I've read the messages in these forums for quite some time, but have yet to register. So hi everybody. I'm a college student interested in an actuarial career. I'm majoring in Math under an Actuarial Science concentration. I have one semester left and currently plan to graduate in December. I've passed Exams P and FM. I wanted an internship this summer but came up short. I looked mainly in February/March. I found out that most employers went directly to universities looking for interns. More importantly, they mostly did so the previous semester in the Fall. I decided to get started studying for Exam MLC and look for full-time jobs this summer. I haven't received an offer yet (still a little early) but am quite pleased with the response I've been getting (phone interviews). My concern right now is with the amount of time I'm going to spend working. When I decided on this career, I knew that I would have to spend lots of my own time studying for exams. It's just that at the time I pictured myself working 40 hours a week. From my phone interviews, I'm finding out that I might expect to working substantially more than 40 hours a week. This is particularly much worse among consulting firms. I feel somewhat lazy for asking for a 40 hour work week. However, I feel like passing the first two exams has demonstrated my aptitude and work ethic. I therefore feel like I deserve a fair shot at getting somewhere with these exams. I know that I'll have to stay late occasionally if something important comes up, or I make a mistake and have to do something over again. I know at first I may have to stay late to get trained and learn the ropes. I just don't like the idea of regularly working 10+ hour shifts every day . (The more I work, the more tired I am and the less time I have leftover). I've probably made clear the fact that exams are important to me. I once read that 7 out of 10 actuaries works for an insurance company. It now seems like the opportunity in consulting is growing much faster. Does anybody have any input (what it's like to work consulting and try to pass exams, is overtime in consulting regular or sporadic, names of insurance companies or even consulting firms (if that's possible) that have 40 hour work weeks). I appreciate anybody who responds or even takes the time to read this slightly lengthy post.
