What does an actuarial student (entry-level position) do at work?

Please provide details for different disciplines (Pension, Casualty, Life, etc.). Where can I find more information on the workday of an entry-level actuarial candidate (entry-level actuary)?
Answers:
It depends on the company and the student. My first assignment (in 1979 --that's A.D at least) was to multiply a bunch of reserve factor times face amounts and enter them onto a spreadsheet, which at the time be a piece of paper! Later that year, I be building annuity tables. One year or two years subsequently I was writing programs to multiply reserves on reinsurance and project income for our division. Nowadays, it's more likely you'll run query on databases, build Excel spreadsheets and charts, or things like that. What you do after your first few months will recurrently depend on the aptitude you've shown in which subjects. Often, you'll also spend time at work studying for your subsequent exam.

I'm not particularly adapted with casualty and income work, but in casualty you might be putting together background for rate filings or aging of reserves. In pension work, you might be doing charts for slide presentations to income boards.

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Other Answers:
The beginning actuary does routine calculation, data entry, etc. for more experienced actuaries, while research about insurance, actuarial work, and the company.

http://users.aol.com/fcas/advice.html

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