Career in Mathematics- Actuary
Actuarial jobs require high analytical skills as they mostly deal with the probability of risk factors associated with anything like death, injury, accident etc. Actuaries are widely hired in insurance firms where the possibility of occurrence of an uncertain event is determined. These professionals also draft various insurance policies and analyze the claim rates per policy.
For becoming an actuary, you need to have high knowledge related to fields like mathematics and statistics with some general business details. Some of the vital requirements required to take career as actuary in Missouri include-
Requirements: Actuaries are business professionals and hence to become an actuary you should have a bachelor's degree. According to the specifications laid by the Office of the Chief Actuary, every actuary must have a good knowledge of mathematics, statistics and business and therefore complete an undergraduate degree in any of the following subjects as major- mathematics, finance, economics, business, accounting, actuarial science or statistics. On the other hand, majoring in these subjects is not the prime criteria as many firms hire people who have major's in different subjects; but need to pass actuarial exams to show their ability in math. You can also be a certified personal with the Actuary Society by completing at least 24 semester hours in mathematics, actuarial science and statistics and passing required exams.
Payments: Almost all actuaries work from office and complete a work time of 40 hours per week with some exceptions where meetings with clients require travel. According to the report of May 2011 presented by Bureau of Labor Statistics, an actuary has a mean annual wage of around $103,000. The scenario of Missouri states that the average annual salary is around $92,800 with 470 employments as of May 2011. The estimated growth predicted by 2020 is around 27% with job opportunities over 5,500 around USA.
As there are no specific requirements other than a bachelor's degree for this profession you can very well major in any subject. However, to increase the job opportunity you must opt for mathematics, statistics and actuarial science with some business related courses. Some of the colleges and universities in Missouri which offer actuarial science courses are-
- Maryville University- Saint Louis offer both bachelor's and master's degree in actuarial science.
- University of Central Missouri- Warrensburg provides bachelor's degree in actuarial science.
University of Missouri-Kansas City, Washington University in Saint Louis, Northwest Missouri State University- Maryville, University of Missouri-Columbia, College of the Ozarks- Point Lookout, Park University- Parkville are some institutes which offer courses in statistics and mathematics.
Actuarial jobs are increasing every year providing job opportunities across USA. However, passing the actuary exam is difficult but the one who passes it has a good job prospect in consulting and insurance firms with high salary and other benefits.