didnt get coop interview for acturarial (2 Viewers)

[grimreaper]

I think the only reason you guys, with duke of E etc and the ranks didn't get it was because you didn't show excellent communication skills on your app. How did you write? they look for your ability to communicate your acheivements. Esp in actuarial. What was your eng ranking? mine 3/117. And also, i go to a non-private selective school not elite at all but good rep. They also want a balance of girls and guys. All the people i called up were girls. Mayb too many guys.

meh I still have a photocopy of my application and nothing looks too bad about it (no spelling\grammatical errors). The thing is worked my god damn butt off for duke of ed - I expected that thatd be the type of thing scholarship awarders would want as I had a lot of oppurtunities to show leadership, did plenty of community service, etc - but apparently its not so important as they make out.

My advanced eng rank was 49/160 - I reckon thatd be high enough for the co-op program. My sister, who is an actuary (did the degree at MQ), says that hsc english is pretty much irrelevant anyway in reference to the degree - you never write big flowery essays (see: hsc), and its more about being concise and factual rather than just bullcrapping. I should think that anyone selecting people for co-op would see this as well?

If I may ask, what did the people who actually got an interview have to write about on their application?

 

[ezzy85]

did plenty of community service, etc - but apparently its not so important as they make out.

i guess you should feel happy that you helped the community in some way. i dont think they wanted people who do all this just for a scholarship, but are genuinely interested in it. maybe they saw that in your application.

 

[fitz33]

i was involved in the selection process if anyone has any questions about how it works etc...

congrats to those of you who got interviews

 

[Giant Lobster]

omg its cos im asian thats why they rejected me!!
why else would they need to know where i was born huh? huh!?
why couldnt i write australia, or london! damn their arian pursuits!!


edit:
nah its cos im crap

on a serious note though, why would they ask me where i was born? im beginning to sense prejudice

 

[fitz33]

on a serious note though, why would they ask me where i was born? im beginning to sense prejudice

you've got to be kidding...

 

[ezzy85]

on a serious note though, why would they ask me where i was born? im beginning to sense prejudice

they couldve just looked at your surname if they wanted to be prejudice. but i think most forms like this would ask for where you are born, it oculd be a statistical thing.

 

[nit]

Yeh, Fitz, what exactly are you looking for? I want to know what the resaon would've been, so that it might help in other applications and interviews.

 

[fitz33]

Yeh, Fitz, what exactly are you looking for? I want to know what the resaon would've been, so that it might help in other applications and interviews.

in your case i'd say the main reason you wouldn't have got an interview would have been because you said on your application that you wanted to do medicine. co-op looks for people who are passionate about studying the course they are applying for.. its easy to see who really wants to do actuarial and who is just applying for the hell of it (e.g. people who know the steps involved in becoming a fellow of the IAA etc...).

aside from that, its all about good communication skills, teamwork, well-roundedness etc... as long as your marks are decent enough, they will play very little role in your selection (this is mainly because the majority of people who make serious applications have marks that indicate they would be capable of doing well in the course).

 

[cranberries]

do a lot of ppl apply for accounting co-op? i was a bit disappointed not to get an interview for it, but not really surprised

 

[nit]

Originally posted by fitz33

in your case i'd say the main reason you wouldn't have got an interview would have been because you said on your application that you wanted to do medicine

Ok, then that may have been it. But I couldn't really see a way around that, given there was a question asking us about what other uni courses we'd placed as a preference.

 

[grimreaper]

No of course I'm glad that I did that kind of thing - I met some great people and helped out at the same time. However, I'm just surprised that not even a gold duke of edinburghs award was enough to sway whoever was assessing the applications. I just dont know what I could have done more???

Oh and damn... if I'd known they were lookin for people with a lot of knowledge on actuarial studies, then I think that may have been a mistake of mine - I know all about the qualifications required, etc because my sister already did actuarial studies at MQ however I didnt think they wanted us just to recite that kind of stuff back to them.

 

[fitz33]

not recite it..but there are questions about what your future plans are and stuff, and if your serious about the actuarial course, becoming qualified should be a part of that.

but you should keep in mind that not doing that isn't going to immediately disqualify you or anything.. its just one of the many ways you can tell who is serious about the course and who isn't. other things are important too.

 

[emeka]

hey fitz, theres still a chance some of us might get it right? like if someone declines and acturary program or gets kicked out hehe. wat happens then? would we have to do the interview?

 

[Exeter]

you can work your butt off for first year uni and apply again. most likely than not (in actuary) there will be a few drop outs

 

[BillyMak]

New sponsors are always a probability as well (although it would be extremely lucky for someone to get a scholarship from a new sponsor coming in late).

 

[fitz33]

hey fitz, theres still a chance some of us might get it right? like if someone declines and acturary program or gets kicked out hehe. wat happens then? would we have to do the interview?

at the moment they will be selecting scholars from the people they interview. if someone declines an interview they might add some more people (unlikely). then, after they choose the scholars, they will also make a shortlist of people who were interviewed but not offerered a scholarship. if someone declines the scholarship, then the first person on the shortlist will be offered it.

if, after uni starts, someone drops out or a new sponsor comes on etc... they will re-interview people from the shortlist who still did the course anyway, and also others who apply again. they'll then choose scholars from this group (preference is usually given to people who made it on the shortlist after the very first round of interviews).

 

[unmentionable]

i was very very surprised i recieved an interview offer as my ranks werent excellent nor were my extra-curricular activities (but i did have some)

for the interview what would be some likely questions?
im very lost and feel totally unprepared
if they ask about why id like to become an actuary or anything about the profession then id do quite well i think
but im just wondering what other questions they could ask?
stuff about leadership?

 

[fitz33]

i was very very surprised i recieved an interview offer as my ranks werent excellent nor were my extra-curricular activities (but i did have some)

for the interview what would be some likely questions?
im very lost and feel totally unprepared
if they ask about why id like to become an actuary or anything about the profession then id do quite well i think
but im just wondering what other questions they could ask?
stuff about leadership?

there is a good chance you will have an HR person from one of the sponsor companies interviewing you, so be prepared for some behavioural interviewing (e.g. tell us about a situation in which you demonstrated resilience).

 

[aditya]

yeah good work people

 

[aditya]

how the fuck do you respond to "there's a conflict between the finance director and the marketing director... the dispute has escalated blah blah u get the picture" could someone hu knows the right answer please explain because i swear theyve asked me soo many times that in interviews and i dunt get accepted so i think im saying the rong thing...