I'm an actuary in Missouri, member of the Casualty Actuarial Society and Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and here are my thoughts on the profession. I usually tell people to stay away from the profession, and I say this even though I like my job. It's a PAIN to become one. My dad is a physicist, and we joke about how universities award more Physics PhDs each year than there are total members of the CAS (which is currently under 6000). Put it this way, with bad detective skills you should be able to figure out who I am, that's how few actuaries there are.
You have to ask yourself how much you like taking exams and how good you are at them, as that's what the profession boils down to. The first exam is tough yet fair (possibly because it's not written by the CAS or SOA). The next few exams are VERY tough yet usually fairly written. After that, the exams are obnoxious trick-fests, and you need to have more than math skills to pass them. Way too many people who know the material cold fail these tests. You will not advance in the field without passing exams, so the pressure on passing is unreal. Also, more and more companies will fire you if you don't pass exams in at a decent clip. While this has always been commonplace on the life insurance side, this is a new development in the property side.
The exam process leads to other issues as well. Way too many actuaries have this awful sense of entitlement, as they feel like they've earned their salary and the right to pick on lower level employees. Also, at a lot of companies there is a frustration in that lousy employees with good exam records get promoted while those who do excellent work and struggle with exams do not. It's a given that too many people view passing exams as the most important thing they've accomplished in their life.
For all I know, I might be the only member of the CAS who has run a sub 3 hour marathon. I haven't heard of one person who's been able to pass exams and race at a semi-competent level. Boy I hope I'm wrong and that there are faster actuaries than me, but I've searched and haven't found any. If you know of one, please let me know!!!! It's tough to find an actuary who has a serious hobby in anything outside of fantasy football, let alone running.
My exam record is admittedly horrible, and I would love to go back in time and see how good a runner I could have been if I chose a different profession. The whole process has taken a huge toll on me. And I thought I would kick butt in exams, as I graduated with good grades from a top 5 college (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT and Stanford). Boy was I wrong, as I've disgraced my family name time after time with each test that I failed! On the other hand, I live a simple, comfortable life in a great area of the country, and my hours are usually reasonable and I'm for the most part doing interesting work. Feel free to ask me more questions if you have anything specific.
Are there any other running actuaries out there (students or credentialed)? I'd love to put together a list of top marathon times run by an actuary!