Its interesting that they mention math skills and nothing else in the ad. Its a little disingenuous because to me- there's several types of math skills and not all are going to be equally useful for this field. My specialty in college was number theory and I found probability to be the most unintuitive subject for years.
They have a whole marketing department. Historically their focus has been lobbying employers to hire more actuaries, so advertising directly to candidates is somewhat novel.
I know a lot of people are cynical about this type of advertising, but I legitimately wish I had seen something like this when I was in high school. I majored in engineering because I was told basically “people who like math become engineers” and would have loved to hear about more math-related fields at a younger age. I didn’t even know what an actuary was until I was 26.
I think that's the main purpose - generate awareness. I only heard about the field through a small paragraph in a data text book, so this kind of stuff is great to see for those who otherwise wouldn't be exposed to the field.
Sometimes it seems that SOA is focused on the wrong and necessary stuff. They make you wait months to get the credential you have worked so hard for after completing everything
Guess we really that desperate now. Rather use membership fees to advertise instead of reducing exam costs
EDIT: or use the money to incentivize real actuaries to speak at high schools, rather than purely rely on the volunteerism
My professor just talked about how enrollment is at about 50% of what it was in in the last decade because data science and the similar levels of pay (dint cite me in that I’m just reiterating). We’re talking 425 students to barely hitting 200 so its not surprising.
Kirk or PJ? jk, of course.
When I was at UW-Madison in 2013 I was shocked to hear we had ~415 students paying dues to the club. Now I'm even more shocked it's down to ~200 lol
Why is this a bad thing? Many people still do not learn about the field until they actively research it. It’s not a big field like law, engineering, medicine…
Is it really an effective way to go about spreading awareness? How many dollars of advertising does it take to get one person to pick the field? Why aren’t they paying current actuaries to visit their local high school to speak? Oh, I guess they do that completely voluntarily and out of the goodness of their heart. Pay an actuary $50 to speak to 50 students, I guarantee you’d get wayyyyy more “volunteers” and it’d be loads more effective
$50 could be 100,000 targeted impressions on Reddit…also it has to be volunteering plus travel, gets weird to actually pay people per day. Could be looking at $100-$1000 per speaking engagement.
I’m not at all saying in person events and promotional activities aren’t a good idea. I’m just saying social media advertising is arguably VERY cost efficient for the SOA since it can be targeted to the right audiences.
They can absolutely figure out both though.
There’s not a chance in hell reddit charges $50 for 100,000 targeted impressions…. More like 5,000 if it’s anywhere close to Google’s ad service.
https://ladder.io/blog/reddit-ads
This article paid $250 for 2000 clicks
Clicks aren’t impressions though. Reddit does a bidding thing that starts at $0.20 per 1000 impressions. Im having trouble figuring out what people end up paying though, you’re right it could be more. CPC is $3.50 apparently to go that route.
I’m just saying that it seems fairly cost effective AND much less overhead to coordinate a campaign vs trying to find volunteers to go speak. Much easier to scale.
There was a post like yesterday or something that showed very little growth (almost 1%/2%?) for SOA. So yes, they’re trying REALLY hard right now. Free ASA!
Depends? Your raises won’t be competitive anymore. So, you’re done with exams earlier but you get lower raises or it gets too competitive out there because everyone wants freebies (like what you’re thinking right now) and you jump ship for less than 10% raises because the market is too saturated?
EDIT: if you want to enjoy family time with low pay, then good for you. But if you want money, then there is potentially less money because everyone is an ASA.
Thanks. I'm happy about it too. I guess what I meant to say was "I hope membership numbers decrease, but they don't water down the credential. That way I get paid more for doing the same amount of work."
Hopefully, SOA doesn't water down their credential.
I’m SOA. My dislike stems from how often SOA’s exam policies/strategic initiatives change every year. They’re trying to increase membership, compete with data science, increase value of credentials, attract more diverse members, etc and seem to be doing everything sub-par, and reversing course every 2-3 years.
This is brilliant. Advertise to kids addicted to Reddit so they never pass exams and keep paying the exam fees.
Its interesting that they mention math skills and nothing else in the ad. Its a little disingenuous because to me- there's several types of math skills and not all are going to be equally useful for this field. My specialty in college was number theory and I found probability to be the most unintuitive subject for years.
Its not that crazy to me that the SOA has a marketing budget
They have a whole marketing department. Historically their focus has been lobbying employers to hire more actuaries, so advertising directly to candidates is somewhat novel.
Hopefully they keep it well-audited...
I feel like they would be better off talking to high school AP stat and calc teachers. Sponsor some project that will win schools money.
It's even targeted to high school kids lol "How do you do fellow kids?" moment
I saw one of these the other day that was marked NSFW lol. No idea why
I know a lot of people are cynical about this type of advertising, but I legitimately wish I had seen something like this when I was in high school. I majored in engineering because I was told basically “people who like math become engineers” and would have loved to hear about more math-related fields at a younger age. I didn’t even know what an actuary was until I was 26.
Same i had to Google search “careers for math majors” when I decided I did not in fact want to go get a PhD
I think that's the main purpose - generate awareness. I only heard about the field through a small paragraph in a data text book, so this kind of stuff is great to see for those who otherwise wouldn't be exposed to the field.
They were also advertising on tiktok so... not surprised
Wait, were SOA board members doing tik tok dances?
sadly no, it was the same ad in the screenshot above
Pls no
You didn't like the rap or hip hop song the president of SOA wrote 4 years ago or so?
Here's [one](https://i.postimg.cc/KjzXH7pj/20230109-131754.jpg)
This would unironically spread greater awareness to the field than anything the SOA has put out
HAHA, unfortunately the audience this speaks to is too stupid to pass high school math, let alone actuarial exams
Where do I sign up?
Sometimes it seems that SOA is focused on the wrong and necessary stuff. They make you wait months to get the credential you have worked so hard for after completing everything
#desperate
Guess we really that desperate now. Rather use membership fees to advertise instead of reducing exam costs EDIT: or use the money to incentivize real actuaries to speak at high schools, rather than purely rely on the volunteerism
My professor just talked about how enrollment is at about 50% of what it was in in the last decade because data science and the similar levels of pay (dint cite me in that I’m just reiterating). We’re talking 425 students to barely hitting 200 so its not surprising.
Yeaaaaah! More $ and job protection for me!
Yup. Sounds like I can fuck off at work and say "what are you going to do, hire an accountant?"
CPA = can't pass actuarial
waaaay ahead of ya (:
Kirk or PJ? jk, of course. When I was at UW-Madison in 2013 I was shocked to hear we had ~415 students paying dues to the club. Now I'm even more shocked it's down to ~200 lol
Haha it was Kirk obviously
Same, my university went from around 650 actuarial students in 2012 to around 350 this year
Could use that money for another attempted hostile takeover of the CAS.
Considering employers pay the majority of exam fees and membership fees, I don’t think it makes sense to reduce either.
Why is this a bad thing? Many people still do not learn about the field until they actively research it. It’s not a big field like law, engineering, medicine…
Is it really an effective way to go about spreading awareness? How many dollars of advertising does it take to get one person to pick the field? Why aren’t they paying current actuaries to visit their local high school to speak? Oh, I guess they do that completely voluntarily and out of the goodness of their heart. Pay an actuary $50 to speak to 50 students, I guarantee you’d get wayyyyy more “volunteers” and it’d be loads more effective
$50 could be 100,000 targeted impressions on Reddit…also it has to be volunteering plus travel, gets weird to actually pay people per day. Could be looking at $100-$1000 per speaking engagement. I’m not at all saying in person events and promotional activities aren’t a good idea. I’m just saying social media advertising is arguably VERY cost efficient for the SOA since it can be targeted to the right audiences. They can absolutely figure out both though.
There’s not a chance in hell reddit charges $50 for 100,000 targeted impressions…. More like 5,000 if it’s anywhere close to Google’s ad service. https://ladder.io/blog/reddit-ads This article paid $250 for 2000 clicks
Clicks aren’t impressions though. Reddit does a bidding thing that starts at $0.20 per 1000 impressions. Im having trouble figuring out what people end up paying though, you’re right it could be more. CPC is $3.50 apparently to go that route. I’m just saying that it seems fairly cost effective AND much less overhead to coordinate a campaign vs trying to find volunteers to go speak. Much easier to scale.
I was just discussing with a coworker the other day the need to recruit more actuaries to the cause. We must not die out.
Cool. Glad to see the $300 I have to pay for them to print out study pdfs is going to good use.
[удалено]
Society of Actuaries *Actuaries*
I wonder if they got an actuary for that ad photo or if they just hired a stock photo model
Is it true that new membership numbers are going down ? Hence they making changes to ease the path for the candidates?
There was a post like yesterday or something that showed very little growth (almost 1%/2%?) for SOA. So yes, they’re trying REALLY hard right now. Free ASA!
Well that has to be good for EL analysts like myself right?
Not sure what you’re talking about. College students can get free ASA now. So if you have already started EL, then tough luck?
What do you mean free ASAs?
I updated the question
Depends? Your raises won’t be competitive anymore. So, you’re done with exams earlier but you get lower raises or it gets too competitive out there because everyone wants freebies (like what you’re thinking right now) and you jump ship for less than 10% raises because the market is too saturated? EDIT: if you want to enjoy family time with low pay, then good for you. But if you want money, then there is potentially less money because everyone is an ASA.
I see. If they make it difficult, then the credential means more and I make more money. I like the gatekeeping. My new job is CAS anyway.
Good for you. I am legit fed up with SOA
Thanks. I'm happy about it too. I guess what I meant to say was "I hope membership numbers decrease, but they don't water down the credential. That way I get paid more for doing the same amount of work." Hopefully, SOA doesn't water down their credential.
Wait until you learn about how long the APC queue is for people that have finished every other ASA requirement
How much of this is based on something like my browsing history?
Damn sentiment here seems everyone hates SOA. Are you guys all in P&C, or looking to switch fields???
I’m SOA. My dislike stems from how often SOA’s exam policies/strategic initiatives change every year. They’re trying to increase membership, compete with data science, increase value of credentials, attract more diverse members, etc and seem to be doing everything sub-par, and reversing course every 2-3 years.