While it is true that this year’s economical turmoil and pending global recession has caused many companies to tighten their purses and cut down on hiring for both full time positions and internships, there is still some hope out there if you do not have an internship offer yet. Companies will still continue to interview and hire interns as their candidates turn down offers and a spot opens up. The difference is that you will be fighting for that one additional spot in a company, compared to the 10 spots that were still open in the fall.

Companies that hire actuarial interns can be generally split into three main groups:

1. Insurance/Re-insurance Companies
   Insurance Companies are the biggest employer of actuaries. Unfortunately, most insurance companies have been hit hard by the turmoil in the stock markets and have been ladled with investment losses. Due to their declining investment income and expectation for insurance registration to slow down next semester, insurance companies are laying off people and cutting back on hiring. However, there are still internship spots available, just fewer of them.
   
   
2. Consulting Companies
   These companies include traditional consulting firms such as Mercer, Towers Perrin, Hewitt, and the accounting firms, Deloitte, Ernst and Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Actuaries are usually employed for either their Health & Benefits or Retirement practice. Within health & benefits, actuaries design health and benefit plans for companies, while in retirement, actuaries generally deal with pension valuation and design. Both sides are currently rapidly growing as companies are trying to find ways to cut health and benefits costs and are constantly valuing their pension costs in the face of such volatile capital markets. Additionally, companies who have recently acquired other smaller companies will also need consultants to combine their benefit and pension plans.
   
   
3. Financial Institutions
   Previously, investment banks and hedge funds have been actively hiring interns from all sorts of backgrounds. However, the economy downturn and trouble within the financial industry has essentially freeze all hiring, whether intern or full time. Nevertheless, it never hurts to apply.
   
   
4. Strategy Consulting Firms
   Strategy Consulting firms such as McKinsey, Bain and Boston Consulting Group recruit interns from all disciplines, but they have the toughest interview process of all. They conduct case interviews in addition to asking the regular behavioral questions. Since consultants are the first people companies cut to reduce costs, strategy consultants are still needed to help companies reduce cost and become more efficient. While strategy consulting recruiting might be down, internships spots are still up for grabs. If you use the SOA directory, you will find that there are some actuaries working as strategy consultants whom will be able to give you some insight into the industry.

Here are some tips on how you can still land an internship.

1. Resumes and Cover Letters
   The first step is always to polish your resume and cover letter. Microsoft Word’s spell check can often lead to typos, such as CNA into CAN. With so many resumes to look through in today’s competitive environment, one typo would be enough to land your resume in the thrash can. It is of UTMOST IMPORTANCE that you have friends, colleagues or family look through your resume before sending it out as they are more prone to noticing mistakes you might not have otherwise.
   
   
2. Send your application to the right people
   After polishing your resume and cover letter, you need to get these into the hands of the right people. Don’t just apply online, look for the recruiter’s name online and send him/her a personal e-mail with your resume attached. While this information is often not available on their Web site, other resources such as your professor, networking sites such as Linkedin.com, or even Google would probably yield some useful contacts you could leverage into an interview.
   
   
3. Alumni is key!!! Use the SOA directory
   Actuarial Science has always been a small profession with roughly only 300 students per program. As such, most programs have a list of program graduates. If not, your program probably has a list of students from your program who have passed SOA exams in the past which would serve the same purpose. Send an e-mail to any alumni you can find and set up a phone meeting. Ask them about their job, what they like or dislike about it, how they got their job in the first place, and where their plans are for the future. If you can’t find anybody’s email, plug that name into the SOA directory. You will find the company they are working in, their position, phone number and their e-mail addresses—a great wealth of information. While some alumni might ignore your e-mails, most alumni would actually automatically forward your resume to recruiters and offer you very helpful job-searching advice. One lesson I learnt the hard way is to treat every interaction with alumni as an informal interview. They will be vouching for your application and you need to assure them that you are up for the job. If you are interested in interning in a non-traditional field, use the SOA directory to search for that specific company you are interested in and send them an e-mail. I have found from experience that these professionals are more than willing to help you out as they want to see more actuaries in their field of work.
   
   
4. Get your story straight! Set yourself apart
   So you’ve landed a first round interview, what next? A friend or alumni can only go so far as to grant you an interview. If you cannot speak eloquently and intelligently during the interview, there is nothing they can do about it. Hence, you need to have a solid, comprehensible and interesting story to back your application. If you have something unique, do not be afraid to bring it up and incorporate that into your pitch. Interviewers love nothing more than to hear how you loved math in high school, naturally progressed into majoring in actuarial science, and have since been passing SOA exams while starting your own non-profit or representing your school in a national competition.  Every interviewee will most likely have the same credentials, good grades, SOA exams, previous working experience, and you need to have that one thing that will make your interviewer go, “Oh, I remember that kid who trained for the Chicago Marathon!” Find something that will set you apart from everyone else and leverage that.
   
   
5. PANIC!
   While this is somewhat of a non-traditional advice, I find that most people are unwilling to pull all stops and go all-out in getting an internship and making the connections they need to until they panic and realize they are way behind the curve. I was guilty of this myself as well until I realized that many companies already had their hiring spots filled before on-campus recruiting even started. However, if you do not have an internship offer yet at this point, you ARE behind the curve and at a disadvantage. Since most of their spots are full already, companies can cherry pick the top candidates they want. So start polishing your resume, pick up the phone and make the necessary connections you need to land an internship.

As for international students, the limited number of H-1B visas issued by the United States government has caused many actuarial firms to not consider international students for either their internship or full time positions. A list of companies who sponsor or do not sponsor can be found on www.actuarialoutpost.com. Consider looking for an internship back home or ask your professors to see if you could do research for them.

While it is a tough market out there, getting an internship is by no means impossible. I cannot stress enough how important it is to network with recruiters and working professionals to get a better understanding of the industry and to increase your chances of getting an internship. With a never-say-die attitude, a couple of solid alumni connections and a dash of luck, I am sure that you will find yourself in a good spot by March.