Liberty Mutual

Tracy Powell

Sohini Mahapatra

Actuarial Analyst in the commercial reserving group

Sohini Mahapatra started out in college thinking she wanted to be a pure mathematician. But after her first few semesters she realized she wanted a job that was more applicable to the real world, and her classmates recommended she become an actuary. Mahapatra took their advice and completed an actuarial internship at Liberty Mutual, and after her senior year she came on full time. As an actuarial analyst, she assesses the financial impacts of risk and uncertainty, and helps Liberty Mutual achieve their core mission: to help people live safer, more secure lives.

What surprised you the most when you started?
How big the company was. I knew Liberty Mutual wrote personal lines of insurance and insurance for businesses, but I had no idea that we had such a large international group. We have offices in 25 countries. There are a lot of opportunities for movement.

How is being a fulltime employee different from an intern?
As an intern you spend a lot of time training and learning. As a fulltime employee, you’re still learning, but you also get more ownership of projects. I like being able to see my projects through to the end.

What are you most proud of in your work?
I think over the past year my understanding of insurance and business has really improved. It’s nice to be able to sit in a technical meeting and be able to contribute. Liberty provides a lot of training. For example, I came into this actuarial position with strong math skills, but I received on-the-job training for the industry-specific actuarial work.

What’s the most fun project you’ve done since starting?
Last year I created a Schedule Rating computer tool for the underwriters where I was able to use programming skills and learn a lot about the role of an underwriter by working closely with one. It’s always nice to work with people in different functions because you get to see how everybody contributes to our final insurance product. It was a project I did by myself, with the support of my manager, and most of the direction came from the underwriters. They told me how they wanted it to work, and I made it happen.

What’s your advice to students who want to work for Liberty Mutual?
I personally think it’s very important to be well-rounded with your coursework. I would suggest taking a course you wouldn’t normally take, like science majors should take a writing class, or liberal arts major should take a math class. I took a writing course my junior year and those skills have been useful: My job is mostly math, but I do need to write a lot of memos that have to translate technical material to a nontechnical audience.

What is the best part about your current job?
It sounds simple, but the people that work for Liberty Mutual are all very nice! It’s great to work with people who are friendly and supportive. You’re not afraid to speak your mind and ask questions.