June 1st 2012.
11AM.
Final Lecture in Life Contingencies.
这节课也许是我这辈子上过的最有价值的一节课。
还有半年就毕业了，到底为什么选择精算，以后何去何从，路该如何去走，今后有什么机遇和挑战，让我们听听老前辈们有什么建议。
文章是有些长，但是非常好，大家一定会有启发。希望精算同仁在实现梦想的道路上一帆风顺吧。
【声明：此文为转载，转载请标明原作者】

Aaron's general advice
By Aaron Grant Bruhn

My disclaimer: What follows is purely a personal view, complete with my own biases, etc
- may or may not be helpful, over to you what you take on board!
- all based merely on my own observations of the working world, the expectations of graduating students, own mistakes made and opportunities missed, and so on.

If you want to continue on with the actuarial thing, what lies ahead? Study: When you have all your part I exams (8 CT subjects), then you have:
Part II exams
Control Cycle + Investments course. You sit this through a University. Some will do it as part of a post-graduate degree (honours or Masters), others will do it on a non-award basis. Either is ok!
NOTE: Many outstanding students in part I exams do not do well in this course.
Part III exams 4 exams.
The second and third exam have to be a combination of 2 exams in one specialist area (Life Insurance, General Insurance, Pensions/Retirement incomes, or Investment management/Finance)
The first one can be an exam from any of the specialist areas above, or ERM, or this first exam will be exempted if you have PhD, CA/CPA, or CFA qualifications.
The fourth one is a Commercial Actuarial Practice course and exam.
NOTE: Yes...the pass rates are low, for lots of reasons.
BUT take heart:
In primary school...did other (older) kids ever say “wait until you do maths in year 3” etc or Uni, 3rd year versus 1st year. You prepare yourself at the time for what is in front of you as best you can, and have a go. The difference with these exams...if you don’t prepare really well, your chances of passing are veeeeeeeery low.
Finally: You sit a professionalism course as well (no assessment with this), then you are a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Actuaries (FIAA).
FIAA, FIA, or FSA? Doesn’t really matter in the long run. Probably what is most relevant (geographic) to your employer and what they are willing to pay for!
If you have struggled to get the actuarial exemptions so far, then hope is not lost, But you need to know that it will be difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. Sometimes though those that work hard, just get part I exemptions eventually, then do really well in getting through parts II and III. They are looking at different skills to part I.

If you have flown though the actuarial exemptions so far, then watch out – you also need to know that it will be difficult from here on.
Parts II and III are not part I on steroids! It is like learning about rugby and then playing rugby....(as much as any exams can do this)
Work:
Key thing – just getting started! You can’t guarantee your first job will be really good
(it might well be) but if you are wanting to qualify as an actuary, having a first job which doesn’t totally drain you is a good thing. You will need energy, time, ‘brain space’ etc for study.
But if your first job is busy, challenging, etc, all the better – you’ll get exposed to things which will help you in exams. But try not to sacrifice study time & energy for work
in the early years.
So... either way – just getting started somewhere is the big thing. After 18 months to 2 years, you’ll know how things are in the actuarial world in terms of study progress, opportunities, types of work, etc
I’m not sure if I want to continue on with the actuarial thing – in fact, I have no idea what I want to do!
Nothing to panic about.
If you don’t want to qualify and work as an actuary – that is ok (!) – it is not a crime against humanity to not become an actuary!
One way to think about “what do I do”; Think of the intersection of 3 things:
• What do I like doing
• What am I good at
• Where are there opportunities to pay the bills
If one of these is missing from your vocational choice, it can become hard.
Work can be fun. But it is rare that is it always fun, 100% of the time.
So don’t expect that you are continually in the “zone” of loving what you do. This is very normal! But if you never like what you do, it is time to change.

OK, so what does the actuarial thing offer
Main fields – life insurance, general insurance, consulting, reinsurance and also Growing roles in health insurance, banking, investments, etc.
But other things possible – public service (health, social services, defence, etc), tertiary teaching, supervisory (APRA), Treasury, Reserve banks, ....
A professional ticket which has real value in the long term. It is something that not everyone can get, is well respected in the business community, and it opens up lots of doors.
One of the most (if not the most) portable qualification to work around the world. But be aware: If you want lots of money fast, actuarial might not be your thing!
A lot of actuaries wouldn’t do it all again if they had the choice once more.
- Mainly due to the study, the fact that other peers get bigger opportunities and
more responsibility (management consulting, investment banks, etc) more quickly, including travel, pay, etc
But the pay is good (newly qualified fellows would be somewhere in the region of 100k – 120k, depending on the job and years of experience. You can then expect to go up about 5-10k per year for 5 years post-qualifying, to somewhere in the range 120-170k. Then it all depends on where you go in terms of higher positions, or just be content to actuarialise away for a while).

When you’re 35, do you want to be working 70+ hours/week and earning 200k+?
Or working <50 hours a week and earning 120-170k?
Or working 60 hours and getting paid 50k?
Or working 168 hours a week and getting paid ZIP?
(the last two might be the most content of all of these!) So it all depends what you actually are after...
Overall – how to choose a path, and why?
(warning: here’s where it is especially my own view)

Long term versus short term. What’s important to you and why? Not just with vocational choice but how this fits into other priorities in your life.
Start somewhere. Don’t take forever to make a decision on things.
When you get a job – you’ve been given the means to earn money, survive, provide for yourselves and others – you’re the lucky ones.
Make the most of it.

Your life can change in a second – you know the numbers after doing this course! Chances are some of you in this room will have your lives turned upside down in the next 10-15 years, and all your former plans go out the door. This doesn’t mean not to plan, dream, etc etc, but don’t overlook taking things one step at a time and making the most of what is before you.
If your boss is awful, job is boring, etc. Either do something about it or consider it a small price to pay for the opportunity. Don’t stay there and moan about it!
You are a ‘select’ (remember that word?) audience. You’re probably all working hard-ish, all got very good ability, and most likely have very bright prospects in front of you.
So finally...the take it or leave it 4 bits of advice.
1. Be prepared to work hard at whatever you do.
If you don’t, you can’t expect any rewards to come your way ($ important, but personal satisfaction and contribution to those around you may be more so?)
One proverb says:
The lazy man says, "There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!" Hard work won’t kill you!
2. Hard work does not equate to doing lots more study (but may include it).
This is the danger of the actuarial thing if you have 10 years of attempting exams in front of you.
Another proverb says:
“Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.”
Ever observe how coming out of a hard exam is different to post-exercise fatigue? Or how hard it can be to study constructively for more than 5 or 6 hours a day?
Yet a lot of you could probably get into a job and if you liked it, get on a roll And happily tick away 8-10 hours a day. Working is different to study!
3. Get good advice from those you trust and who know you.
Some or all of work colleagues, friends, etc. not all advice will be good, and don’t take forever to make a decision on things, yet still it is better to get advice than not.
Yet another proverb says:
“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”

4. Know what you value, and don’t be afraid of making a difference!
Think about what is important to you. How do study choices, vocational aspirations, etc, fit in with that?
Make the most of what you have. What you do with what you have matters more than what you have.
I wish each of you all the best for whatever lies ahead.
☺
最后结尾处，是Aaron标志性的survival smiling face，谢谢Aaron，那个来自新西兰，狂热的橄榄球爱好者，陪我走过精算这两年，明年Control Cycle再见！
希望这篇文章能帮助大家让大家好好思考下，到底要什么，走精算对不对，希望大家坚持自己的梦想。
自己选择的路，跪着也要走完！