Actuary day-in-the-life questions

[Brandon Peterson]

Hi, I have a few questions about what to expect in an actuarial position, and I’d love to hear some individual descriptions of day-to-day life from current actuaries.

How intensive is your work? Do you end your workday feeling drained and exhausted, or relaxed and ready to enjoy a nice evening? How much of your day is spent focused and concentrating vs passively doing tasks with not much mental effort?

How demanding are your deadlines? Do you find yourself overwhelmed with future tasks? Or are you often trying to fill the time by checking up on your Fantasy Football lineup?

For those working in an office, how often do you chat with your co-workers and collaborate on work things? What does your office look like? Any fancy bean bag chairs or foosball tables?

How many hours a week do you work? Is your boss strict on the 9-5 boundaries, or is it more relaxed like you can head out whenever your day’s work is done? And if it’s the latter, do you think you could be efficient in your work to reduce the total number of hours spent at work?

For some background, I’m a senior in college majoring in math. I passed P and FM this summer and I’m currently deciding between the actuary track and the data science road. To be honest, my main goal is to optimize the fewest amount of hours spent in the office per week, and maximize the amount of mental energy I have at the end of the day in order to purse my passions outside of work. I’d appreciate any advice relating to my situation, and thank you to whoever takes the time to answer my questions!

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