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Essay on Beingan Actuary

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Submitted By fluffykitten
Words 630
Pages 3
Being an actuary is interesting. It is not exciting. There's a lot of periodic reporting and long-term projects.
You need to have thick skin. For the most part the numbers that you are working with will have to do with one or more of the following: people dying (including children), getting sick, experiencing a disabling injury/illness, being the victims of theft, losing their homes due to fire/hurricane/flood, etc.
Many (but certainly not all) actuaries work in the insurance industry. As soon as you enter that industry you will be working for 'the big bad insurance company' no matter how ethical your employer is. Your friends and family will complain to you about any and every insurance situation they encounter. You will have the pleasure of dealing with people who appear to sincerely believe that members of the insurance industry have the ability to grow money on trees and get a sick and twisted pleasure out of keeping that secret from the rest of society, and denying claims for no good reason. People hate insurance companies more than they hate lawyers!!!
Do not underestimate the difficulty of exams. People who majored in math routinely fail the first exam multiple times. If you are not a good test taker you are going to struggle mightily with the actuarial exams. The earlier exams are multiple choice (do not make the mistake of thinking that 'multiple choice' = 'easy') and more mathematical/financial in nature. The later exams are very different: written answer exams dealing with lots of regulations and syllabi that sometimes cover as much as 2,800 pages of reading material - with less than 6 months to prepare. That said, people pass exams all the time - more and more every year in fact.
The work can be rewarding. You are helping to develop/maintain a product that will help people when they need help the most - at the worst moment(s) of their lives. You will

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