Fireman's Fund Insurance Assistant Actuarial Analyst Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed Mar 2010 in Novato, CA (took a day)

I was referred to FFIC by an actuary who had previously worked there for over 10 years and still kept in good contact with his colleagues there. The entire interview and hiring process was the quickest I've ever dealt with, although this was largely due to my use of another job offer as leverage.

The in-house recruiter contacted me via phone on a Tuesday. I had a phone interview with one of the actuaries later on that day. The phone interview was very positive. The woman I spoke with was very pleasant and extremely extroverted, especially for an actuary. Though she asked a few of your standard interview questions, the majority of our phone conversation was just that -- a conversation. It was at this point that I was already getting a great feel for the company.

Two days later, on Thursday, I went in for the live interview. The interview was scheduled from 10:30am until 2:30pm. I came in early as suggested, around 9:45am, in order to tour the campus and office with the recruiter. The day ended up going on until a little past 3:00pm. I met with 6 different actuaries and analysts, including the Chief Actuary, for about 30-45 minutes each. They all seemed to ask the same canned questions (not sure if this was intentional), though a couple of the more senior folks mixed it up by giving me little impromptu problems to analyze. Otherwise, the interviews were once again, just conversations between the interviewers and myself. All the people I met with were suspiciously sociable for actuaries at an insurance company. The interviews were an overall pleasant experience. The interview also included a lunch in the middle of the day.

The next day, Friday, while in a different city looking for housing for my original job offer, I got a call from the FFIC recruiter saying that they were creating an offer package for me. On Monday, I was given the offer details including salary amount benefits package. I accepted soon after without negotiating (see negotiation section for additional details).