leadership差点还可以在工作中培养，可是交流能力真的很重要。。。不然分数再好老板也不敢雇。

回答到位 +1

谢谢你的回答！对我考虑很有帮助，虽然说很想在国外就业，但是我觉得最终目的都是回国，我非常看好中国未来的保险市场，在国外也是一个积累经验的过程，我会慎重考虑选择的！Thanks a lot!

确实！你说的communication skill我也很看重，我一直希望把自己这块锻炼起来，你是美本，有没有对networking什么比较好的建议呢？

顺便问一下，你对networking能力的锻炼有没有什么比较好的建议呢？

https://bbs.pinggu.org/thread-2290144-1-1.html

这是我写的关于找精算实习的一些经验 你可以看看

I appreciate that!

if you really want to work in actuarial field in canada, i would suggest waterloo.

canada's life insurance industry is dominated by the big three, namely manulife, great west life, and sun life (ranked by market cap). both manulife and sun life have their canadian headquarter in waterloo and corporate (global) headquarter in toronto. alumni of waterloo have dominated actuarial departments (even non-actuarial functions) of these two companies. great west life locates its headquarter in winnipeg, manitoba, and has canada life as a subsidiary in toronto and london life another in london, ontario. although there are not as many waterloo alumni as in the other two, waterloo students still have quite some presence in great west life. in addition to the big three and life, waterloo also have network in property and casualty, reinsurance, pension fund, consulting, academia and government agencies. in one word, the network of waterloo could not be matched by any other, and network is where opportunity comes from. in job hunting, you will have resources inaccessible by competitors from other schools (unless they wish to diversify employee base on purpose).

please be aware that enrolling in a co-op program does not guarantee a co-op position. if you cannot find a co-op, then you are out of the game and have to be in the regular program. of course, companies (especially manulife) will hire co-ops specifically and the pool of competitors will be much different from that of full-time. I won't deny that fighting for a co-op may be less competitive, but i incline to think that it is rather a sense of security than a reality. say you are a waterloo co-op (undergraduate; they just don't call graduate student co-op). co-op positions are mostly for waterloo students as other school don't have that huge supply, so you are competing with your fellow students and your ("prestigious") school or program does not distinguish you, even your manager or interviewer is an alumnus or alumna. but if you are looking for a full-time, school helps a lot, especially in the first few rounds and if you are not that outstanding (though i wish not the case). people always claim they hire the best but they usually don't partly because misinformation comes into play. reputation is a kind of misinformation that could work in favor for you if properly used (of course i don't mean something else). back to the topic, do you still think finding a co-op is easier than a full-time? when it comes to job hunting, there is no difference between co-op and full-time. take both seriously.

it is widely observed that co-ops do land in a better full-time position or find a full-time job more easily than regulars. please note that it is an observation or relation, but explanations could vary and could be complex. yes, the industrial experience gained on a co-op significantly enhances one's skills and increases the odds of employment. is it the only explanation (i am being cautious here by avoiding the word "reason") to the observation? not everyone is able to be in co-op: co-ops are "left-truncated". those who are incapable to find a job quickly (no matter co-op position or full-time) will never be in co-op program or be kicked out; those who survive can still find a job quickly even without co-ops. this also makes statistics of co-op look fancy because this is a "conditional probability". so co-op helps the good become the better, and it hardly transforms the uncompetitive to the good. this effect should be taken into account when you interpret the numbers on hand. i hope you belong to the good, so co-op only "helps" you but you should be fine without it. your goal is a full-time position anyway.

if you are eager for working experience before graduation, no one will stop you finding an intern. simply take a term break and work as an intern (though procedures should be followed). on the other hand if you are tired of co-ops, just quit it. schools won't force you to finish your degree as soon as possible. neither will they plan or schedule for you. you are the master of your study and career. so please forget about things like one-year or two-year.

there are tons of chinese on waterloo campus, which may not be a good thing. however, there are even far more chinese in greater vancouver, which may also not be a good thing. in terms of english communication and cultural integration, neither is more helpful than the other. you have to be self-disciplined anyway. just don't let it complicate your decision.

by the way, waterloo is not as stellar as outsiders think. neither is actuarial science (compared to investment banking, portfolio management...). no matter which school you attend, what subject you learn, it is almost always true that no pains no gains. good luck.

这个真的首先要看你个人的兴趣啦

SFU我是不太了解，但是reputation方面还是挺有名的吧
waterloo我不太知道master program是怎么操作，但是在本科的话，就算没有COOP也是可以使用学校里找工作的系统的。有了这个系统jobmine，对于学生真是很大便利，所有工作申请面试之类的都可以通过这个系统进行。然后学校每个学期都有有一些workshop提供一些就业经验什么的（当然这个我估计每个学校都有。。。）

还有一点就是看你是不是想追求一下学术上的造诣？phd什么的？还是就毕业找工作？精算我觉得考了几个证还是蛮重要的 然后假期自己找一下实习。跟教授一起做一些research应该也是很有用的经历啦 然后大家说的networking  确实很重要。
WATERLOO每个学期都会有很多大公司来做一些介绍的presentation，你可以在结束后跟那些人攀谈，留下你的简历什么的（这个好像是蛮有用的但是我还没试过 哈哈）就算对这个公司没什么兴趣，去蹭个吃的。。呃。。也是不错的。。咳咳

就城市而言的话，waterloo就蛮无聊的啦。。。最近的就是多伦多。多伦多的工作机会还是蛮多的，各种各类的公司都有~

自己的小小想法啦，仅供参考。:P

Your answer is more than helpful!

Still, I have some other questions:

1. 我认为我最大的劣势在于working experience，and I'll definitelytry to find some kind of intern during my graduate study. 但是如果没有找到精算的intern，其他其他与保险相关的intern是否对未来full-time的Actuarial job是否有帮助，或是回国寻找精算intern的机会？

2. 对于Networking skill，前辈能否给出一些建议，这样建立一个比较好的人脉资源网络，项目时间很短我该如何利用这样的短期建立比较好的人脉系统？

3. 语言沟通交流方面的能力，前辈有没有一些Tips？

多谢前辈解惑！

哈哈，谢谢你的意见！
你是Waterloo的本科吗？

是滴 嘿嘿

呃呃呃。。看来后面大家都是一边倒的支持去滑铁卢的，但是我只能尽量客观的说。。。大家对滑铁卢的“关系网”期待值太高了。

这么说吧，我是从滑铁卢精算本科毕业的，但是我在召实习生的时候基本上最在意的是学生的考试数量跟实习经历，然后是课外活动交流能力跟性格之类的。任何一个学校精算专业+实习>滑铁卢无实习的学生。。。

（而且你这么想，如果十个申请人里面一个是你的校友，你可能还想照顾下，如果十个里面7-8个是校友，你就会觉得照顾也照顾不过来，还不如10个人都一视同仁呢，还公平些。。。是不是这个理？）

这样呐，有道理，当然问问实习的情况，如果是Master去找Intern（貌似学校不给Coop了），有没有机会找到精算的Intern？看起来前辈是业内人士呐～

If you want to find a industry job later, Waterloo is better.

1. Coop program
2. location (GTA area) - most insurance company headquarters on east coast

If you want to pursue PHD and be a professor later, SFU is much much better. SFU has one of the best statistics program in Canada. If you have received an offer from Waterloo, you can negotiate with SFU for more financial aid. SFU offered me $17K in addition to regular 全奖 in order to bring me to Vancouver.

Master program of Waterloo does not provide Coop. So we have to find internship by ourselves.

And I have just accepted the offer from University of Waterloo since I really want to work in industry in the future

移民啥的肯定SFU啊，毕竟那边人少，人才比较缺，加东这里已经很紧张了。。。

但是从业界角度。。。SFU当然大家都知道他的精算，但是想来东部的话，得非常优秀。
基本上，如果你不是top5的话，东部公司根本不会考虑从SFU招人。更何况你又没身份。

必然SFU啊，你才过来一年，还没有工作经验，这种资历要在过去估计能找到工作就只能倚望kc了，可是他现在也回香港了、而且实话说做精算的本科足已。
三年前recruit的时候那些公司已经开始diversify了，因为公司满眼望去都是uw的，某三大之一的公司在waterloo那年adp program可是一个uw的都没招！
不过其实sfu也没有太大优势，还不如去western或者Winnipeg那边，指望下gwl吧！

再多说一句，不是我不看好你，想进那三个公司的adp，以你这个背景机会最多10%.....那个每年才招10几20个，竞争有多激烈我就不形容了，还包括existing coops, 真的觉得你不应该把进这三个公司当成目标...或者其实他们也招valuation analysts,你可以考虑下，机会应该大一些，或者你有一技之长，比如coding,可以考虑争取ggy, 从ggy出来再跳槽很容易！
比起这所谓的三个公司你以后多留意些off stream的"experience hire"吧，所以一定要实习实习！
说什么没有coop 也可以找工作的....当然可以，可是chance有多大我也不评论了，公司都有ZF提供的benefit, 那么大把的coop他们还来不及interview,干嘛找你啊，真的临时急需intern了，那恐怕是真的找人来干活的吧，那没有经验的你有啥优势呢？
So......不要再总拿那三个公司说事或者一心闷着头把那个当成啥life goal, 专心social专心找小公司才是王道！
不过其实loo还是有优势，即便没有coop,可以考虑economic或者equitable,因为不是太受欢迎或者不想做p&c,我知道有跟你相同背景的最后去了这两个地方也不错

亲，我能高速你在国外做精算的很多中国人都有这想法么！当到了那一步的时候没人看你学历了，看看你的title,你的experience,你的relation就够了

啊啊，被前辈讲的好惨烈=.=瞬间感觉人生都没有希望了......T.T，小公司肯定愿意做，积累经验什么的，只不过感觉小公司会不会要都是个问题..

那这边waterloo就基本没啥希望就业了么T.T

那三个公司的recruitment process都大同小异，成绩不好背景不好直接电脑就filter掉了，之后一大轮interview,然后自己准备project,presentation, 还有network event,被人各种围观，起码能说会道是必须的...你觉得待一年能拼的过别人嘛，起码uw的大部分都身经百战了到那一轮，其他学校到那一轮的也基本是各个actsc club的excecutive什么的.....不过找工作运气也相当重要！good luck la

One more questiom: 如果我在项目期间找的实习并不是直接与精算相关的实习，比如银行、保险其他部门，那么这样的实习对以后找Full-time的精算工作有帮助吗？或者回国找精算实习？请前辈指点！感激不尽～