Tell me about being an actuary.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

In March I’ll be earning my B.S. in Math. My current plan is to jump right back in and pursue a second degree in Computer Science.

I’ve had several people say “You should be an actuary. Good money.” From looking around on the 'net, I’ve gathered that actuaries work in insurance, but what do they really do? I mean, I understand they do risk assessment, but is it just sitting behind a desk all day working out probability problems?

I’ve given it a little thought from time to time, or at least maybe taking a couple of the exams as a backup plan. But I’m not sure the career really appeals to me. I’ve never had much interest in being an office drone and/or wearing a suit every day. And… this will sound silly, but… I’m a guy, and I’ve had long hair since I was a teenager. I have no desire to cut it. Does that pretty much count me out? I’m 37 now, BTW.

One more thing… several months ago, while reading some message board for actuaries, many people were moaning about how difficult the exams are. I checked out a couple of the practice exams - the first three, IIRC - and thought “You’ve got to be kidding me. This is easy!” Now, I’m sure they get progressively harder, and perhaps the ones I looked at weren’t truly representative of the actual exams…?

2

They do lots of things. In the more traditional life and non-life insurance fields this can include assessing and pricing risks, valuing liabilities, modelling capital and reinsurance requirements, strategy development, general management etc. Similar roles apply in the field of defined benefit pension funds. Investment consulting is also popular. In the banking sphere there are roles in credit analysis, loan valuation and wealth management. More “greenfields” areas of actuarial employment include carbon credit trading and resource management (a former colleague of mine now works for a foresty company). One of the more unusual that I’ve heard of is an actuary working for a major airline in the team that aims to optimise its fuel/seat capacity/pricing model.

It depends on the sort of role. Some places will have a conservative dress code. Others won’t. Ditto for your hair. Many of the actuarial consultancies have a much more laid back attitude. I was at a meeting last week with an actuary who had pink streaks in his hair and nobody batted an eyelid. And I don’t think that the later entry age would be a barrier either. In my organisation we have fifteen actuaries (or thereabouts). At least four of them came to the actuarial profession after doing other things: two were mathematicians, one was a physicist and the other was a maths teacher.

I’m not very familar with the US actuarial exam system. I’m sure that **Freddy the Pig **or **iwakura43 **could give you a better idea. I’m absolutely certain though that the exams get harder as you progress.

3

I’ve heard it said that actuaries are people who think that accountancy is too exciting. :slight_smile:

4

There are people out there who manage to get through the first few exams painlessly. If you’re one of them, that’s great, but the odds are not in your favor. And yes, the later exams do get to be significantly more difficult–I quit after receiving a study manual for the life contingencies exam that was longer than all study manual for the other exams I’d passed put together.

The message board you’re thinking of is the Actuarial Outpost, and if you’re serious about this, you should become a regular over there.

Just out of curiosity, what’s up with the second degree plan?

5

Nobody wears suits any more, except maybe consultants when visiting a client. But it’s definitely an office drone job–much like accounting, finance, or computer programming. If that doesn’t appeal to you, don’t do it. But then, what else would you do with a math degree . . . teaching?

Actuaries work in both pensions and insurance. I work in insurance. The first four exams are joint exams, heavy on math. If you’re a math major, you might blow through them relatively quickly. (I wasn’t, so I had trouble with the fourth exam.)

On the insurance side, there are five more exams specific to insurance. They’re brutally difficult, with more than a thousand pages of study material per exam that must be mastered in exacting detail.

If you pass them all, you’ll make minimum $120k with opportunities for lots more, and the job is relatively recession-proof. But the job will never score real high on the day-to-day excitement meter.

6

Well, a bit of a story there…

I’ve been screwing around in college for a long time. I went right out of high school and got my A.S. after two and a half years. I took a couple of years off, then went back for three more years. When I had about 30 semester units to go, I was made the general manager of the restaurant I was working for, so I quit school and did that for eight years.

The money was decent, but the problem was I lived in the Bay Area. Even though I was making $45-50K a year, I had no hope of ever being able to buy a house. And there wasn’t really any room for advancement in the company… these and several other factors led me to the decision to quit my job, get out of California, and start over somewhere else. I’m in Portland now.

A few months after I got here I decided to go back to school. At first I was going to major in Computer Science, so in my first quarter I took Algebra and Trig as a refresher before tackling Calculus. I remembered how much I enjoyed math, so decided to make it my major instead.

About a year ago I realized I’d made a mistake. I enjoy the calculations, I love the satisfaction of using formulas to figure out some problem. The theory side of math… not so much. I frickin’ hate proofs. And that’s pretty much what higher math is all about - theories and proving them.

My original plan was to go on and get my M.S., maybe even my PhD. I decided I’d be better off going for the second degree in Computer Science - it’ll take another two years, versus six or eight for a PhD in Math, I think I’ll enjoy it more, and - really, what can I do with just a B.S. in Math?

One answer - become an actuary. One of the reasons I’m thinking about this is… after all these years, I can finally taste having a degree. While the idea of studying Computer Science is exciting, the idea of spending more time in school isn’t quite so exciting, and I’m kind of itching to get on with my life.

Oh, and I can’t just change my major or do a double at this point. I’ve surpassed the maximum number of units allowed for Financial Aid (according to the federal government, not the university); I had to petition to get funding for this final quarter. Hence my decision to graduate, and re-enroll as a post-bac. Once I’ve graduated, the number of units allowed for Financial Aid is reset.

So, thanks for the replies, guys. I will continue to think on this.

7

There are actually five preliminary exams now, exam M/3 was recently split into two different exams: 3/F and 3/MLC. 3/F is joint administered, however the CAS administers 3 and the SOA administers MLC, both independently. Passing MLC gets you credit for both MLC and course 3, but passing course 3 does not get you credit for MLC. Anyway, all five of the first exams are still almost entirely math based.

As for the OP, FWIW I am a male actuary with long hair. I work for a large health insurance company and I’ve never had any blow back about my appearance. I also was one of the lucky ones in that I never failed an exam, and as a result I am continually shocked (in a good way!) about how much money I make in relation to how much work I do. My job is also fairly recession-resistant, which is obviously a benefit given the current US economy.

From what I’ve seen, college major does not matter very much, only that you actually have a bachelor’s degree and can pass the exams. Career changers are also very common and welcomed into the field all the time.

8

Were you hired with that appearance, or did you grow it afterward?

9

I did grow it in after I was hired, but I don’t think it would have made a difference if I had long hair when I interviewed.

10

One of my colleagues quit actuarial work to come back to school in operations research.
He claims there are 3 kinds of actuaries: those who can count and those who can’t.