Customer Reviews

Actuaries' Survival Guide: How to Succeed in One of the Most Desirable Professions

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As someone interested in making a possible career change into the actuarial profession, I purchased this book hoping to get a feel for the day-to-day job experience of an actuary, as well as get some basic information about career paths and professional organizations. A large portion of the book consists of responses a survey the author undertook; daily tasks, salaries, opportunities and such. These are very useful and are presented without "analysis" by the author, leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions. However, the book really has very little background information - differences (textbook at least) between different business areas actuaries are employed, or information about what distinquishes an associate from a fellow, etc.
Upon further research I also discovered that some of the information has become out of date, as the professional organizations have recently added some additional requirements for advancement.
Overall I did find this book of some use in understanding more about the "daily life" of an actuary, but with the lack of background info and some information becoming outdated I cannot recommend it at the $40 price tag it currently carries.

This is a compilation of mainly everything you can read at the CAS and SOA websites. It's a colletions for FAQs that actuaries in the industry answered and some of the questions weren't answered well. The second half of the book discusses the examinations which is a little helpful but again you can go to the websites for that. This book was not worth the price I paid.

I am a research mathematician who has often wondered what my life would be like today, had I chosen to become an actuary. Now I know. Dr. Szabo's insider profiles of working actuaries are entertaining, informative, and comprehensive. I have enjoyed the accounts of the day-to-day activities of actuaries at their various levels of seniority, and have found it intriguing to learn how some of the underlying mathematical ideas and techniques can be discussed in a book of this type without assuming advanced prior knowledge. I highly recommend this guide to anyone interested in an actuarial career.

Sorry to mislead. I haven't read the book, but having recently left the actuarial profession after 15 years, I can probably save you buying the book and tell you how to succeed in the profession:

Pass Exams!

No one cares about your personality, leadership skills, or anything else, when it comes down to it. It doesn't matter how good you are at your work related activities. In this profession, he/she who has the credentials is king/queen, and will get all opportunities for advancement. If you don't have the credentials, you can be the greatest business person and personality on earth, and you will not be recognized for it (not in this profession, anyway). I speak from 15 years experience. If you are getting in this profession, don't let anything get in the way of exam progress. You should know, to succeed, you should be willing to sacrifice possibly a decade of your life sitting in a dark corner studying advanced mathematics. I kid you not. I left the profession, because in my opinion, the payoff was not worth the sacrifice. That is, there are people making more money, that didn't have to go through the exam hell actuaries go through.

I have been searching with my students for a good book explaining challenges of the actuaries' job and the way to it. I could not find anything that would guide my students and help them in making an informed decision. Finally, I got Actuaries ' Survival Guide by Fred Szabo. I wish to share some of my thoughts with potential readers.

The book should be considered as good guide for people who want to pursue their career as actuaries. It shows step by step challenges as well as opportunities of this job. Most of my students after reading this book were able to say if this is really the job they want or not. For all of them it was quite clear what are the demands and if they are able to fulfill them.
Let me comment on the selection of topics. The content of the book is organized in a very logical way. It is as complete as it could be possible. We learn what is the actuarial job, what skills we need for it, types of accreditation, what education we must go through, how to start and continue an actuarial professional career.

It would be important to mention the style of the book. At first sight it is very unusual. Large parts of the book are written in Q&A style. I have been thinking a while why Fred Szabo decided to choose just this style instead of something more conventional. Finally, I understood that this book written in traditional style of narration could be very difficult to read. Writing it in the form of questions and answers Fred is taking away this difficulty and forces his readers to concentrate on one topic at a time. There is another advantage to this approach. I guess, some of my students could never even think about problems that are mentioned in Fred's questions. For most of them reading these questions was quite a good lesson.
Finally, we should look into answers. Who replied to these questions and how? It is evident that most of the answers were given by experienced actuaries. This book is not the knowledge of a single person; it is the wisdom of many top level professionals. As a scientist and author I admire the amount of work done in researching and writing this book. I admire the professionalism of Fred Szabo.

In conclusion I would like to say that this is a wonderful book written in a professional way for the people who wish to be professionals in one of the most difficult professions.

Pluses
> Good overview of the profession
> Excellent explanation of career paths - valuation, pricing, consulting, pension, financial
> Lots of examples of "a typical day in an actuary"
> Explains math skills needed.
> Nice example problems that actuary solves

Minus
> Book is 7 years old.

As a second year actuarial mathematics student, several questions boggle my mind as to how the actuarial profession really is, what actuaries do exactly, how the SOA tests are, and what to do to achieve all of my actuarial goals. Through this book, I was able to get an answer to all of my questions that were circulating in my head. This book is an essential reference guide to anyone who is in the process of becoming an actuary or who is thinking about the actuarial profession as a future career.

This book includes, in detail, typical questions that any student may have while approaching his/her career. Instead of getting the opinion of only one author, the book delivers the answers of hundreds of present actuaries, giving in specific detail, how they approached their careers and what they did to resolve the common problems that erupt while striving for this challenging career. This book also includes a comprehensive description of each Actuarial exam, so I know what to expect and what to study, to give me the confidence to pass a course on my first attempt. The last few chapters give information about the typical employer and other sources of information for when I graduate from University.

This is one of the most demanding and hard professions present in our world today. How can a person achieve all of their goals if some unanswered questions still boggle the mind? If you are a student thinking about the actuarial profession, or a student already involved in actuarial studies, or even a graduate looking for a job, this book is a MUST to have. I now know what to expect from this profession and where I am headed.

Thank you for answering all of my questions.

Contrary to the last reviewer, I found Fred Szabo to be a very good author. Starting with the structure of the book and ending with the chosen style, I rate it as an A plus written book. I strongly believe Fred Szabo to be very skillful in giving both a clear and concise presentation of new and complex material. Immediately from the table of contents one can follow the logical consequence of problems and questions a person would encounter if he or she wanted to become an actuary. Short and full answers can be easily found in this well organized text.

Recently, actuarial jobs have become more and more popular. Good salaries, promising careers attract a lot of youngsters. Not to waste your time and dedicate yourself to a wrong career is very important in everybody's life. This book opens the door to what an actuarial career looks like, answers all standard questions, starting with typical responsibilities and ending with attainable salaries; it also guides the reader towards the right educational choice and explains what makes one a successful actuary. To spend time reading this book is a privileged shortcut to making the right career choice.

This book is pretty thorough, but provides the exact information you can find on the web. Check out at the library instead of purchasing if you must read it.

This is a great book for finding actuary jobs. It gives you ins and out, places to look and places to avoid. I like to use Actuarial Crossing [...] to look for jobs. It has jobs only from employer websites and far more jobs than you will find on other job boards. If you haven't had sucess with other online job searches I suggest you try [...]