Becoming an Actuary

Many of my exceptionally bright students have no idea what they want to do in life, and seek my consult.  The first thing I do is to tell them that it is okay, most students don't.  Many people go through their entire lives not knowing exactly what they want to do.  Happiness in the job is as much about who you work with than your particular occupation.

Yet, when it comes to careers, I consistently recommend my students who are good with numbers to look into becoming an actuary (you know, people who come up with insurance premiums, things like that).  It is challenging, utilizes what they learned in school, pays well, and provides them with some degree of autonomy because they are a professional.

Just recently, the Wall Street Journal published a list of  the Best and Worst Occupations in the U.S. -- an actuary was the 2nd best job, as shown below.  An economist was #11.

The Best and Worst Jobs

Of 200 Jobs studied, these came out on top -- and at the bottom:

The Best	The Worst
1. Mathematician	200. Lumberjack
2. Actuary	199. Dairy Farmer
3. Statistician	198. Taxi Driver
4. Biologist	197. Seaman
5. Software Engineer	196. EMT
6. Computer Systems Analyst	195. Garbage Collector
7. Historian	194. Welder
8. Sociologist	193. Roustabout
9. Industrial Designer	192. Ironworker
10. Accountant	191. Construction Worker
11. Economist	190. Mail Carrier
12. Philosopher	189. Sheet Metal Worker
13. Physicist	188. Auto Mechanic
14. Parole Officer	187. Butcher
15. Meteorologist	186. Nuclear Decontamination Tech
16. Medical Laboratory Technician	185. Nurse (LN)
17. Paralegal Assistant	184.Painter
18. Computer Programmer	183. Child Care Worker
19. Motion Picture Editor	182. Firefighter
20. Astronomer	181. Brick Layer