Actuarial candidates know that the exams cover real-world concepts that are necessary to be actuaries. But there are more ingredients that go into career success than passing exams. Let’s explore a couple of the necessary skills that can round out a candidate’s profile for employers.

Coding/Programming

Many online actuarial job postings that show up online in the current labor environment indicate that knowledge of at least one programming language is desired by employers. In an informal survey I found online, it was found that two-thirds of actuarial job postings stated as such. The most popular languages (in no particular order) appear to be VBA, Python, SAS, R and SQL.

Why are coding skills so important? While Excel is an actuary’s best friend, it may not always be the best tool for a job. This could be for a variety of reasons. For example, the dataset may be too large for Excel to process quickly, or the data may be in a format that is messy when importing it into Excel. Therefore, using one or more of these programming languages may improve the efficiency and accessibility to clean, organize, analyze and/or visualize the results of an analysis. Repeatable processes may also be simpler and easier to build in a programming language.

How do I improve my programming skills? At the top of the list, no surprise, is Google. Of course, any time there is a problem, the answer is to “Google it.” If you encounter an issue, Google should point you in the right direction upon a search. Beyond the obvious number one, here are a few more ideas:

•   Read Books Online – CAS Research Staff Actuary, Brian Fannin, recommends free web versions of Introduction to Statistical Learning and R for Data Science.

•   Watch YouTube — There are loads of videos on YouTube about the languages referenced above — everything from basic learning to very advanced topics on each.

•   Comment, comment, comment! — One of the most important details of writing code is to write comments within the code. This provides insight into what action a particular section or line of code is performing. It helps those who interact with code you have written and helps you when you haven’t reviewed your own code for a long time.

•   Find ways to practice — The more you use your coding skills, the easier it will be to remember them. It is especially difficult to learn programming when you don’t have a use case readily available. Look online to find places to practice writing code. One interesting place I found as I researched for this article is hackerrank.com — it has challenges that programmers can attempt to solve.

•   Use employer resources — Ask your company if they have internal resources that can help you learn programming skills. If your employer does not have internal resources, they may be willing to invest in external resources that can help you improve your ability to code. Think critically about how you can benefit your employer to become more efficient and effective in performing your job tasks.

•   Utilize CAS Resources — The CAS can help improve actuaries skills through our continuing education offerings, such as the upcoming introductory virtual workshops on R and Python. Through these six-session workshops, attendees will be introduced to  R or Python and shown how to perform data manipulation, visualization, and analysis. Through this six-session workshop, attendees will be introduced to Python and shown how to perform data collection, data visualization, and data analysis in Python. The CAS GitHub site is a great resource for accessing open-source code. If you’d like to learn more about the CAS GitHub at github.com/casact, the CAS has a series of microlearning videos which give an overview.

Soft skills

Soft skills are traits that are challenging to quantify and difficult to measure. Many of them relate to interpersonal relationships. Some examples include creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, time management, conflict resolution, communication, listening and problem solving. In contrast, hard skills are generally technical or procedural in nature. Many of them are routine or codifiable. Therefore, as technology advances the hard skills tend to become replaceable by machines.

Why are soft skills important? A 2019 survey by Global Talent Trends (LinkedIn Talent Solutions) indicated that 91% of talent professionals agreed that soft skills are very important to the future of recruiting. That same survey indicated that 80% of respondents were convinced that soft skills are increasingly important to company success.

Almost all jobs require some level of interaction with other employees. As a job seeker, employers will be looking to see if candidates have skills to positively relate to their peers, resolve disagreements and communicate effectively. Once you secure a job, you can make an impact by engaging with others when you see a need, crafting creative solutions to problems and managing your time well. A common need for today’s actuaries is the ability to explain complex topics to others who may not have as much depth of knowledge on a particular subject. Additionally, a large chunk of an actuary’s job will involve various forms of communication, such as writing emails and asking insightful questions.

How do I expand my soft skill abilities? Because soft skills are often difficult to measure, it will take creativity to determine the best way to develop these qualities. Here are a few suggestions to get started:

•   Ask someone you trust — If you are unsure of how your skills measure up, ask someone! I  suggest choosing someone you trust to tell the truth in a constructive manner. Be ready to act on any suggestions for improvement.

•   Be open to diverse viewpoints — Unfortunately, we are not always right in our opinions. Expand your horizons and challenge yourself by listening to alternative ideas. This can help you to sharpen your own thinking skills as well.

•   Join Toastmasters — If you are looking to improve your public speaking abilities, there may not be many better options than a Toastmasters club. Check out their website and find a club that meets at a location and time convenient for you.

•   Find someone to hold you accountable — Once you have established goals for yourself, the key to success is to follow through. Identify a person who will ask you the hard questions that motivate you to complete the tasks you determined were necessary to succeed. This accountability may also help you refine your vision of your desired future.

Undoubtedly, we all know that exams are important to success as an actuary. But there are certainly skills you need beyond the topics you can learn on exams. I hope this article will jump start your development in two areas that are important and valuable to today’s actuarial employers.