Am sure few people would probably know who an Actuary is. An actuary is a professional that uses mathematical and statistical tool to predict future uncertain financial events. Yes! That is who I am. I want to tell you how I spend my typical day in the office so you can appreciate more how I have deployed my skills to assist companies meet their objectives. As an Actuary, a typical workday in the office involves various tasks relating to analysing and managing risk for my organisation – an Insurance company.
The following is a brief overview of what a day in the life of an actuary might look like.
7:00 AM – 9:00 AM: Arrival and Preparation
I consider myself an early riser, so I usually arrive at the office very early and indeed before most of my colleagues. The other attraction for my early arrival can be attributed to the provision of gym services in the office. I prefer to do my workout very early in the morning and so a perfect location for this is the company sponsored gym within my office premises. After the early morning workout, the first task is typically to check my emails and catch up with my analyst to see if there are any urgent requests from our internal clients notably the finance team or indeed any other team that may require our services from time to time. Sometimes, I spend some time reviewing any reports or data the analyst may have to work on for that day. As the Chief Actuary, I have responsibility for the whole Actuarial department, and I am accountable to the management and board of directors with respect to the Actuarial functions.
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Analysing Data and Creating Models
One of the primary responsibilities of my role is to review data that has been analysed by my Actuarial analyst and this also include review of the models created by the analyst to ensure that it is in line with the requirement of the job. Like I mentioned earlier, Actuaries use statistical models and other techniques to assess the likelihood of certain events, such as accidents, illnesses, survival or even death, and to determine the financial impact of these events. Part of my role is to review simulations created by the analyst and try to make financial sense out of those simulations.
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: Lunch Break
Lunch break are usually not a distinct and definite time. Though the company policies stipulates that lunch can be observed between these hours, but I hardly observe this. In some situation, I use this time slot to catch up on industry events and try have a chat with some colleagues either within or outside my company.
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM: Meetings and Communications
Afternoon is when most of my schedule meetings are usually held. This is deliberate so I can concentrate on getting the job done in the early morning. Most of meetings are with my internal stakeholders. Sometimes the meeting can also involve the team from our regional office since my company is a part of a multinational company. During these meetings, we can present some of our findings, results and recommendations. We may also use this time to answer questions or address concerns that our stakeholders may have.
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Wrap-up and Planning for the Next Day
Towards the end of the workday, I spend some time wrapping up any loose ends from the day’s work. I also try to plan for the next day’s task.
5:00 PM: End of the Workday
My typical workday ends around 5:00 PM. Though it really does not ends at this time as I may have some report to review before leaving the office. Sometimes, the requirement of the work and urgency to which is attached to some tasks may make me work longer into the late evening. In addition, I may need to work outside of regular business hours especially when I travel outside my current location.
Overall, the work of an actuary is varied and challenging, requiring a combination of analytical skills, communication skills, and business acumen. While the specifics of each day may vary depending on the organization and the specific role, the above overview provides a general idea of what my typical workday might look like for an actuary in the office. Just to say that I really love my job because different day bring a different perspective to what I do.
Do you love your job?
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