Kickstart your Career as an Actuary by Following these 6 Steps

Are you an individual that has a love for data and statistics or someone that has a keen interest in software programming? Do you want to start your career as an actuary? If you are someone with a passion for the subject, there are several companies that can utilize your skills and help you make a bright career out of it. One of those shining careers is an actuary. Actuaries are usually needed in the insurance industry as there is a massive amount of financial risk involved within health insurance, life insurance and home insurance. As a result, actuaries utilize data as well as a number of other factors to determine how risky an insurance policy is for providing to someone. In this article, we will guide you on how to Kickstart your career as an actuary by following these 6 steps. This will help you to make a promising career in this financially rewarding industry.

Obtain relevant education in college and high school

Obtaining a bachelor's degree is indeed a must if you are looking to get into a career as an actuary. However, it could also be argued that your relevant education starts way before college. It is essential that you should take relevant finance and math courses in high school. Depending primarily on the college that you have attended, it's highly possible that there is an actuarial program to major in. Majoring in actuarial science can certainly help, but it's not a stiff requirement if you have similarly relevant education. A major relating to mathematics, economics or finance would be highly viable.

Develop programming skills

It is a fact that programming courses in college can certainly help in providing you a massive advantage. However, if you want to really become well-versed in the software you'll be using you'll have to go outside of generic classes. Having skills in advanced Excel or programming languages like SQL could certainly be highly beneficial.

Pass at least a couple of actuarial exams before graduating

In their entire career, actuaries are required to pass various rigorous exams to become highly skilled and full-fledged actuary. As a result, it is highly recommended that by the time you graduate college, you should be able to take at least two of these exams. The two exams that are taken as the first ones are the Probability Exam (aka Exam P) and the Financial Mathematics Exam (aka Exam FM).

Get an internship

If you are able to pass the first couple of exams, you can easily get an internship or two under your belt before you graduate. However, you should also note that becoming an actuary and have a career as an actuary doesn't leave a lot of room for free time. By having a highly impressive resume of relevant courses, you will be able to gain a very solid actuarial internship. Moreover, you will also be able to work on a team that comprises of established actuaries. This can also help you to gain work experience and build connections. They are integral to your personal resume. Moreover, they can also help you to develop a sense of the day-to-day role of an actuary actually is.

Get your first entry level actuarial job

When you graduate and pass your exams and also complete some internship, it becomes essential for you to make your way into the practical world and find a job in your field. This could well be easier said than done. However, if you've put in the work and have been able to study hard for your exams and have also paid significant attention in your internships, you can easily find your first entry-level position.

Select between SOA and CAS

After you are able to find a position, you will also be able to determine what direction you want to go in after becoming an actuary. The field you wish to work on after becoming an actuary would also help to determine what association you want to be a part of for your career as an actuary. You can join either the Society of Actuaries (SOA) or the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS). The main difference between the two organizations is the field these actuaries are employed in. The CAS is used for property and casualty insurance. On the other hand, the SOA is more focused on health insurance, retirement and life insurance. The association helps to bring with it different exams you will have to take after the first few general exams you already took.