Academic and Career Development

The most valuable skill I learned during these weeks was the informational interview. I performed two informational interviews. One was an in-person interview with an actuary who recently graduated from UW-Madison and works at Northwestern Mutual in downtown Milwaukee. The other interview was over the phone with another badger alum with over 35 years of experience in the industry and is the Assistant Vice President and Actuary for Genworth Financial in Richmond, VI. I found both to be extremely valuable in that I gained important knowledge about the actions I should be taking to become an actuary through their successes. Along with the knowledge, I also gained valuable connections that I can utilize in the future when looking for internships and careers. I believe all of the interviews went well even though I was pretty nervous for both. Just the idea of leading an entire conversation with your own questions is kind of nerve-wracking. This was very helpful to be able to hone in on my interviewing skills that will be put to the test with internships and job interviews approaching for me. I hope to continue to expand my network of connections and tend to them for future opportunities.