I am an intelligence analyst of 10 years and planning to leave the service at my 12 year mark. I am highly interested in becoming an actuary. My passion has always been within finances due to the ebb and flow and the many uncertainties that come with it. I am very interested in the Risk Management portion of an actuary however I am unclear on what an actuary really does when it comes to a corporation/business finances.
I'm aiming to be one of the few(1,500) selected for a Google Internship. I understand that may not be a realistic goal, however I have always dreamed big. What steps would I need to take to healthily (with military career in mind - 2 years left in service) transition to become an actuary. I am currently waiting (PCS) to sign up for the Fundamentals of Actuarial Practice e-learning course through SOA.
Answers
First, thank you for your service. While I have never been in the military myself, my son is a Marine so I understand the commitment and dedication it takes to serve. I have over 30 years of actuarial experience at MetLife. I think your first step needs to be to study for and pass at least one actuarial exam. We have a robust actuarial training program at MetLife as well as an actuarial internship program, but you'd need at least one exam to be eligible. Please feel free to reach out to me at ereichert@metlife.com if you'd like to discuss further. Best of luck to you!
Brian, our daughter-in-law is an actuary and offered this advice. First she feels your intelligence analyst experience and a statistics degree should provide a solid foundation for the next step of studying to be an actuary and passing the many tests required to earn certification—likely to be a 10 year process. She recommended earning an actuary degree from a good school. Then once you have that degree many companies will hire you as an actuary intern so you can earn while pursing the many remaining tests—and if your grades are solid companies may help finance your additional work. Let me know if you have other questions and I will check her willingness to communicate via email with you.
Good luck, Bill Nobles
Hello and thank you for your service.
I agree with what some have said, start working towards your first actuarial exam but I wanted to add another route that may suit you. If you are already familiar with SAS, SQL, Python or any other data extraction and manipulation, you may be able to use this to get your "foot in the door". Many actuarial departments need data analysts within the department that you may be able to do while working towards your actuarial exams. This way you'll have the exam/education as well as some experience in the industry.
Hi, to be an actuary you need a strong math background, bachelor level to start. There are 10 exams to pass to become and actuarial fellow. To get a job in the actuarial field, pass the first exam. There is a college for actuaries in NYC, down town. Maybe something you should look into. You will need to know computer programming, so you can do your own analysis on big data. SQL is a good start. Most actuarial jobs focus on financial issues, so a good knowledge of finance will help.
Have fun..
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