Actuary Resume—Examples, Template, & Writing Guide

Sending your resume out into the world in mere hopes that it’ll land you a job feels awfully… unsecure. Wouldn’t you prefer to have some measure of certainty that its probability of success is higher than that of failing? 

Turn your actuary resume into a safe investment with this guide and watch your application-to-interview ratio skyrocket! 

In this guide:

• An actuary resume example better than most.
• How to make the perfect actuary job description for resumes.
• How to write a resume for actuary jobs that stands out.
• Expert tips and examples to boost your chances of landing an actuary job.

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Looking for other professions? Here’s a list of some of our related resume guides: 

• Accounting Resume Sample
• Business Analyst Resume Sample
• Data Analyst Resume Sample
• Data Scientist Resume Sample
• Entry-Level Accountant Resume Sample
• Entry-Level Financial Analyst Resume Sample
• Financial Advisor Resume Sample
• Financial Analyst Resume Sample
• Investment Banking Resume Sample
• Senior Accountant Resume Sample
• Best Resume Samples for Every Industry

Actuary Resume Example

Actuaries work in investment, insurance, and financial companies, analyzing data, evaluating risks, and determining potential financial consequences of decisions or solutions. An actuary resume needs to show you have sufficient experience and education, alongside computer and people skills. 

Here’s how to write a risk-free actuarial resume: 

1. Format Your Actuary Resume Template the Right Way

The formatting of your resume is your first chance to impress. This doesn’t necessarily mean flashy graphics—in fact, you’re best off avoiding them altogether, as Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) may have trouble figuring out images. No—your aim is crisp, clear, and 100% professional. Here’s how to ensure this outcome:

Actuary Resume Format

• Use the standard resume format—reverse-chronological. It’s the safest option all around: recruiters are most familiar with it, and it’s ideal for showing off your most recent achievements. 
• Pick a simple resume font that doesn’t draw attention to itself. Arial or Helvetica are fine—a neat serif like Georgia is a great option for actuary jobs, too. 
• Set the margins of your resume to one inch on all sides, and use 1 or 1.15 line spacing for a bit of extra space. You don’t want to overload the reader with too much text all at once. 
• Include a professional resume header or sidebar with your contact information. 
• Divide your resume into sections: objective or summary, work experience, education, skills, and additional information. 
• Decide on the right length for your resume. For most candidates, one page will be ideal—but you can consider submitting a two-page resume if you have 10+ years of experience and a series of achievements to mention. 

And there you go—That’s how you make an ATS-friendly resume! Well, those are the first steps, anyway—the contents matter as well, but we’ll get to that in a moment. 

One more format-related thing: check whether the job ad mentions a preferred file format. If not, submit your resume as a PDF file to keep it looking great on any device. 

2. Write a Compelling Actuary Resume Objective or Summary

You’re by no means new to the challenges of explaining complex information in simple terms. If you launched into the details of every calculation during stakeholder meetings, they’d be sure to develop a strong aversion to your presentations. 

Give the recruiter the same treatment: rather than delving straight into the nitty-gritty of your experience, start your resume with a profile paragraph that highlights key pieces of information. Here’s how to structure it: 

1. Start with an adjective (detail-oriented, attentive, self-motivated, reliable)
2. Add your job title (actuary)
3. Mention your years of experience (4+, 5+)
4. State how you would help the employer (seeking to use my expertise towards developing 100% accurate predictive models for XYZ Company)
5. Outline a couple of your most impressive, relevant accomplishments (automated 6 man-hours per week by adding VBA code to existing Excel databases, built 80+ models to determine trends with 98.5% accuracy, boosted calculation accuracy by 7%)
6. Weave in a few key skills where possible

This is how to write a resume summary—ideal for experienced candidates with relevant accomplishments to list on a resume. 

If you’re not quite so experienced and writing an entry-level actuary resume, go with a resume objective statement instead. Focus on achievements from your studies and exams, internships, placements, volunteering, projects, or other jobs—whatever it takes to show your potential. 

You’ll likely find yourself a little stuck here—coming up with a summary on an otherwise empty page is a challenge at the best of times. Start your resume for actuary jobs by writing about your work experience first instead, and come back to the profile paragraph once you have a few ideas. 

3. Build Your Work Experience Section and Determine the Right Skills to Highlight

The way you describe your work experience on your resume is crucial. Your past performance is the best predictor of your future success, after all. 

So, the trick to an above-average actuarial resume is to make that past performance as closely relevant to future challenges as possible. In other words, you should target your resume to the specific job you’re after, taking into account its unique requirements. It’s the most efficient way to prove you’re the ideal candidate. 

Here’s how to write a tailored actuary job description for your work history section: 

1. Re-read the job ad and extrapolate the specific skills it mentions. They’re your resume keywords. 
2. Determine when you used those skills in previous jobs to achieve a specific outcome, ideally one that impressed your supervisors/clients or benefitted the company in some way. 
3. Write achievement statements describing those experiences, ideally in the form of bullet points—aim for up to 6 per job. 

Remember when we covered Applicant Tracking Systems? Keywords—important words and phrases from the job ad, like those skills you identified—make your resume more relevant to ATS software. When scanning incoming applications, ATS is likely to favor those that use similar language to the company’s own description of duties for the role. 

So, by tailoring your work experience section in the way we described above, you’re making your resume even more ATS-compliant. 

Feature some additional keywords in the skills section of your resume, too—

Include a list of up to 10 of your most relevant skills, ideally mentioned in the job ad. Here’s a list to help you get started: 

Actuary Resume Skills

• Analytical skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Math
• Calculus
• Probability
• Statistics
• Economics
• Accounting
• Computer skills
• Excel
• VBA
• SAS
• Python
• R
• SQL
• Business
• Finance
• Time management skills
• Life insurance
• Health insurance
• Enterprise risk forecasting
• Investment strategies
• Financial risk calculation
• Property insurance
• Database creation
• Database manipulation
• Critical thinking skills
• Conceptual skills
• Communication skills
• Presentation skills
• Active listening skills
• Interpersonal skills

Expert hint: Have tons of experience? As a rule of thumb, resumes shouldn’t go back further than 10–15 years in terms of work experience—but use your best judgment for what’s relevant and valuable to the employer. 

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4. Input Details of Your Education

Statistically speaking, the hardest part of your resume-writing process is now behind you—congrats! 

Now for the easy part: your resume education section. All you need to do here is to provide key information about your highest completed level of education, including the name of the program, the awarding institution, and your years of attendance. 

In case you’re currently studying (say, for a Master’s), include your unfinished degree above the completed one (in this example, the Bachelor’s). 

If you’re writing an entry-level actuary resume with no work experience, expand your education section with additional information. Relevant coursework, extracurriculars, and academic accomplishments (like a scholarship, Latin honors, or a high GPA) can give you the edge you need to stand out from the competition. 

5. Complete Your Actuary Resume With Optional Sections

All of the above sections were pretty much obligatory—but what comes next is completely up to you and your circumstances. 

Create a couple of additional sections on your resume to cover anything else that’s relevant to your application, such as: 

• Your courses and certifications, including the actuary exams you’ve taken (if you’re not a fully-fledged ASA or FSA just yet)
• Memberships, including ASA/FSA and any other relevant professional organizations and associations
• Foreign languages you can speak at any level
• Publications, projects, public appearances, or conferences
• Your volunteering experience
• Any other professional accomplishments that you’re proud of and that you haven’t mentioned elsewhere on your resume

If you’re wondering whether you should include your hobbies or interests on your resume, well—

The answer is usually no, unless they’re relevant to the job at hand, and you have a reason for sharing them. For instance, if you’re applying to work for an investment firm and you run a blog on smart investment strategies, then that’s a relevant interest. In most cases, though, hobbies won’t add much to your application, and it’s better to skip them altogether. 

Now for something that should never be skipped: 

Writing a cover letter to send along with your resume. Though it may feel like a chore, try to see it for what it really is: an opportunity to address the recruiter directly and tell them about all the reasons why you’re the ideal pick for the job. 

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Key Points

Here’s a recap of how to write a successful resume for actuary positions: 

• Start with the right format—your actuarial resume needs to look the part. Make it easy to read and navigate, and you’ll boost the probability of the recruiter giving it a chance. 
• Write an introductory paragraph that sums up the key points of your application, including your best accomplishments and what you can offer the company. 
• Build your work experience section around the most relevant skills and accomplishments from previous jobs. 
• Complete your resume with details of your education, association exams/memberships, and any other information that can help you stand out. 
• Write a cover letter in which you draw the reader’s attention to the most relevant parts of your experience. 

Thanks for reading! Do you have any unanswered questions about writing your actuary resume? Perhaps you’re not sure which actuary skills to focus on in your job description? Let us know in the comments section below, we’d love to chat! 

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