LOVE ACTUARY (Nation Junior)

by Kaewta Ketbungkan

According to CareerCast.com’s Jobs Rated Report, the best job to have in 2010 considering from stress, working environment, physical demands, income and hiring outlook is “actuary”. Never heard of it? Read on to find out more about this ideal job!

“Actuary’s responsibility is to study data in the past, analyze the present information, model future events and communicate with others,” said Pichet “Tommy” Jiaramaneetaweesin, the assistant vice president and head of the corporate actuarial of a well-known assurance company in Thailand.

            Tommy’s task deals with maths and statistics in analyzing financial problems and calculating the probability and financial impact of illness, risk and uncertainty before designing the proper insurance package for customers. That is why actuary has also been described as “Financial Engineer”.

            However, actuaries do not work only at the life insurance companies; they also work in different kinds of organizations such as general insurance, actuarial consultancy and other business like investment, financial services, risk management or health insurance. 

            Tommy confessed that the path to this well-paid career is not easy. After he graduated from the faculty of engineering at Chulalongkorn University, he worked as an engineer at Michelin and then his current company persuaded him to take on an actuarial job. He had spent 4 years working and studying hard for the actuarial examinations, which every qualified actuary must pass in order to be admitted into an international actuarial society (for example, United States or United Kingdom) and normally take more than 10 years to complete, until it paid off as he has become a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) of USA and is doing the job he loves today.

            The essence of being a good actuary is determination, good logic and possessing “learn-how-to-learn” attitude since knowledge from studies do not last forever. “The new generation kids shouldn’t memorize knowledge, they should learn how to learn new things in the future since information keeps on coming and changing so that they can maximize their abilities.” Tommy suggested.     

“Being an actuary is not only about theory of numbers. The more I pursue this career, the more I come to understand that there’s art in it. We have to use creativity in turning the numbers into melodies and use that to communicate with others,” Tommy said. “Unlike numbers which are stable, we have to try to understand and manage each individual and that’s very challenging,” he added. 

            If you are interested in actuarial field, you should possess good English, mathematic and computer skills. Those will enable you to pass actuarial examination and help your career in real world. Even though it is recommended to complete a science program during high school, anyone can be an actuary depending on their determination and practice. Moreover, being a qualified actuary, you have to take all actuarial exams internationally regardless which degree you had pursued. “Striving for your own success is more crucial than being gifted,” Tommy said before suggesting informative websites for those interested: http://www.iprbthai.org/ and http://www.sawasdeeactuary.com/. So, check them out and begin your strive for success today!  

Name: Pichet “Tommy” Jiaramaneetaweesin

Choice: Actuary