Actuary Resume Tips

What recruiters look for, keywords that get past ATS, and what skills to highlight in 2026.

A Day in the Life

An actuary begins the morning reviewing updated mortality tables and loss development triangles to validate reserve adequacy for a block of long-term disability policies, flagging anomalies for the appointed actuary's sign-off. Midday shifts to collaborating with underwriting on a rate filing submission, running GLM-based pricing models in R and reconciling output against competitor benchmarks from NCCI or ISO circulars. The afternoon closes with peer-reviewing a colleague's IBNR analysis, updating assumption documentation to satisfy ASOP No. 25 compliance, and preparing executive-level exhibits for the quarterly reserve committee meeting.

ATS Keywords to Include

Recruiters and hiring software scan for these — make sure they appear naturally in your resume.

Example Resume Bullets

Strong bullet points use action verbs, specific context, and measurable outcomes. Adapt these for your own experience.

• • Developed a stochastic Bornhuetter-Ferguson reserving model in R for a $1.4B workers' compensation portfolio, reducing reserve variability by 18% and supporting a clean appointed actuary opinion for three consecutive accident years.
• • Led IFRS 17 transition project for a block of 220,000 group life policies, building CSM roll-forward templates in Python that cut month-end close time from 9 days to 4 days.
• • Constructed a multivariate GLM pricing model incorporating 34 telematics variables for a personal auto book, achieving a 6.2-point improvement in loss ratio on new business within the first renewal cycle.
• • Authored and filed commercial property rate indications across 11 states in collaboration with underwriting, resulting in average approved rate changes within 0.8% of indicated need and zero objections from state DOIs.
• • Automated the annual mortality experience study for a $900M term life portfolio using SAS macros and SQL, eliminating 160 hours of manual data processing per cycle and improving A/E ratio tracking granularity to quarterly cohorts.

Tools & Technologies

Industry-standard tools hiring managers expect to see for this role.

Emerging Skills Worth Adding

Skills becoming highly valued in the next 2–3 years — early adoption signals forward-thinking candidates.

• → Machine learning model validation and explainability (SHAP, LIME) for regulatory-compliant AI pricing
• → Climate risk quantification and catastrophe model parameterization under TCFD frameworks
• → IFRS 17 / LDTI (ASC 944) implementation including CSM roll-forward and cohort-level liability measurement
• → Cloud-based actuarial computing on AWS or Azure for high-volume Monte Carlo simulations
• → Embedded value and economic capital modeling aligned with Solvency II / NAIC RBC reform proposals

Common Questions