Day in the Life – Inspiring Actuaries

So what exactly does an actuary do each day?

If you ask what a “typical” day looks like, most actuaries will tell you there isn’t one! Due to the dynamic nature of our work, actuaries must constantly adapt to changing priorities. Plus, the type of work can vary significantly based on the role, company and industry.

To provide a glimpse into my life as an actuary, I’ve created a hypothetical, but realistic weekly schedule below. Now let’s dive in!

I start each day with a “Stand-up,” where my team and I share brief status updates. We summarize the work we completed the day before and what we plan to tackle that day. These check-ins are critical to align on priorities and ensure the team is focused on the most important work at all times.

After that, my day is “like a box of chocolates. You never what you’re gonna get!” – Forest Gump

Given this, I’m going to walk through some of the major tasks and meetings I participate in on a regular basis in my current role as Manager and Actuary at Root.

Methodology Discussions

My team is responsible for determining the premium an individual should be charged for their Auto and Renters insurance. There are MANY elements that going into this calculation! Thus, we have many different approaches for evaluating the accuracy of our rates. We are constantly researching ways to make our methods better and better!

Execution Decisions

Once we’ve crunched the numbers, we have to decide what we’re actually going to do. My team partners closely with stakeholders across the organization to make business decisions that are data driven and support company goals.

Filing and Objection Reviews

Because insurance is heavily regulated, we work closely with Departments of Insurance (DOI) to get our rates approved for use in each state. This requires submitting filings and responding to questions from the regulators, also known as objections.

External Engagements

We call DOI’s to talk through their questions and resolve any concerns. From time to time, we also participate in discussions and prepare data for Market Conduct Exams (MCE’s). These investigations by state regulators ensure compliance with state laws and regulations.

Team Syncs

Since we move VERY quickly at Root, cross team communication is crucial! Throughout the week, I have multiple meetings to level set on priorities, establish who is working on what and share expected timelines for delivery. We work most closely with teams in Legal, Product, Engineering, and Data Science.

One-on-One’s

On my team, I have several direct reports and a few indirect reports. On a weekly basis, I meet individually with each of my direct reports as well as my supervisor. On a monthly basis, I check-in with my indirect reports. We use these discussions to chat about ongoing work, overall well-being, career goals and more.

Interviews

Since Root is hiring aggressively to grow the team, I usually interview about 2-3 candidates per week for a variety of roles. Afterwards, I provide my feedback and recommendation to the hiring manager and we connect as a group to make a final decision.

Training and Onboarding

Because we are constantly adding new team members, I’m often involved in training and onboarding sessions to help everyone get up to speed. These cover many topics, including an overview of Root Insurance, how we determine pricing, tools that will be used on the job and more.

Continuing Education

The learning does not stop after an actuary passes the last exam! To maintain our credentials, actuaries must accumulate continuing education hours each year. For more info on how many hours and what types of activities count, stay tuned for a future blog post.

Downtime

When I’m not in meetings, I typically use the time to catch up on emails and slack. During longer breaks in my schedule, I focus on requests that I’m responsible for analyzing. I love this aspect of my job! In addition to leading my team’s work, I still have my own projects that I get to investigate, keeping my analytical and problem-solving skills sharp.

I’m in meetings between 4-8 hours a day, so the week typically flies by! I often use the evenings to catch up on email and organize objectives for the next day.

Especially when working from home, it can be challenging to establish separation between work and life. To help strike this balance, I’ve implemented these two practices and they’ve helped a ton!

Getting away from my desk for at least 30-45 minutes for lunch
Leaving work by 5:30pm at least 2 days a week to workout

Lunch

For years, I worked through lunch. In part because I’m an introvert and needed the time to recharge. However, now I find it crucial for my well-being to intentionally step away from work to remind myself of the big picture. During my lunch break, I read a my Bible and devotional, listen to a podcast or spend time journaling.

Right now I’m going through the ‘Live in Grace, Walk in Love’ Devotional by Bob Goff. I also recently stumbled upon the ReadScripture App created by the Bible Project and it has been life changing! If you’ve ever struggled to read through the Bible, I would highly recommend checking this out. These daily rhythms lift my spirits and provide the encouragement I need to get back to work with a joyful heart.

Exercise

Especially when working from home, it’s good to get out of the house! I love meeting up with friends for a workout after a long day staring at a screen. It’s great to have the accountability so that I’m not tempted to keep working all night.

Exercise often re-energizes me so that when I get home I can focus back in and wrap-up my day. Whatever you like to do to get the body moving, I would definitely encourage you to do it with others!

Want to know more?

As I shared earlier, an actuary’s work looks different based on the role, company and industry. To provide a more complete view, I’ve asked a few friends and fellow actuaries to help me out!

To learn more, check out the links below:

For an additional view into my life as an actuary, check out this video on my YouTube channel!

I want to hear from you!

If you’re an actuary working in a role, for a company or in an industry I haven’t covered and you’d like to share your story, please let me know! I’d love to feature you on the blog to provide additional insights into life as an actuary.

Coming up…

In future blog posts, I will be covering how to become an actuary, where actuaries work, types of actuaries and more! If you have questions about the actuarial profession, please share in the comments below or email me at [email protected].

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