Actuarial Careers

The job of an actuary has been ranked in every edition of the Wall Street Journal's Jobs Rated Almanac as a top three profession (out of 200) in the United States.  In the 2010 edition, actuary was ranked the number one career.  When ranking professions, the Almanac considers factors like salary, hiring outlooks, stress and work environment.

So who is an actuary?  Actuaries use mathematical skills to define, analyze and solve business problems involving the cost of possible future events.  Actuaries are employed by insurance companies, financial institutions, consulting firms, industrial corporations, government agencies, universities, accounting firms and labor unions.

Some examples of actuarial work: projecting how a new auto-safety law will change insurance claims; investigating how life-insurance reserves and future premiums might balance future claims; estimating the benefit cost of a labor contract; analyzing investment risks; projecting financial costs of an epidemic.

Professional societies of actuaries administer a series of examinations for persons wishing to qualify as an Associate or a Fellow as proof of their status as an actuary.  While in college, most of our actuarial students take classes that cover the content of multiple prelim exams, the VEE requirements and successfully pass one to three preliminary actuarial exams.