5 Things You Need to Know about Actuarial Science

1. What skills do you have to acquire before you can work as an actuary?

First of all, you have to excel at mathematics, particularly in calculus, probability, and statistics as you will need to deal with a lot of mathematical calculations. Other than maths and numeracy skills, actuaries nowadays have come to realise that the significance of application of technology into their profession. Thus, having a basic understanding of Excel, VBA, SQL, SAS and some other computer skills are necessary for them.

      2.  What do actuaries actually do?

Basically, actuaries’ job is to manage risk and opportunity in nature. They analyse and estimate the likelihood of the occurrence of a future event and come up with different effective strategies in order to reduce the likely impact of the undesirable outcome. Traditionally, actuaries work for insurance companies where they can specialise in life insurance, health insurance, property-casualty insurance and pensions. Due to the diverse demands of the society, some of actuaries transfer to different sectors such as bank and finance, investment, data mining, and etc.

      3.  How much can an actuary make?

On account of the extensive workload and some other commitments, actuarial science has always been recognised as a relatively high paying job. According to the Forbes.com, the No.1 Best Jobs for 2013 is actuary. An American actuary can earn up to a median salary of $87,650 annually. While in UK, average salary for a newly qualified actuary in insurance companies is from £40,000 and £55,000. In Australia, a new qualified fellow can make around $100,000 annually while.

      4.  What are the current and future career prospects of actuarial science?

Actuary has always been a top-ranked job as actuaries are always well compensated. According to the Labor Department In the USA, the actuarial field is expected to grow by 27% from between 2010 and 2020, which means 5,800 jobs will be added into the industry during this interval.

      5.  Which are the universities or institutions that offer actuarial science programme?

There are a lot of universities that offer actuarial science programme which allow students who wants to be an aspiring actuary to pursue their dream. Here is the list of the best universities that offer such course as shown in scholarship-positions.com.