actuary

When you work as a property and casualty actuary, your focus will be creating insurance policies linked to property loss and liability. This could include natural disasters, car accidents, fires and other types of accidents.

Working as an actuary in the health insurance field means you will focus on estimating the likelihood that groups or individuals will need medical treatment. You will predict the cost of healthcare and determine what each policy will cover.

Other types of actuaries include:

• enterprise risk actuaries
• savings and retirement actuaries
• public-sector actuaries
• investment actuaries

Have you ever wondered, “What does an actuary do?” Actuaries assess financial consequences of uncertainty and risk. You will use mathematics, financial theory and statistics to assess the risk of potential events. Clients will look to you to help them develop policies that minimize the cost of risk.

• analyzing data and creating strategies

Most days, you will be responsible for analyzing financial data and then using it to recommend strategies. You will create reports and present data to executives or clients. Testing investment strategies and calculating risk is a big part of your daily work.

Your employer will require you to value insurance policies and make recommendations on how to meet regulatory requirements while balancing capital. As an actuary, you will have the rewarding task of being the person executives go to for help in making decisions that impact their financial well-being.

• a position of trust and responsibility

You will be entrusted with keeping abreast of financial developments in the business world. Computer literacy is important since you will need to use computer programs to compile and analyze data. That data will be turned into tables, models, graphs and reports to display your findings. Other duties may vary based on the industry you work in.

Actuaries spend half their time working alone and the other half working in teams. The ability to work with others and communicate well with them is a key to success in this profession. The vast majority of actuarial work is done indoors in an office setting.

Most positions do not require much traveling, working overtime or working on the weekend. The exception is that consulting actuaries may need to do a moderate amount of traveling.

You can find work-from-home positions as an actuary. A challenge you may face when working remotely is figuring out how to interact efficiently with your reporting staff.

Depending on your employer and the industry you work in, your colleagues might include a team of financial staff, including accountants, underwriters and financial analysts. You might also be working closely with financial and accounting managers and executives.

Working as an actuary means that you will typically work between 40 and 50 hours each week. However, that can fluctuate depending on the circumstances. You may be asked to work more when there are project deadlines to meet.

• good work-life balance

Actuaries enjoy a good work-life balance. They usually have a flexible work schedule, allowing them to balance personal time with on-the-job training and their actual work. If you have exams to take, you can expect to be in the office about 33 hours a week, with between 10 and 15 hours a week of paid study time.

•  part-time work is available

Most actuaries work full-time during the day from Monday to Friday. You might need to work nights occasionally to complete special projects or to study for exams. Part-time work is available for lower-level employees. These workers help senior actuaries until they gain enough experience for full-time roles.

According to the BLS, the actuary job market is expected to grow by 21% by 2131. This is a lot faster than most other occupations. It is projected that each year until 2031, approximately 2,400 openings will be available for actuaries. Many of these jobs will be to replace employees who have left the labor market or transferred to accept other opportunities.

• opportunities and growth potential

If you’re looking for a job with opportunities for advancement, then an actuary is the right profession for you. It is worth mentioning that there are several careers that align with your skills. You could be an economist, statistician, auditor, participate in academia, or become a writer on topics related to economic inflation. Your skills and experience could make you a formidable entrepreneur.

Working through Randstad offers you a range of benefits:

• being paid weekly
• flexibility
• always a contact person you can fall back on and ask for help from
• many training opportunities
• a range of jobs in your area

Want a permanent contract? But you wonder why it would be interesting for you to work with a staffing company? A temporary job as an actuary is often a stepping stone to an attractive permanent job. Every year, thousands of people earn a permanent contract with great employers thanks to a temporary job found through Randstad. What's more, many companies recruit their permanent employees through Randstad, too!

You will want to focus on a major that focuses on business management, statistics, accounting or mathematics to be an actuary. Studying finance and computer programming can also help you get a job in this field. The more you know about topics like government and law, the better. You can improve your ability to communicate complex financial topics by including humanities, especially English, in your studies.

As an actuary, it is important to earn CE (continuing education) every year and ensure that you complete at least three CE hours on professional topics. You will be required to complete one CE hour on bias topics, six CE hours on organized activities, and not exceed three CE hours on general business skills topics.

When you join the Society of Actuaries and the Casualty Actuarial Society, you can pursue associate-level certification. Although the American Academy of Actuaries does not give certifications, it is a great resource for actuaries. The earlier in your career that you start the certification process, the better. You might consider beginning while you’re still earning your degree.

If you are an actuarial associate in good standing, you can pursue fellowship-level certification by obtaining the FCAS credential through the CAS or the FSA credential through SOA. If you opt for SOA's FSA certification, you will be required to select a specialty track.

1. Having analytical and problem-solving skills is important for examining complex data, identifying patterns, and seeing the trends responsible for specific outcomes.
2. Math and numeracy skills, including the ability to do arithmetic quickly and accurately, are important.
3. Computer skills, including using models and tables while evaluating large amounts of data, are crucial.
4. The better your knowledge of business and finance, the easier it will be for you to evaluate insurance or pension plans or help your client identify and mitigate financial risk.
5. Communication and interpersonal skills are key because you will communicate with various people, from programmers to senior management.

No, it’s not generally a stressful job. Working as an actuary means you will get paid well, have little stress, and enjoy mental stimulation and daily challenges. There are very few disadvantages to the day-to-day work of an actuary.

Most actuaries work in an office setting for around eight hours each weekday. With the exception of consulting actuaries, the positions do not require a lot of traveling, overtime or weekend work.

Many consider this to be the ideal job for introverts who enjoy statistics, numbers and mathematics. A good portion of the job requires independent work and understanding topics at a high level.

The prospects for actuaries are very positive. Actuaries can work as consultants for banks, businesses and consulting firms. They can find employment in the government sector, investments and academia.

This is unlikely anytime in the near future. The automation of analysis and modeling has produced good tools that help actuaries. But humans will always be needed to evaluate actuarial science because it is impossible for artificial intelligence to understand all the complex factors actuaries are required to evaluate.

Applying for an actuary job is easy: create a Randstad profile and search our actuary jobs for vacancies in your area. Then simply send us your CV. If you do not have a resume, no worries. Just check out our resume builder. This state-of-the-art tool will help you to create your own resume. Need help with your application? Check out all our job-hunting tips!