International Student Meeting 962017 Penn State Actuarial Science

International Student Meeting 9/6/2017 Penn State Actuarial Science Club

Agenda • Professor’s Advice • Big picture • Visa Issues • General Resources • How to enrich Resume • Graduate School

Name Company / Program Location Victoria Tang Willis Towers Watson Washington DC Christina Lei Voya Financial West Chester, PA Yalan Yu BC/BS of Western New York Buffalo, NY Byung Kyu Choi Masters in Applied Statistics State College, PA

Professor’s Advice • Nan Zhu, PHD & FSA • Teaches RM 415 (Pricing Derivatives) in Fall • Teaches RM 411( Pricing Life Insurance) in Spring

Big Picture • • • U. S • Pros: #1 Job & STEM • Cons: Sponsorship & Supply > Demand China • Pros: Developing industry & Increasing opportunity • Cons: Higher Degree Preferred Canada / Singapore / Hong Kong / UK

Visa Sponsorship • • For internships • CPT (Curricular Practical Training) • Eligibility ( a full-time basis for one academic year) For Full time jobs • OPT (Optional Practice Training) • 12 months; 24 months OPT extention for STEM major • Additional year of OPT at each higher degree level ( i. e. Bachelor’s, Master’s , PHD) • H 1 B Visa

General Resources • Job searching / application • Smeal. Connect / NLCN • • • VISA sponsorship availability shown on posted job pages Linked. In Resume review • Career and Corporate connection office / Bank of America • Mentor

Education • GPA (cumulative & major) • Major & Minor • Actuarial Exams • How to prepare • Timeline • Important to pass Exam P & FM in Sophomore year • 3 exams to get full-time jobs • Changes in August 2018

Related Work Experience • One is better than nothing • What recruiters are looking for: • Communication • Leadership • Teamwork • Ability to learn • Problem Solving

Extracurricular • Never too late to start • • Get connected with other students • • PSU resources: Clubs / Community Services Join Actuarial Science club events! Be confident and find your passion • Leadership roles (but not as purpose)

Skills • Communication skills • • Interviews, emails, daily conversations Software • Excel • VBA • SAS • R • SQL

Graduate School • Why is it a good option? • How to prepare for the application? • • GPA • Recommendation letter • Activities • Interviews • Standard test Penn State Masters in Applied Statistics Program (M. A. S)

Penn State Alumni advice • GPA is important, but there are things that are WAY more important than GPA. • Whenever you start thinking getting internship or full time job via internal referral, that’s the time you start NOT making progress. • Whenever Something is easy to do or achieve, that thing must have the least value to differentiate yourself from others (in a good way), which will put you on a tougher spot in the job market. • -- Luke Yang

• Start early – there a lot of things you can and need to learn and prepare. • Get out of your comfort zone – interact more with native students. How can someone do well in interviews if they don’t even feel comfortable to chat with people in English? • Look for opportunities outside of the classroom – so that you have good answers to your behavioral questions that stand out. It’s hard for the recruiters to remember you if you talk about group projects all the time like everyone else. This also gives you the opportunity to connect with recruiters if they happen to have similar experience. • Practice – do mock interviews. You can definitely do those with your close friends, but it’s usually better if you find people who are more experienced with interviews and are less familiar with you. Always remember to ask for feedback. • --Qiya Zhang

• Get out of your comfort zone and be involved in whatever your interests are. Show your passion and dedication. • Improve your weakness instead of worrying about them. -- Lanjing Wang