Mystery Career #4: Who Am I? Can You Guess My Job?

I have been called the fortune teller of industry. Instead of using a crystal ball or psychic abilities for my predictions, I utilize many higher mathematics skills in my work, including probability & statistics, linear algebra and calculus. I excel in complex mathematical computations but I am not an engineer or a scientist. I work for individual clients and whole corporations. Can you guess my profession?

I normally have a 40 hour work week. I spend my days crunching numbers for my predictions. (I love spreadsheets and probability charts.) About five times a week, I must make a presentation of my findings to management. Occasionally, I am required to travel to a client's home office to gather data and make presentations. Some of my colleagues work independently as consultants. They must travel quite a bit more than I do.

I have a Bachelor's degree in mathematics, but many of my colleagues have degrees in statistics, economics, finance, business, and science. To advance in my field, one must take ongoing professional licensing qualification tests throughout one's career. This could take anywhere from 6 to 10 years!

Still can't guess who I am? These are some of the factors that I predict and analyze in my job every day: How long you will live, how many car accidents you will have in your lifetime, when you will get married, how many children you will have. I can even predict when you will get sick or disabled.

Others in my field predict investment risks or the need for products in emerging markets and what those products would sell for. Still others in my field predict how much money companies need to accrue for pension and benefit payouts.

You still haven't a clue? Well, the following might give it away. Without us, companies would not make money selling the following products:

o Life insurance

o Annuities

o Home insurance

o Fire and flood insurance

o Mutual funds

o Pension plans

o Marketing plans

If you guessed that I am an actuary, you are absolutely right! Insurance policies, marketing schemes, investment portfolios and pension plans all rely on my predictions.

I have great job security in this line of work right now. The government predicts that the demand for actuaries, especially in the life and property insurance industries is growing steadily and will outpace many other career fields through 2016.

To read the previous Mystery Career Installment, Click here

Source:

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition, Actuaries, http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos041.htm.