hen Cirque du Soleil was looking to fill a benefits manager position, it didn’t
stipulate that candidates be actuaries. But because the job involved so much health-plan
finance, the troupe wanted someone with strong insurance finance background—and
Hélène Thibault had that and more.
Actuarial training like Thibault’s can be an asset in a benefits
position, says Leonard Sanicola, a Scottsdale, Arizona, certified benefits professional
with WorldatWork, the
HR professional association. "Even though she may not be doing actuarial science
per se, she is definitely using the skill set in her analysis of the design of benefits
programs," he says.
And because actuaries are trained to calculate the
financial ramifications of risk, they can apply that to all kinds of HR
functions, including workers’ comp, pensions and post-retirement health care,
says Emily Kessler, staff fellow and managing director at the
Society of Actuaries,
a Schaumburg, Illinois-based actuarial professional association with 19,000 members.
"Your human capital is a valuable asset and you want to protect
it," Kessler says. Of Thibault, she says, "She understands how to mitigate risk
for your human capital."
To become risk management experts, actuaries take a rigorous
course of studies in mathematics, economics, finance, probability and statistics,
and business. They must pass a series of difficult exams before becoming accredited,
a process that can start in college and last almost a decade. As a result, it’s
a well-regarded and lucrative profession. Salary surveys done by
D.W. Simpson, an actuary search firm, show jobs for actuaries with
a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries accreditation, one of the highest designations,
starting at $90,000 and climbing into six figures.
Actuaries rank on the top of many best-jobs lists, including
U.S. News and World Report’s Top 25 Best Careers of 2007.
Most actuaries work for insurance companies, where they calculate risks that are
used to determine premiums for health, life, property, casualty and other types
of insurance, according to actuarial professional organizations.
Thibault started down that path. On graduating from Université
Lavale in Montreal, she worked for an insurance company, but found it too technical
and left to join Mercer, where she spent five years as an HR consultant advising
clients on their health and benefits programs. During her last two years there,
Cirque du Soleil was a client—and her favorite. When a position opened up at the
entertainment company, she applied and got the job.
Workforce Management Online, December 2007 -- Register Now!
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