Actuary Resume Examples for This Year
Secure your dream actuary role in 2022 with this resume example, and follow our tips for showcasing your best skills and experience to employers.
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What To Highlight in an Actuary Resume
Managing risk is a tricky role, so becoming an actuary requires a resume that shows you’ve got the skills to manage the position. To create the best actuary resume, you should highlight:
- Actuary skills
- Work experience and achievements
- Project management skills
- Certifications
This article will teach you about the sections you need to include to showcase skills and experience to impress a hiring manager or recruiter.
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Structure of an Actuary Resume
The structure of your actuary resume will depend on the resume format you choose. There are three resume formats:
- Chronological: The chronological resume format focuses on employment history and works best for those with several years of work experience.
- Functional: The functional resume format focuses on skills. If you have little to no work experience, this is the best format to use.
- Combination: The combination resume format showcases both skills and experience. This format is best for job seekers who have employment gaps or are changing careers.
Header
The resume header section contains your contact information. This helps hiring managers and recruiters contact you with updates about your application. In this section, you should include:
- Full name
- Email address
- Phone number
- Location (City and state)
You can also include your professional social media links, like your LinkedIn profile. This is a great way to give the hiring manager more information about your risk management key accomplishments.
Resume summary or objective
A resume summary is a short paragraph with two to three sentences that summarize your skills and experience. This is an opportunity to hook the hiring manager with striking information that increases your chances of securing an interview. You can also include key skills that you think the employer will value. These can be skills you gained in a previous actuarial position, such as underwriting.
If you don’t have previous actuary experience and are applying for an entry-level role, you can use a resume objective. A resume objective is similar in length to a resume summary, but it instead focuses on your career intentions. You should explain why an actuary job aligns with your career goals and highlight any knowledge of actuarial valuation you have, along with related skills.
Skills
Depending on your resume format, your skills section may be the most dominant part of your resume. Even if you choose a chronological or combination format, you should include a mixture of hard skills and soft skills.
Hard skills, or technical skills, are specific to an actuary job and gained through training, such as statistical analysis. In contrast, soft skills are transferable, like interpersonal skills.
Here is a list of bullet points with skills you can consider adding to your resume:
- Business administration skills
- Financial analysis
- Data analysis
- Financial modeling
- Expressing actuarial opinion
- Pricing models
- Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
- Working with insurance companies to form an actuarial opinion (life insurance)
- Financial forecasting
- Communication skills
- Collaborating with other actuarial analysts
- Financial reporting
- SQL
- Extensive knowledge of insurance products
- Profitability estimation
- Spreadsheets
Work history
Depending on the type of role and your resume format, your work experience section may be key. List your previous job titles in reverse-chronological order, starting from the most recent job. This provides the hiring manager or recruiter with the most up-to-date information.
You should then provide brief bullet points that summarize your previous duties. You should also include metrics from your professional experience that demonstrate your skills have tangible results.
Education
Actuaries will need qualifications that support strong math skills, actuarial science, and statistics. Gaining a bachelor’s degree in finance or math can increase the chance of securing a senior management role.
For actuary work, you’ll need to pass exams provided by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) and Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS). Be sure to list certifications like these in the education section.
Do’s and Don’ts for an Actuary Resume
Here are some do’s and don’ts for an actuary professional resume:
Do:
- Use an actuary resume sample to inspire your content. Seeing how other actuaries have written successful resumes will help you stand out from the crowd.
- Use a resume builder or an actuary resume template. This can provide structure to your resume.
- Read the job description for keywords that pertain to important skills and other qualifications, match them to your own skills and experiences, and feature them in your resume. This can help you navigate applicant tracking systems (ATS) that employers use to scan resumes, and which favor keyword-dense resumes.
Don’t:
- Include your high school GPA. Recruiters aren’t interested. However, if you have cum laude honors or were on the Dean’s List, be sure to list them.
- Use long sentences that clutter your resume. Recruiters are busy and appreciate resumes that are easy to read, so use short phrases and bullet points.
- Forget to customize your resume for each application. Select key terms and phrases from the job description, match them with your own skillset and experiences, and feature them in your resume.
FAQ: Actuary Resumes
Have questions? We’re here to help.
Do I need to include a cover letter for an actuary application?
Yes! A cover letter is an important addition to your application. This is an opportunity to explain your skills and experience in further detail. If you don’t have previous actuary experience, this is a good chance to explain why your skills and industry knowledge make you the ideal candidate for the role.
How can I write an actuary resume without a lot of experience?
You can still write a perfect actuary resume without a lot of experience. Focus on transferable skills and highlight your education. You can also list other activities (internships, volunteer work) that utilize skills you need for actuary work. This can prove to the hiring manager or recruiter that you have the right knowledge and soft skills to fulfill the role.
How do I change my actuary resume to apply to different jobs?
To create a successful resume, you’ll need to customize it for each application. Carefully read the job description and highlight key skills the recruiter is looking for. Then include these skills in your resume. This makes your resume stand out and portrays you as the perfect candidate for the role!
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