What an actuary really does
You turn messy claims data into the prices and reserves an insurer lives on, then explain the math to people who do not want to hear it.
FieldBusiness
Preparation (O*NET Job Zone)Considerable preparation needed
What the work involves
What fills a typical week for actuaries, built from O*NET occupation data.
- Pull and clean claims and premium data, then check it against last quarter
- Build or update models that project future losses and reserves
- Estimate how often and how badly claims happen for different groups
- Work with underwriters, product managers and finance on new or changed coverage
- Write up results with clear assumptions so a credentialed actuary can review them
- Explain technical findings to executives in plain words
- Study for professional exams on the side, often for years
What the days are like
What people in the job know
- Accuracy is the core expectation; a small error in an assumption can move millions of dollars. Importance of Being Exact or Accurate: 65% extremely important, 29% very important (O*NET Work Context)
- Pressure comes in waves around filings and quarter ends rather than every day. Time Pressure: 32% once a week or more, 53% once a month or more (O*NET Work Context)
- It is a desk job. You will spend most of the day sitting with data. Spend Time Sitting: 79% continually or almost continually (O*NET Work Context)
- Teamwork matters more than the lone math genius image suggests; you constantly work with underwriters, finance and IT. Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team: 53% extremely important; Task rank 4, importance 80: work with programmers, underwriters, accountants, claims experts and management (O*NET)
- Most actuaries rarely deal with the public directly. Deal With External Customers or the Public: 53% not important at all (O*NET Work Context)
How people get into it
Job Zone 4: considerable preparation. 82% of O*NET respondents say a bachelor's degree is required, usually in math, statistics or actuarial science, and 12% a post baccalaureate certificate. In practice people start as actuarial analysts and earn professional credentials by passing a series of exams over several years while working.
The Firstday trial, easy to hard
Three simulated tasks at Keystone Mutual Insurance, a fictional company, with AI coworkers who message you, react to your work and coach with questions. Nobody scores you.
What the trial can't show: The trial cannot show the years of credentialing exams, working in professional actuarial software or large databases, regulatory review of filings, or signing a statement of actuarial opinion, which requires a credentialed actuary. You act as an actuarial analyst with a credentialed supervisor.
Reading about it is one thing.
Find out how the work feels to you before you spend on a degree, course or job change. Your first trial is free.
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Job details on this page are built from O*NET OnLine, 15-2011.00. This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.