Actuary Career Information : Actuary Hardest Day
Posted on July 21st, 2010 in Life Insurance Blog
Actuaries are subject to time pressures, which can be stressful for some individuals. Hear about the hardest day an experienced actuary had in this free career information video. Expert: Faye Albert Contact: www.albertassociates.org Bio: Faye Albert owns her own actuary firm called Albert Associates. They provide actuarial consulting to insurance companies, government agencies and lawyers. Filmmaker: Paul Muller
This post has 16 comments
July 21st, 2010
@MelTurpin I’ve been told about this myth that if you love math and want to make HUGE money, then become an actuary. But what you are telling me, is that there’s little real Math involved. If what you are saying is true, would u mind telling me what jobs do involve the use of extensive math? Because my first true love is math, not trying to remember a whole bunch of “non-math facts” as you said. And no, I don’t wanna b just a math teacher… no offense to u, but I want a little more in life.
July 21st, 2010
No, I do love math. I’m a math teacher! That’s the big lie about the actuarial field: After the first few exams, there is little real Math, and the jobe itself CERTAINLY involves VERY LITTLE interesting math.
July 21st, 2010
I seriously want to try the profession, but in my country its so incredibly competitive and the market is tiny, only about 100 Actuaries. They only tend to look at very top people, but I suppose if you apply yourself and work very hard you an rival these people. You would need to pass some exams in your own time as only very few people get thru on the very rare recruitment rounds for the insurance companies.
July 21st, 2010
i think you just failed it
July 21st, 2010
so, you just dont love math..you have to love it
July 21st, 2010
it depends on the type of person you are…. you are not the standard for all human beings in case you didn’t know – people are different.
July 21st, 2010
That’s amazing, particularly when the exams are so much more challenging — that actuaries spend most of their time dealing with simple mathematics. Is that because actuaries use programs/software that does most of the work for them?
July 21st, 2010
So you passed about six tests. That’s pretty good. Can you give an example of the problems you were presented with at work? How long did they take to solve? Why does a high level certification require the memorizing of so many facts? And if they’re not mathematical, what do they pertain to? Thanks for the information.
July 21st, 2010
No, I’m certainly not saying you have to be adventurous. I do think that different personality types have different needs in the “adventure” department; I found very little adventure at ANY of the 3 different life/health companies I worked for.
I obtained my ASA designation. Only the early exams are heavy on Math. The further you go, the less math you will see. You certainly need brainpower, but in my opinion you need a brain with a high tolerance for memorizing boring non-mathematical facts.
July 21st, 2010
I take back what i said. It’s definitely good for people to hear criticism of the job as well, just as long as there is a reason for the criticism.
So you are saying you have to be adventurous? Why is that? Also, if it does not use math, what does it use? There has to be quite a bit of brainpower involved if you can take up to 8 exams all requiring inordinate amounts of study time.
How many exams did you pass? Any information would be helpful as I am looking into this career.
July 21st, 2010
You said “..but I don’t think it’s necessary to project that kind of an opinion.”
That’s precisely the problem! There is tons of information out there promoting the positive aspects of becoming an actuary, and I don’t doubt it’s a wonderfully satisfying career for many, especially the unadverturous. Too many people wind up as unhappy actuaries, just because they happened to like math and were fooled into pursuing a profession that rarely uses ANY math trickier than + – / and *.
July 21st, 2010
I can understand why you would be frustrated but I don’t think it’s necessary to project that kind of an opinion. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Please explain why you feel this way.
July 21st, 2010
Do NOT become an actuary. I have warned you. I speak from over 10 years of experience TRYING and TRYING to enjoy this profession. No amount of money is worth this world of Boredom.
July 21st, 2010
I love readily available data!
July 21st, 2010
Useful information. Quite the joker. lol
July 21st, 2010
The thunderstorm was hilarious the whole way through, love the mention of it near the end. Thank you