For the record, I cannot speak to Mr. Butler's handling of the many other aspects of his company. It is possible that he undertakes those with skill, dedication, and aplomb. I can only speak to my individual experiences with him. And while I last interacted with him almost three years ago (he had an office in East Nashville at the time, off of Elm Hill Pike), when I stumbled onto this site and discovered recent reports indicating a similar pattern of behavior, I felt compelled to add my own account.
Like others who have filed reports here, I knew very little about the actuarial profession when I sent my resume to Hal in the spring/summer of 2006. He was advertising for an entry level actuarial position and assured me when I initially spoke with him over the phone that, upon passage of an exam (which he characterized as fairly basic and rudimentary), employment within the city would be virtually assured and almost immediate - and that he would handle all the logistics of obtaining interviews, filling out paperwork, etc. I was skeptical when I met him in his office and was confronted with the several hundred dollars of out-of-pocket expenses to take his class, buy a study guide, and register for the exam, but was mollified when he explained that as soon as I passed the exam, he would work tirelessly to find me a job, at which point I would be reimbursed (for the substantial class fee at the very least). He explained that his primary source of income was commissions from successful placements, so it was in his own self-interest to find me a job. I signed a document agreeing to the conditions and went about preparing for the exam.
I happen to have double majored in college in mathematics and physics, so I had substantial prior exposure to calculus-based probability and statistics - the primary focus of Exam P/1 (which is hardly a basic and rudimentary exam from the perspective of most people). But I made several disturbing discoveries while attending his class. The first was that the vast majority of the other students had little or no exposure to basic calculus and were wholly unprepared for such an exam (and would remain so, "review class" notwithstanding). The second was that the professor - drafted from a local community college - seemed uninterested in actually teaching the skills that it was clear from my private reading of my study manual we would need in order to have a prayer of passing the exam, and instead focused on explaining basic probability concepts; these may have been helpful to forming a rudimentary understanding of the subject, but they were certainly not going to push someone from a failing score to a passing score. And the third was that Hal became virtually unreachable via office phone, via cell phone, via email, by me or by the any of others in the class who tried; as the professor himself snarked, "Once the class starts, Hal goes and lives on his boat."
The clear message I got from all of this was that Hal was not interested in recruiting people who were likely to pass the exam, nor was he interested in preparing people in such a way that they would be any more likely to pass the exam.
I assumed that his tactic was simply to flood the exam sitting with scores and scores of people to increase his chances of getting a few qualified candidates at the end, until I actually passed the exam - through no help from his class - and was promptly ignored by him and his office. As soon as I got confirmation of my passing score, I called him up to notify him that I was eligible for all those interviews with local insurance companies that he'd promised from the outset. He ebulliently congratulated me, told me that there were four others from my class who had also passed and that he would set up group and individual interviews for us as soon as I got him my updated resume. I emailed him said resume that very afternoon.
After two weeks of radio silence, I called him again to find out the status of my job search, and he told me that the two other people from my class who had also passed (down from the four he had told me previously) were both very excited to be working with him and that they were being much more patient than I was. After all, he said, he was having a telephone conference with Blue Cross Blue Shield that very afternoon and would be discussing our candidacies.
After two more weeks of silence, I called again and was informed that there was only one other person from my class who had passed, and that he was letting Hal do what he needed to do and was grateful for the service that he (Hal) was providing. He also informed me that if I were to send out my resume on my own, I would not get any interviews because all of the local companies had already been sent my resume from him, and it would reflect poorly on me as an applicant if I sent them a duplicate on my own.
Naturally, that afternoon I went out and purchased a ream of fine linen resume paper and spent the next three days sending my resume and cover letter in hand-addressed envelopes to every single insurance or consulting company in the greater Nashville area. I had four interviews lined up within a week and a half. And two job offers on the table a week after that. I never heard back from Hal.
I am not disputing the legality of my interactions with Mr. Butler. After all, while he had me sign a document agreeing to pay the several hundred dollars required for the class and the exam registration, he signed nothing assuring that he would serve as a liaison for me to potential employers, nor that he would in any way attempt to find me employment. All of that was affirmed verbally, either explicitly or implicitly, and is therefore not legally binding (in my albeit limited understanding of the law in such cases).
Nor am I seeking to imply that Mr. Butler may not have had mitigating personal circumstances at the time. I suppose it is entirely possible that during the time in which I was expecting him to help me find employment he was in the throes of some personal problem. But in that event, I would hope he would have informed me of potential delays instead of continuously inventing reasons why I should be hopeful that a job interview was right around the corner.
In the end, I wanted to post this as a word of caution. While I thank Mr. Butler for introducing me to a wonderful career, and one which I have been proudly practicing for almost two and a half years now, I cannot say he helped me in any way beyond making me aware of the existence of the field of actuarial analysis. Perhaps my experience was atypical - but from the other reports on this site, and from the number of people he was able to rope into taking his class with me, I can't say I have very much confidence that it is.
0 comments