Question for Actuaries Only- for aspiring actuary

[Elaine]

Hello! I have a question on behalf of my better half.

Situation:
-He's studying Actuarial Science, has a 3.9 gpa (4.0 in all maths) and set to graduate in a year and a half from a good program that preps for the first two tests.
-He's an older student, age 30 in undergrad.
-In his pre- meeting me non mustachian life he had a pretty gigantic alcohol problem- during this period of time he got a few tattoos that are impossible to cover. Two prominent ones on his neck, and a few small ones on his fingers.

The Question:
He's totally fine with getting them removed, as it doesn't really suit who he is. BUT, it is expensive and a process-it would be easier not to. Do you think (please be brutally honest) he will be able to get a job with visible tattoos? Or, should we start looking into getting them removed now so that he'll be all suitable looking by graduation time (apparently it can take several sessions, etc.) I understand there are different kinds of actuaries, what I am wanting to know is how much would this limit him? I work in an IT related department at a fashion company so tats are no big deal here. Do you know actuaries with visible tattoos or is that a total nonstarter?

(no facepunches about the tats in general please, it was a lifetime ago and her already realizes it was a dumb decision- just advice for moving forward)

[On_a_slow_boat]

Interesting question.

To start with given the competitiveness of the field today, he should make sure to have at least 1 or 2 exams passed before graduation.

Regarding the Tattoo.  I likely know about 200-300 actuaries from my 13 years working in pension/insurance. I can't say I have met one that has a visible tattoo, but never paid much attention to it.

I use to be a Actuary on Pensions, in that role the actuary was expected to meet with clients directly. Sometimes this created several meetings a year with people like ( CFO's, Treasurers, Head of HR)... so that type of actuary there could be some "perception issues".

The job I currently do is re-insurance pricing. From my experience working for a large insurance company, there are lots of roles for actuaries (modeling, reserving, pricing for example) where you can be almost entirely internally focused. 

In a lot of these roles I imagine something like a tattoo would be a non-issue. Despite the conservative nature of the job, i think  you will find most actuaries have the ability to think for themselves and draw their own conclusions.

If your better half eventually becomes credentialed he will start getting a better idea what areas of the science appeal to him and direct his career accordingly.

best of luck

[Elaine]

Thanks for the response. He will have the first test under his belt and be prepping for the second by graduation- so it's good to know that's the right track. Sounds like there are a lot more variables than I thought as to the work done so I guess he'll know as he gets closer to the type of work he wants to do.

[frugaldrummer]

Can he get the tats on his hands removed and cover up the neck ones with a turtleneck or super makeup for birthmarks? At least until he can afford to remove them?  Congrats to him on his sobriety btw :)