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Actuary resume example

A resume for a Actuary needs to show the work itself: analyze statistical data, such as mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates and construct probability tables to forecast risk and liability for payment of future benefits. Day to day that means work like this: ascertain premium rates required and cash reserves and liabilities necessary to ensure payment of future benefits; collaborate with programmers, underwriters, accounts, claims experts, and senior management to help companies develop plans for new lines of business or improvements to existing business. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

  • Actuaries
  • Actuarial Analyst
  • Consulting Actuary
  • Pricing Actuary
  • Actuarial Associate
  • Actuarial Consultant
  • Corporate Actuary
  • Health Actuary
  • Product Development Actuary
  • Reserving Actuary
  • Actuarial Mathematician
  • Actuarial Specialist
  • Enrolled Actuary
  • Forecast Analyst
  • Insurance Actuary
  • Life Actuary
  • Pricing Actuarial Analyst

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

  • Ascertain premium rates required and cash reserves and liabilities necessary to ensure payment of future benefits.
  • Collaborate with programmers, underwriters, accounts, claims experts, and senior management to help companies develop plans for new lines of business or improvements to existing business.
  • Analyze statistical information to estimate mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates.
  • Design, review, and help administer insurance, annuity and pension plans, determining financial soundness and calculating premiums.
  • Determine, or help determine, company policy, and explain complex technical matters to company executives, government officials, shareholders, policyholders, or the public.
  • Construct probability tables for events such as fires, natural disasters, and unemployment, based on analysis of statistical data and other pertinent information.
  • Provide advice to clients on a contract basis, working as a consultant.
  • Determine equitable basis for distributing surplus earnings under participating insurance and annuity contracts in mutual companies.
  • Negotiate terms and conditions of reinsurance with other companies.
  • Provide expertise to help financial institutions manage risks and maximize returns associated with investment products or credit offerings.
  • Testify before public agencies on proposed legislation affecting businesses.
  • Determine policy contract provisions for each type of insurance.

15 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

  • Ascertain premium rates required and cash reserves and liabilities necessary to ensure payment of future benefits, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Collaborate with programmers, underwriters, accounts, claims experts, and senior management to help companies develop plans for new lines of business or improvements to existing business, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Analyze statistical information to estimate mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Design, review, and help administer insurance, annuity and pension plans, determining financial soundness and calculating premiums, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

  • Appraisal software
  • ARMON Technologies XLActuary
  • C++
  • Cash flow software
  • Compliance testing software
  • dBASE Plus
  • GGY AXIS
  • IBM Lotus Notes
  • IBM SPSS Statistics
  • Insightful S-PLUS
  • Insureware ICRFS-ELRF
  • Lewis & Ellis LEAPPS
  • Microsoft Access
  • Microsoft Excel

45 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

  • 10-key calculators
  • Desktop computers
  • Notebook computers
  • Personal computers

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

  • Power BI
  • Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications VBA
  • Python
  • R
  • SAS
  • SQL
  • Tableau
  • C++
  • SPSS
  • SQL Server

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

  1. 01Critical Thinking
  2. 02Judgment and Decision Making
  3. 03Mathematics
  4. 04Reading Comprehension
  5. 05Active Listening
  6. 06Complex Problem Solving
  7. 07Systems Evaluation
  8. 08Speaking
  9. 09Systems Analysis
  10. 10Writing

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

  • Mathematics
  • Computers and Electronics
  • Economics and Accounting
  • English Language
  • Law and Government

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

  • 79%Bachelor's Degree
  • 11%Post-Baccalaureate Certificate, awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.
  • 11%First Professional Degree, awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a Actuary do?
Analyze statistical data, such as mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates and construct probability tables to forecast risk and liability for payment of future benefits. Day to day that includes work like ascertain premium rates required and cash reserves and liabilities necessary to ensure payment of future benefits and Collaborate with programmers, underwriters, accounts, claims experts, and senior management to help companies develop plans for new lines of business or improvements to existing business.
What skills should a Actuary put on a resume?
O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Judgment and Decision Making, Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, and Active Listening among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Actuary list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Appraisal software, ARMON Technologies XLActuary, C++, Cash flow software, and Compliance testing software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Actuary work?
O*NET records 17 titles for this occupation, including Actuaries, Actuarial Analyst, Consulting Actuary, and Pricing Actuary. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Actuary need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 79% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Actuary role?
No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

  • No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
  • This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
  • Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.