Resume and Cover
Letter Workshop
The Pennsylvania State University
Actuarial Science Club
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Agenda
• The Career Fair is coming…
• FAQs about actuarial student resumes
• What goes in a resume?
• Where to go for more help
• Resume Reviewing
• Cover letter assistance
Are you ready for the Career Fair?
• Over 30 companies are coming!!
• Sept 22nd, 5-8 PM
• Business Building Atrium
• Dress is business professional
• Bring plenty of copies of your
resume
Is your resume ready?
• If not, you are in the right place
• Tonight we will focus on actuarialspecific resume building
• Resources
• Penn State Career Services
• Smeal Career and Corporate
Connections
• Actuarial Resume
Purpose of the Resume
• A resume is for getting an interview
• An interview is for getting a job
• Give highlights and relevant details, but don’t
get bogged down – you can elaborate in the
interview
• You have 30-60 seconds to make an
impression
• Show value to the employer: put yourself in
their shoes and ask yourself, “why do they
care?”
What’s in a resume?
• Objective/Personal Profile – Who? What?
•
Unless yours is unique, this can be optional
• Education –
School, major, GPA, accomplishments
• If your GPA is <3.0, strongly consider also listing your major GPA if it is higher
• Do not round your GPA (a 3.46 is not a 3.5)
• Exams –
Passed and/or future sittings
• Highlight this in its own section
• Highlight VEEs underneath if you like
• Work Experience –
Internships and previous jobs
• Don’t use bullet points to just list what you did – focus on communicating value to
the employer
• Leadership/ Service /Activities –
other interests
Clubs, intramurals, and/or
• Demonstrates initiative, time management skills and personality
Resume Gap Analysis
• How can you become a stronger candidate?
• Identify gaps in your resume early in college
• Find opportunities at Penn State to fill them
• Ex: Find a club that interests you and pursue a
leadership role
• Fill white space
FAQs
• If I passed an exam, where should I put that
on my resume?
• Make it stand out
• In its own section or under “Education” with your
anticipated Penn State degree, often the first
section of your resume
• Don’t forget to mention VEE credit too
• If I have taken all of the courses required for
VEE credit but have not yet applied to the
SOA/CAS for credit how can I show that on
my resume?
• Use can the terms “met course requirements” or
“completing course requirements”
FAQs
• If I have passed an actuarial exam, should I list
my score?
• Your score is not necessary and is usually considered
private information (therefore unless you got a 10 and
really want to put it on, you don’t need to)
• For most/all situations, the term “passed” will suffice
• If I have registered for but have not yet taken an
actuarial exam, how can I put that on my
resume?
• List the exam, then the term “sitting” and the
date/month for which you are registered
FAQs
• If I failed an exam, should I still put the attempt on
my resume?
• If you are registered to take the exam again, we
recommend that you mark on your resume that you
are sitting for the upcoming exam.
Tips
• Eliminate all spelling and grammatical errors
• Focus on transferrable intangible skills learned
from non-actuarial jobs more than technical
skills
• Use strong wording
• Keep it organized
• Make it easy to read – make sure your
accomplishments stand out
• Every line should demonstrate value to the
employer
• Have several trusted sources look over your
resume for constructive criticism
Uploading Your Resume
• You must submit your resume by Sunday for it to
be included in the resume booklet that will be given
to recruiters
• Must be one page and in PDF format
• Smeal students: use Smeal Connect
• After signing the user agreement, it generally
takes two days to be able to access your Smeal
Connect account…plan accordingly!
• Eberly students: use SciOpps
• Instructions are on the resume book tab of our
club’s website
Cover Letter Content
• A cover letter allows you to expand on your resume
• Pick about two things off your resume that make you
stand out
• Examples: previous internship, job, leadership position in
an extracurricular activity, study abroad, volunteer
experience
• Explain what you did, what skills it helped you
developed, and how those skills would relate to the
job/internship you’re applying for
• Don’t spend more than a paragraph on one
activity…show that you have broad/diverse experiences
Cover Letter Content
• Check the internship job/posting for the
qualifications they are looking for and mention
those in your cover letter
• Examples: Good oral/written communication
skills, ability to work on a team and on your own
• Explain how you have these skills and give
example(s)
• You don’t have to hit on every qualification, but
try to mention a few
Cover Letter Content
• Show that you did your research by mentioning a
reason or two why you want to work for that
specific company
• Could be about the company in general, about a
specific aspect of the internship program/job, or
both
• This works well as part of your conclusion
• In addition to showing passion for the company, try
to show passion about being an actuary as well
(that may work well in your intro)
Cover Letter Length
• Usually a page, can be two pages
• Making it two pages won’t give you an advantage
just because it’s longer; usually conciseness is
preferred, but if you have a lot of very important
things to say, two pages is okay
• If you go onto the second page, use up a bare
minimum of 1/3 of the page; it won’t look good
if you just have a few sentences on the second
page
Cover Letter Tips
• Don’t start with “My name is ___ and I’m a junior
majoring in actuarial science…”
• They can see this from your resume and it is a
boring way to start
• Recruiters will be reading hundreds of these…try
to make your opening stand out; be creative if
you can
• Your resume is just the nitty-gritty of what you’ve
done; your cover letter should bring your resume to
life
• Show some of your personality in your writing so
that the reader feels like they now know you
Cover Letter Tips
• You’ll find that you’ll probably be able to reuse the
majority of your cover letter for other companies
• However, if you can simply switch out the name
of the company and the name of the position you
are applying for, your cover letter is probably too
generic
• Triple check to make sure that you changed the
company name every time it’s in your cover letter
Cover Letter Tips
• Proofread carefully; read it to yourself to make sure
it flows nicely
• Try to find out who reads the actuarial cover letters
at the company and address it to them
• This may involve calling HR but is worth the
effort if you’re able to find out (adds a nice
personalized touch)
• See sample cover letter on club’s website for help
with formatting
References
• http://www.sa.psu.edu/career/assist.shtml
• http://www.events.psu.edu/cgibin/cal/webevent.cgi?cmd=opencal&cal=cal13
• See this site for numerous events hosted by Career
Services
• http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/actsci/Tips.html
• See our Resume page for sample resumes and
templates