Can you conceptualize today’s world economy without businesses? Everything from your toothbrush to your home is sold by businesses, and the abundance creates a variety of jobs. Among those jobs are business risk calculators or actuaries. If you are interested in statistics, business, and risk management, you might want to become an actuary.

In this article, we provide a comprehensive career guide for aspiring actuaries. We include all the essential information including education, skills, and job prep you need to pursue your career as an actuary.

An actuary is a professional who evaluates a business’s numbers using statistics, finance, and mathematics to predict the financial repercussions of business risks. In simple terms, your job as an actuary is to essentially make accurate financial and uncertainty predictions and help the business grow.

As a qualified actuary, you can work across an array of sectors and enjoy a variety of job opportunities. The roles are mostly analytical, such as business analysis, financial analysis, insurance claim adjustment, and more. Actuaries typically work in the insurance, pensions, investment, banking, and consulting sectors.

Pursuing a career as an actuary comes with a space for tremendous job growth and brings a good compensation rate with it. According to PayScale, the national average salary of an actuary in the United States is $96,542 per year. This may go down to as low as $56,000 or up to as high as $146,000.

Along with a generous compensation package, this field also gives you a promising career. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the occupation of actuaries is projected to grow by 18 percent between 2019 to 2029. This is much faster than the average growth across occupations, which is three to four percent.

To get a job as an entry-level actuary, you need to possess a combination of educational qualifications and pass the industry exam. Most employers hire an actuary with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in an analytical field. You can get a Bachelor’s Degree in Actuarial Science, Management of Information Systems (MIS), Statistics, or any other relevant field.

To be eligible for the position, you must get a professional actuary certification, which consists of 10 preliminary exams. You need to pass a minimum of two to three of those exams to be considered for an entry-level position.

Along with the above-mentioned requirements, employers generally prefer a candidate with some substantial industry experience. Therefore, it would be wise to apply for internships during and even after getting your bachelor’s degree.

To ace your actuary job interview, you must be prepared to answer questions relevant to both the industry and general behavioral aspects. The key to a successful interview lies in knowing what the company is looking for and highlighting how your skills fit those requirements.

Therefore, we recommend reading up on the company, the position requirements, and practicing your elevator speech. Researching and practicing the common actuary interview questions listed below will also give you a headstart.

The primary job duty of an actuary is to perform statistical analysis and inform the business about the potential financial risk consequences of any business decision. Besides this main responsibility, your job duties as an actuary differ depending on the industry and position you are working in.

Below are some of the job duties of an actuary.

To become an accomplished actuary, you must possess certain industry skills. Along with the technical skills, you need soft skills such as communication skills and critical thinking skills to be successful.

Below are the most essential actuary industry skills.

To qualify for an entry-level actuary position, it will take you around four to six years. This figure includes four years for a bachelor’s degree and an additional two years to prepare and clear the first two actuarial exams.

However, know that this duration depends on how long you need to prepare for the exams. To complete all 10 actuarial exams and progress in your career, it can take you anywhere between seven to 10 years.

If you are mathematically talented, analytically minded, and have an aptitude for problem-solving, then yes, you should become an actuary in 2021. Sure, the entire process to become qualified is quite lengthy, but the high salary rate and positive job outlook make it worth it.

In addition, the field of actuarial science provides immense job opportunities. You can specialize in risk management, underwriting, business analysis, and more, all spread across a spectrum of industries.