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

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

3. 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

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

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

6. Visa Sponsorship For internships For Full time jobs H1B Visa
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)
H1B Visa

7. General Resources Job searching / application SmealConnect / NLCN
VISA sponsorship availability shown on posted job pages
LinkedIn
Resume review
Career and Corporate connection office / Bank of America
Mentor

8. 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

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

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

11. Skills Communication skills Software
Interviews, s, daily conversations
Software
Excel
VBA
SAS R
SQL

12. 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)

13. 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

14. Start early – there are 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

15. Improve your weakness instead of worrying about them.
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