Actuarial Experience VS Clearing Actuarial Papers

For a student actuary like me, one thing that concerns me the most is what comes first? “Experience or Clearing papers”, both are very important, there is no doubt about it. But it is also true that clearing papers while doing job is very difficult and you cannot perform both of them at your best. One of them has to take a back step.

Why Experience is Important?

In current market scenario , when the actuarial market is flooded with hundreds of Actuarial students , students having RELEVANT experience is hard to find. I am saying RELEVANT in bold letters because , it is very easy to get a job and show in CV that you got an experience, but during the interview, interviewer came to know how much do you know practically and how you have performed on job. Experience people are paid because of their performance on job and this is needless to say.

Further , if he or she finds out that you have been neglecting job and doing studies, it gives a very bad impression on employers mind.

Looking at the market scenario right now in India , there is a drought of students who have cleared more than 6 papers with 2 yrs of relevant experience. If you get late in getting a job, things could get worse as there is flood of students right now with very little experience and will get decent experience in 2 years from now, filling the demand.

Why Clearing Papers is Important ?

If you are a actuarial student , you must have faced the question “ How many papers have you cleared ?”. This is the most common question and YES most important question, if you stuck with a low number of papers for a long time, it again gives a bad impression about your mathematical skills and dedication for studies. First thing that everybody sees in your CV is number of papers, First thing an interviewer will ask you is number of papers you have cleared. To rise in the ladder of career , clearing papers is the first step. Most importantly, without clearing papers , it is hard for us to understand what we do, and apply innovativeness in our work.

So , clearing papers gives a career a major boost is a fact, and clearing papers while doing a job is a difficult proposition is also a fact.

So , one should sit at home and concentrate in clearing papers or one should join a job , is one important question.

My Case

There are several facts which helped me take the decision.

Nobody asks a Fellow actuary , how soon you have cleared the papers, the only question that arises is how many years of relevant experience do you have.

There is a minimum experience of 5 years before Institute of Actuaries UK will give you a fellow degree, so clearing all the papers and waiting for the fellow degree , does seem a bit awkward. However , IOA only recommends to have work based skills and wants you to clear papers while on Job.

The most important one is the number of students entering the profession, and 10 years down the line, I think when everybody will become an actuary, things that will matter is how many years of experience do you have, and there will be quite a difference between a person having 7 years of experience and 10 years of experience.

There may be other logic in deciding the answer to this question, I am not saying which is right and which is wrong, I am just saying that this is what seems to fit me.

Hopefully I have provided some facts which can help you decide.