If you work in business, you may have heard about actuaries but be confused about what they do. Or maybe someone has suggested that this could be a good career path for you and you want to know more about this interesting career path so you can decide if it is right for you.
What They Do
Actuaries are strategic thinkers and problem solvers with good mathematical skills that they use to assess the probability of future events and the potential financial impact they can cause. Businesses and governments alike rely on actuaries to help them plan for the future in a fast-changing world.
Where They Work
Traditionally actuaries have worked in fields like pensions and insurance. However, this is now expanding to other fields. These include technology, climate change, health and banking and finance. Actuaries are not the same as accountants, although you may find them working in an accountancy firm. If you want to find out more about accountancy services for businesses in your area, do an internet search using a relevant search term such as business accountants Stroud if you are in that area, and you should get results like https://www.hazlewoods.co.uk/expertise/business-accountants/stroud.
Becoming an Actuary
If you have good mathematical skills and are passionate about that subject, an actuary could be a good career path for you. Most actuaries will have done a maths-based degree course such as pure maths, statistics or economics before taking actuary exams, although some will have become an actuary via an apprenticeship route.
The job will be particularly suitable for you if you have good problem-solving skills and are able to communicate information effectively both in written form and orally as you help businesses understand the information and its implications for the future.
You should also be keen on learning, as the role of the actuary continues to shift in a fast-paced world. Particularly, you should be keen to learn how new technology, including data science and artificial intelligence, is transforming the role as it encourages actuaries to consider new ways of thinking and creates new opportunities.