Actuary Job Description: Duties, Education, Training and Certification Requirements, Job Outlook and Salary Information
Submitted by: Gypsy Santiago
Job Overview: The job of an actuary involves analyzing statistical data, including accident, sickness, retirement, disability and mortality rates, and using these details to construct probability tables used in forecasting liability and risks for payment of future benefits. He/she may be responsible in ascertaining premium rates and cash reserves required in ensuring payment of future benefits.
Education, Training and Knowledge Requirements: Actuaries must hold a Bachelor’s degree in accounting, economics, finance, business or a related field and possess a strong background in applied statistics, mathematics, corporate finance and business. To become an actuary, certification is necessary. Entry-level actuaries often land jobs and receive training in marketing, financial reporting, underwriting or product development jobs. As they gain experience, actuaries can prepare correspondence, conduct research, draft reports and supervise clerks.
To become a successful actuary, he/she must have advanced knowledge in calculus, statistics, arithmetic, geometry, algebra and their applications. Actuaries should also have vast knowledge in marketing and sales, economics and accounting practices, principles and legalities, including government regulations, agency rules, legal codes, court procedures and executive orders.
Skills & Abilities: An actuary should be an expert in solving mathematical problems and should possess skills like critical thinking, active listening, time management, complex problem-solving, acting learning and reading comprehension, speech clarity, and excellent decision-making and judgment.
Actuaries should have exceptional mathematical and deductive reasoning, superb written expression and comprehension and have the ability to recognize problems, to arrange things in certain order based on a set of rules, and to apply rules to specific problems when producing answers.
Duties: The tasks of actuaries include analyzing statistical information to estimate retirement, sickness, accident, disability and mortality rates. He/she is responsible for designing, reviewing and assisting in administering insurance, pension and annuity plans, particularly in determining financial status and calculating premiums. An actuary also determines premium rates required and liabilities or cash reserves necessary in ensuring payment of future benefits.
Aside from the main functions of an actuary, he/she will also help in determining company policy and explaining complex details to policyholders, government officials, company executives or the public. An actuary might also be asked to testify before public agencies on proposed legislation or testify in court as expert witness. He/she may also serve as a consultant to clients on a contract basis.
Earnings & Job Outlook: Actuaries can get jobs in various industries, so the employment outlook would depend largely upon the industry in which they work. However, actuaries are well-compensated – their annual salary ranges from $150,000 to $250,000. Earnings may vary depending on the actuary’s years of experience, responsibilities, industry and geographic region.
Gypsy Santiago is a professional resume writer and career search strategy/career branding coach with years of experience in assisting job seekers prepare for the job market. She helps create career-targeted resumes, provides useful tips about career transition, offers future career ideas and guide jobseekers about effective job search techniques.
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Word Count: 465 Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 Time: 9:52 AM
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