I'm sure you've heard this a thousand times before: find your passion and follow it.
If you are genuinely enthralled by probability and statistics, etc then actuarial science might be for you. I had a buddy in college who fell in love with stats, joined an insurance company right away, qualified as an actuary and is now at the top of the field. He makes a ton of money and loves his work. Had he not really loved the science, then I doubt he would have lasted ten years at it.
In my junior year of college I traveled in India for a few months with a friend who was there studying ayurvedic medicine and realized that whatever I did, I wanted to work in Asia or Africa When I got back to the States I interviewed with a bank that did all of its business in Africa, I got turned down and joined a US bank. I hated it, quit after a year to go to grad school. When I graduated I joined a small bank in Hong Kong. I LOVED it. Seventeen years later - after working and living in eight amazing countries and being part of making the bank one of the biggest and best in the world, life as a nomadic super banker lost its buzz.
So I took some time to figure out what would re-ignite me. I invested a couple of years sharpening my skills as an animal (which I had played at since high school). I now earn a fraction of what I did as a banker, but I once again love what I do. I think the real test is whether what you do feels like work or something you're privileged to do.
Two resources I can recommend are the old standby: "What Color is Your Parachute" (just make sure you actually DO the exercises that are in it. Another really neat way to try out some remarkable careers is a company called Vocation Vacations
Hhttp://www.vocationvacations.com.
VV doesn't have experiences for more "traditional" occupations like actuary, banker etc. But in my experience, people love talking about what they do and will usually be very frank. So call some alum from your school or look for people in careers that might interest you on here among friends, etc. If you find something that seems to interest you the information will probably help you figure out which firms to apply to etc and you'll have great info when you interview. One thing that helped a lot at my interviews out of grad school was that I had been in touch with someone who had quit from that bank. I knew that the stuff that drove him crazy wouldn't phase me and I think that really helped at the interviews.
Best of luck. Feel free to email me if I can be of any help.
Peace,
David
