What is an Actuary?

The future is full of uncertainty. Some of the events that can happen are undesirable. "Risk" is the possibility that an undesirable event will occur. Actuaries are experts in:

The impact of undesirable events can be both emotional and financial. Reducing the likelihood of these events helps relieve emotional pain. But some events, such as death, cannot be totally avoided. So, reducing their financial impact is very important. Actuaries are the leading professionals in finding ways to manage risk. It takes a combination of strong analytical skills, business knowledge and understanding of human behavior to design and manage programs that control risk.

Actuaries love what they do. Their work is intellectually challenging and they are very well-paid. Actuaries are key players in the management team of the companies that employ them. In a fast-changing world, with new risks and the need for ever-more creative ways to tackle them, there is the constant opportunity for personal and professional growth in an actuarial career, and the pleasure of life-long learning. Most actuaries work in a pleasant environment, alongside other professionals, and enjoy the respect of their peers.

This is why the actuarial profession has consistently been rated as one of the top five jobs in the United States according to Jobs Rated Almanac.

See the The Actuarial Profession PowerPoint from soa.org!

Read this informative overview of the profession from Sloan Career Cornerstone Center!

Important Sites:

Be An Actuary (http://beanactuary.com/)

Casualty Actuarial Society -CAS- (http://casact.org/)

Society of Actuaries -SOA- (http://www.soa.org/)

Chartered Enterprise Risk Analysts -CERA- (http://www.ceranalyst.com/)

Actuarial Outpost -- Discussion Forum, Actuary Jobs, Links and more (http://actuarialoutpost.com/)

Actuary.com (http://actuary.com/)

Videos:

Actuaries (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYXJbq9_jHI)

Be An Actuary video (http://www.beanactuary.org/webcast.cfm)