How to Write a Resume for an Actuary

Introduction: Why a Tailored Actuary Resume Matters

An actuary uses mathematics, statistics, and financial theory to analyze risk and uncertainty, most commonly in insurance, pensions, consulting, and financial services. Employers rely on actuaries to build models, forecast outcomes, and guide high-stakes business decisions. Because the field is both highly technical and tightly regulated through professional exams, your resume must clearly demonstrate your analytical ability, exam progress, and business impact.

A generic resume will not stand out in a competitive actuarial job market. Hiring managers and recruiters often scan hundreds of applications and use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to filter candidates by keywords such as “loss reserving,” “predictive modeling,” or “SOA exams.” A well-crafted actuarial resume highlights your quantitative skills, exam track, software proficiency, and real-world results in a concise, data-driven format.

Key Skills for an Actuary Resume

Your resume should showcase a balance of technical expertise, business acumen, and communication skills. Consider including a dedicated “Skills” section that aligns with the roles you are targeting (e.g., life, health, P&C, pensions, risk management).

Technical and Hard Skills

• Probability and statistics
• Actuarial modeling and projections
• Loss reserving and pricing (for P&C roles)
• Life and annuity product modeling (for life/health roles)
• Pension valuation and funding calculations
• Experience studies and assumption setting
• Predictive modeling and data analytics
• Financial mathematics and time value of money
• Regulatory knowledge (e.g., GAAP, IFRS, Solvency II, RBC)
• Programming: R, Python, SAS, SQL, VBA
• Actuarial software: Prophet, AXIS, Moses, GGY AXIS, PolySystems (as applicable)
• Spreadsheet modeling and advanced Excel (pivot tables, Power Query, macros)
• Data visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI)

Soft Skills and Business Competencies

• Analytical thinking and problem solving
• Attention to detail and quality control
• Business and financial acumen
• Communication of complex concepts to non-technical stakeholders
• Stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration
• Time management and prioritization (especially around exam study)
• Project management and meeting deadlines
• Ethics, confidentiality, and professional judgment
• Continuous learning and exam discipline

Formatting Tips for an Actuary Resume

Overall Layout and Length

• Keep it to one page for entry-level and early-career actuaries; two pages are acceptable for experienced actuaries with substantial history.
• Use clean, professional fonts (e.g., Calibri, Arial, Garamond) at 10–12 pt for body text and 12–16 pt for section headers.
• Maintain consistent margins (0.5–1 inch) and spacing for a polished, easy-to-scan layout.
• Avoid graphics, tables, and columns that may confuse ATS; simple, left-aligned formatting works best.

Header

Your header should make it easy to contact you and quickly understand your actuarial track.

• Include: full name, city/state, phone, professional email, LinkedIn URL, and optionally an online portfolio or GitHub if you showcase data projects.
• If appropriate, add a brief designation line, e.g., “Actuarial Analyst | ASA Candidate | P&C Focus.”

Professional Summary

Use 2–4 concise sentences or bullet points to summarize your experience, exam progress, and areas of specialization.

• Example: “Entry-level actuarial candidate with internship experience in P&C pricing, passed 3 SOA exams, and strong skills in R, SQL, and Excel. Proven ability to build loss cost models, analyze large datasets, and communicate findings to underwriting and product teams.”
• Tailor this section to the specific role (life, health, P&C, pensions, risk, consulting).

Experience Section

• List roles in reverse chronological order (most recent first).
• Include company name, location, job title, and dates (month/year).
• Use bullet points starting with strong action verbs (e.g., “Developed,” “Modeled,” “Analyzed,” “Forecasted”).
• Quantify impact with metrics: reserve accuracy, premium growth, loss ratio changes, efficiency gains, or automation results.
• Focus on actuarial-relevant tasks: modeling, data analysis, reporting, assumption setting, and cross-functional collaboration.

Education Section

• For students and early-career candidates, place Education near the top; for experienced actuaries, it can follow Experience.
• Include degree, major, institution, location, and graduation date (or expected date).
• Highlight relevant coursework: Probability, Statistics, Stochastic Processes, Financial Mathematics, Econometrics, Data Science.
• Mention academic honors, scholarships, and actuarial club leadership if significant.

Skills and Additional Sections

• Create a separate “Technical Skills” section listing programming languages, tools, and actuarial software.
• Include “Certifications & Exams” (detailed in the next section) as a distinct, prominent section.
• Add sections like “Projects,” “Leadership & Activities,” or “Publications” if they strengthen your candidacy.

Highlighting Actuarial Exams and Professional Credentials

For actuaries, exam progress is one of the most important signals of commitment and capability. Recruiters often scan resumes specifically for exam status and credential pathways (SOA, CAS, IFoA, etc.).

How to List Actuarial Exams

• Create a dedicated section titled “Actuarial Exams” or “Certifications & Exams.”
• Clearly state the track: Society of Actuaries (SOA), Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS), or other regional bodies.
• List passed exams with official names or codes, e.g., “Exam P (Probability) – Passed, May 2025.”
• Include “Scheduled” or “Sitting for” only if you are officially registered and the exam date is near.
• Note VEE (Validation by Educational Experience) credits if relevant to entry-level roles.

Showcasing Designations and Memberships

• If you have credentials such as ASA, ACAS, FSA, FCAS, or CERA, feature them prominently in your header and summary.
• List professional memberships: “Member, Society of Actuaries (SOA)” or “Student Member, Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS).”
• Include continuing education if you attend significant seminars, webinars, or conferences relevant to actuarial practice.

Positioning Exams Strategically

• For students and early-career candidates, place the Exams section near the top, just below the summary or education.
• For experienced actuaries, exams and designations can appear after Experience, but still in the top half of the first page.

Showcasing Quantitative Impact and Actuarial Projects

Actuarial work is inherently quantitative. Employers want evidence that you can turn data into insights and business decisions. Use your resume to demonstrate measurable outcomes and real-world projects.

Quantifying Your Contributions

• Translate tasks into results: connect your analysis to financial or operational outcomes.
• Examples of quantifiable metrics:
  • “Improved loss ratio by 2.5 points through refined pricing segmentation.”
  • “Automated monthly reserving report, reducing processing time by 40%.”
  • “Analyzed 5+ years of claims data to identify trends, informing a 10% rate adjustment.”
  • “Supported product launch projected to generate $X million in annual premium.”

Including Actuarial and Data Projects

• Add a “Projects” section if you have substantial academic, internship, or independent work.
• Highlight:
  • Predictive models built in R, Python, or SAS (e.g., claim frequency/severity models).
  • Capstone projects involving survival analysis, credibility theory, or GLMs.
  • Dashboards or tools created for underwriting, pricing, or risk monitoring.
• Describe methods and outcomes, not just tools: “Built GLM to model claim frequency; identified key rating variables and improved model lift by 15% over prior approach.”

Internships and Entry-Level Experience

• Even short internships are valuable; describe specific actuarial tasks rather than generic office work.
• Example bullets:
  • “Assisted in quarterly reserve analysis by preparing loss triangles and reconciling data across systems.”
  • “Developed Excel tool to project earned premium by line of business, improving forecast accuracy.”
  • “Collaborated with underwriters to analyze rate adequacy for a new commercial auto program.”

Tailoring Strategies for Actuary Job Descriptions

To stand out, your resume should reflect the language and priorities of each specific job posting. Tailoring is especially important for actuaries because roles vary widely across lines of business and practice areas.

Analyze the Job Description

• Identify the practice area: P&C, life, health, pensions, enterprise risk management, or consulting.
• Highlight required skills and tools: e.g., “R and SQL,” “IFRS 17,” “AXIS,” “pricing models,” “experience studies.”
• Note any preferred exams or credential levels.

Align Your Content and Keywords

• Mirror key phrases from the job description in your summary, skills, and experience sections (while being truthful).
• Reorder bullet points so the most relevant experience appears first under each role.
• Emphasize line-of-business experience that matches the posting (e.g., personal auto, group life, Medicare Advantage, defined benefit pensions).

Customize for Different Actuarial Tracks

• P&C Roles: Stress loss reserving, pricing, ratemaking, GLMs, regulatory filings, and catastrophe modeling.
• Life/Health Roles: Emphasize product pricing, valuation, experience studies, lapse and mortality analysis, and regulatory regimes.
• Pensions: Focus on funding valuations, benefit calculations, plan design, and compliance with pension regulations.
• Consulting: Highlight client interaction, presentation skills, multi-project workload, and business development support.

Common Mistakes on Actuary Resumes (and How to Avoid Them)

1. Hiding or Minimizing Exam Progress

• Mistake: Burying exams at the bottom of the resume or listing them vaguely.
• Fix: Create a clear “Actuarial Exams” section and state passed exams with dates; show your track and momentum.

2. Vague, Non-Quantitative Bullet Points

• Mistake: Using generic phrases like “Assisted with analysis” or “Responsible for reports.”
• Fix: Specify what you analyzed, tools used, and the impact. Whenever possible, add numbers, percentages, or business outcomes.

3. Overloading with Technical Jargon

• Mistake: Filling your resume with acronyms and jargon that obscure your actual contributions.
• Fix: Use technical terms when relevant, but always connect them to clear results and business value.

4. Poor Organization and Formatting

• Mistake: Dense text blocks, inconsistent formatting, or creative designs that break ATS parsing.
• Fix: Use a clean, consistent structure with clear headings, bullet points, and standard fonts. Save as PDF unless instructed otherwise.

5. Ignoring Tailoring and Keywords

• Mistake: Sending the same generic resume to every employer and line of business.
• Fix: Adjust your summary, skills, and top bullet points to reflect each role’s practice area, tools, and responsibilities.

6. Underselling Non-Actuarial Experience

• Mistake: Omitting or downplaying roles that are not explicitly actuarial.
• Fix: Reframe previous roles (e.g., data analysis, finance, customer service) to highlight transferable skills: quantitative analysis, communication, problem solving, and project management.

Final Thoughts

An effective actuary resume is concise, data-driven, and tailored to the specific practice area and employer. By clearly presenting your exam progress, technical skills, and quantifiable impact, you make it easy for hiring managers to see your potential. Combine strong formatting, targeted keywords, and clear evidence of business value, and your resume will position you competitively in the actuarial job market.