Considering actuarial career - need advice

As far as I can tell, the actuarial profession is the only respectable technical profession in which education, competence, and advancement are purely based on standardized exams, and in which no schooling beyond the compulsory bachelor's degree is necessary to do well. For me, this is a dream come true, because I hate school, but I love studying for standardized exams, and do quite well on them when I do, provided there is a reward for doing well.

We all know the old expression, that if something is too good to be true, it probably is. I am therefore worried that this profession is a scam, and that the time and effort I will spend to pass exams P and FM, and fulfil the VEE requirements, has no chance of getting me an entry-level position. Why are there no other technical professions structured the way this one is?

I cannot find an answer to this paradox anywhere on the internet, which is why I am asking the question here. In case it is relevant, I am going to graduate with a bachelor's degree in computer engineering, with a second major in computer science, in the spring. Again, only in case it is relevant to how employers treat entry-level candidates, my GPA is currently close to perfect.

Also, please do not recommend that I stay in my current field, as this would require a PhD to have even the slightest iota of a chance to do well in the long run. Despite what you may have heard and believe, there is no domestic STEM shortage. Hillary is going to further open the floodgates for H1Bs when she becomes president, and ultimately, the field is going to be as manufacturing is now in a few decades.


Considering actuarial career - need advice