Resources

Communication skills matter a lot. After all, your solution to a real-world business problem is only as valuable as your ability to communicate it effectively to the relevant stakeholders. Participating actively and consistently in your classes is a good way to become comfortable discussing technical ideas and solutions.

Are you aware of the various roles that actuaries take on? The difference between health, life, and casualty insurance, both in general and with respect to actuarial work? What other people work in insurance, and how do actuaries interact with them? What are the contemporary challenges that actuaries face in the various fields, and what emerging risks may present opportunities for your future employer? Again, nobody expects you to be an expert on these issues, but if you are aware of them, you will be in a better position to add value to the company when you start working there. Therefore, recruiters will likely raise those issues during interviews. There are various resources that help raise your awareness of current issues affecting actuarial work. For example:

• Follow current news and trends, especially regarding politics and the economy. The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and The Economist are good and reliable sources of information.
• M. Best provides various insurance services and publications.
• The CAS Actuarial Review, published by the Casualty Actuarial Society.
• The Actuary, published by the Society of Actuaries.
• Follow companies you like on LinkedIn.
• The weekly meetings of Gamma Iota Sigma (Mondays and Wednesdays, 12:00 to 12:50 pm) and the MS/AcSci program (Fridays, 12:00 to 12:50 pm), to learn from guest speakers, including Temple actuarial alumni and insurance executives.

Are you willing to go above and beyond to add value to your firm? Are you excited about the actuarial career path and the opportunities it offers, or are you a minimalist satisfied with a good paycheck? The insurance industry (and the nature of actuarial work) evolves constantly—do you have the motivation to be at the forefront of these changes? A good signal of that is how well you prepare for interviews. Do some background research on the company (e.g. through their web presence, industry publications, media coverage, etc.). This allows you to have a conversation with the recruiters that is more specific to the company’s products and challenges, to describe coherently why you are particularly interested in working for this company, and it puts you in a position to ask meaningful, intelligent questions. If you want to get a head-start in preparing for your interactions with recruiters, have a look at the enclosed list of companies who attended our actuarial career reception last year.

Computer skills, especially Microsoft Excel; sometimes also VBA, Microsoft Access, a programming language such as Python, or a statistical software such as R or SAS. Nobody expects you to be proficient in all (or any) of them, but the more advanced your computer skills are, the better.

Any relevant prior experience can be beneficial for you. In particular, think about how your prior experience (education / work / life) can help you succeed as an actuary and benefit your potential future employer. This can give you as a graduate student an advantage over the undergraduates.

For many companies, it is important to maintain a positive office culture. Therefore, your personality may also be a decision criterion, since actuaries often work in teams and since you will constantly interact with many other people in the office.