The actuarial pitch - promoting the actuarial profession

Like me, I expect you have found yourself at a social gathering or event trying to explain to someone, with no experience or exposure to actuaries, exactly what an actuary is. It’s not simple is it! Never being one to shy away from a challenge, I made ‘promote’ the focus of my presidential year. The challenge that we face as actuaries was reinforced by some ‘mystery shopping’ market research undertaken by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) with a number of HR Directors from industries not typically associated with hiring actuaries.

When the HR Directors were presented with a set of skills (the actuarial skillset), 94% agreed that they were the skills that they look for when hiring into ‘C Suite’ positions. When it was revealed that the skillset related to those of actuaries, only 26% said that they were likely to employ an actuary!

What this said to me was that we, as actuaries, need to be better at promoting ourselves and the skills that we can bring to businesses.

Now we all know that diversity of input builds a better outcome, so I gathered some people who had expressed different views about how to help bring our skills and professional qualities to life in a novel and engaging way. What we ended up with was a short animation, which you can view below. I would like to personally thank Chloe Cox, Susan Drekslar, Martin Potter, Ravi Rastogoi and Andrew Reid who worked with me and the creative team to produce the ideas and words that helped shaped the animation. 

Although I have now rolled off the presidential team, I still remain passionate about promoting our profession. I hope the animation helps spark some ideas about how you can promote yourself and the valuable skills that you have acquired as an actuary to potential employers. I also hope that it inspires bright, young mathematicians to think about a career as an actuary.

Enjoy! 

Fiona Morrison
President, Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, 2015/2016