Can Actuaries Make It in Non-Actuarial Roles?

Excerpt:

My advice for actuaries looking to succeed outside the traditional function:

Push yourself to speak up more. Actuarial leaders know how to get the best out of you. It may not be the same experience with leaders in different areas of the business. So take advantage and speak up.

Have an opinion. So often I’ve worked with young actuaries who can perform incredible analysis but will stop short of providing an opinion and often defer to their manager or a senior actuary. As you move up the corporate ladder, you’re going to have to get more comfortable with providing your input with less and less data to work with.

If you are still toying with the idea of moving outside of a traditional actuarial role, it never hurts to widen your circle. Get to know the people in different areas of your company. Sit with an underwriter while they process a policy, shadow a claims adjuster while they work to help a customer during a stressful time of their life or connect  with a member of your broker distribution team to find out what brokers or customers are saying. It will give you a whole new perspective on where the data you work with comes from.

Author(s): Gary Cummings

Publication Date: 10 August 2021

Publication Site: CAS