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What he does:
- Syed Mehmud started as a Student Actuary even before graduating from college; he has held his current postion since approximately March 2005. He works with the Denver, CO office of Milliman Inc., a global actuarial consulting firm. “Our practice,” elaborates Syed, “provides consulting services primarily to the health sector, which includes businesses that are in the payor (e.g. insurance) or provider (e.g. managed care organizations) categories.” Syed provides a few details of the kinds of assignments that student actuaries conduct at a consulting firm. “Student Actuaries usually perform data analysis, trend analysis, and sometimes also engage in report writing,” explains Syed. To get the job, he passed an actuarial exam (administered by the Society of Actuaries, www.soa.org), and completed relevant coursework while still in college.
Math on the Job:
- The actuarial workplace can vary depending on the nature of the
company: the type of mathematics used in an actuarial job depends to a
large extent on whether the job is in an insurance setting or a
consulting one. In an insurance setting (the largest actuarial
employer), mathematical application is routine, although it can be
complicated. In consulting work one comes across a wide variety of
projects, each with its own needs. Creative application of wide-ranging
mathematical principles (widely described as stochastic modeling,
probability, statisics, and simulation) enables an actuary to solve
these
problems. An example of a common project would be determining pricing
(premium) for a health plan product. A more off-beat example would be
constructing a markov chain model to analyze the relation of health to
exercise.
- His interest into the actuarial profession was fueled by the
prestige of the profession. Actuarial professionals are renowned for
their integrity, intelligence, and insight into complex practical
issues faced by the insurance industry. Further, Syed believes that the
actuarial profession has recently entered into a phase of rapid
evolution, where actuarial knowledge is being applied in fields not
traditionally associated with actuaries. “Investment actuaries and the
blossoming field of enterprise risk management are examples of an
expanding scope of the profession, and I believe there is significant
opportunity to contribute to the profession today,” Syed maintains.
Syed's background:
- Syed was a Math and Physics Major, graduating from Franklin & Marshall College in May 2004. The skills he uses on the job come from courses he took in economics, probability, statistics, and modeling (including, of course other fundamental mathematics courses like calculus). Good communicational skills are valued, as well as a programming skills (as the student jobs described in the first paragraph involve a lot of data crunching and programming).
Advice for students:
- Syed notes, "Mathematics is an essential toolbox for many dynamic
careers. The natural sciences are an obvious example, and financial and
business sectors consistently demand more analytical skills and
advanced mathematical ability. My advice for students interested in the
actuarial profession is to seek out an internship in their sophomore or
junior year, and see if they like the work and the environment. You can
obtain more information by going to the Society of Actuaries’ website, www.soa.org.”