field, about 15 years later than most entrants. As such, I'm not sure how to approach resume writing process compared to advice typically given here. I am currently working 3+ part-time jobs to get by, and I have a family. I have found it hard to find time to both study and apply for jobs with this load. Up until now, I've focused on studying and getting requirements done, and sent resumes to a few recruiters, but now I'm starting a full-fledged search process (not just recruiting firms, but monster-type sites, sending individual inquiries, networking, linkedin, etc.) We'll see how it goes juggling the two!!...

2. This is a rather generic resume, meaning non-specific. It's one I plan to give to recruiting firms e.g. But for individual jobs I would customize it obviously.

3. The suggestion about listing VEE/FAP progress was made by a Fellow who said it would add credence to the claim that I was committed to changing fields.

4. I come from the academic world, and CVs in academia seem to be worlds apart from resumes in the real world. I've tried to fashion the adjustment as best as possible. CVs are generally much longer (4-5 pages is not uncommon). I know this is 2 pages, not a single page, but with my education and 15 years after college graduation, I feel I should at least give the rough contours of my history. This is impossible in a single page. Some of the jobs are non-mathematical and non-technical, but I included them because I believe they show a variety of experiences working in the real world.

5. I have completed macro/micro VEE, but have not actually paid the two dollars to put this on file with SOA/CAS. Should I mention this? I'm not lying about having completed the stated requirement.

Thanks. :smiloe:

[NoMoreExams]

Your objective should be a sentence. If you have more to say, create a cover letter.

Talk about exams you've passed and note the next one you are taking. If you want to describe your aspirations for future exams, feel free to mention them in your cover letter.

Cut down the description of your jobs if they are similar. If the interviewer is interested, he/she will ask for details.

The fact that you are a Church musician for various Churches is unnecessary. Just say what you did and dates of employment i.e. it doesn't add much to your resume and takes up more space than necessary. (Same with Poker Dealer).

Your education should be above your non-work related experience and quite honestly not too much of what you did is directly related to actuarial work i.e. you taught which is great and shows your ability to explain complicated material to those not familiar with it but it's still not the same as say having an actuarial internship.

Your publications although show a side of you, in my opinion, do not add that much to your resume.

In short I would really suggest cutting this to a 1 page and creating a cover letter.

[Darin]

NME,

Thanks for the feedback. I will take some of your suggestions and try to reduce it to a single page, moving some of the other stuff to a cover letter. I'm still adjusting to non-academic way of thinking. A CV of a single page would be considered ludicrous, so that's just where I was coming from. I have also received feedback about resumes from friends and family in industrial, but non-actuarial fields, and I'm not certain how applicable that is to actuarial in particular.

I think you are right, the similar type jobs could be generically described. What would your be thoughts about a few brief bullet points on teaching, and then just verbally describing the other non-mathematical, non-actuarial work experience throughout the years in a couple lines? This would reduce a lot of space while conveying the main theme. I'll also take your advice to delete publications.

I understand that not too much of what I've done has been directly related to actuarial work. I just became really interested in economics, finance, insurance and actuary work the past 3 years or so, and I've been learning about it almost exclusively through self-study. I get the impression that experience is the factor that trumps everything else, even number of exams passed. While I understand the reason for this, it's frustrating because I feel I bring a lot of assets (communication, lots of experience dealing with a variety of co-workers and customers, history of following through on commitments, experience working on complicated analytic problems, ability to learn new ideas) that might be overlooked because I haven't been an intern or actuary before. I don't want to get to the situation of applying for jobs with an ASA on my resume (which I'm certain I can complete through self-study) and no actuarial work experience!! :unsure:

Do you have any idea about listing VEE without paying the two dollars?

[Darin]

NME,

Here's another draft after taking your suggestions into account.

I appreciate you taking time to help with this.:smiloe:

[JMO Fan]

Instead of "Next ...," state when you plan to take the exam/meet the requirement.

Put experience into bullets, and convert long sentences into soundbites.