Actuarial Careers
Careers with a degree in Actuarial Science
Actuarial work can be very highly paid, but the professional examinations are very
demanding. See our interview
reports for a range of feedback on actuarial interviews.
WHAT SKILLS DO ACTUARIAL SCIENCE GRADUATES DEVELOP ON THEIR COURSES?
Employers will consider problem solving, thinking logically and high level quantitative and numerical skills as obvious acquisitions on an actuarial degree. You will also gather specific knowledge such as statistical methods, applied mathematics and actuarial technical skills such as Prophet. See our skills section at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillsmenu.htm
DESTINATIONS OF KENT ACTUARIAL SCIENCE GRADUATES (EU Students).
These statistics only cover the first six months after graduation. The latest destinations for all subjects (1999-2007) including postgraduates can be found at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/fdrbases/destinations.htm
YEAR |
06 | 07 | 08 |
POSTGRADUATE STUDY
|
4 | 2 | 5 |
EMPLOYMENT
|
12 | 10 | 11 |
| NOT AVAILABLE to work or not seeking work e.g. taking time out to travel | - | 3 | - |
STILL LOOKING for work or study 6 months after graduation |
- | 1 | - |
| UNKNOWN | 9 | 4 | 6 |
| TOTAL | 25 | 20 | 22 |
Example Actuarial CV
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/actuary-cv.htm
Questions asked in interviews for actuarial traineeships
- Why do you want to be an actuary? (Hewitt)
- What did you do in discrete maths?
- What is stochastic modeling? (Watson Wyatt and Grant Thornton)
- How many hours do you study in a week? (Prudential)
- How will you cope with the demands of working hard and studying at the same time? (Watson Wyatt and AXA)
- What do you know about the Actuarial exams? (Mercer)
- How long do you think it will take you to qualify? (AXA, Hewitt)
- How do you think you will cope with the Actuarial exams? (Mercer)
- How would you deal with failing the institute exams?
- Why do you wish to work for the benefits dept? (Watson Wyatt)
- What do you know about general insurance? (AXA)
- What areas of actuarial research are you interested in?
- What other employers have you applied to? (WW, Deloitte, Mercer and AXA)
- How would you choose between companies if you were to receive more than one offer? (Deloitte)
- Describe a project that you have seen through to completion. (Britannic)
- What makes a business successful?
- What businesses have interested you?
- Talk about a successful company, why do you think it is successful, what is its future? (KPMG)
- Talk about an unsuccessful company, why it is unsuccessful, what it can do to improve? (KPMG)
- What other news stories have interested me?
- Name a time when you have had to deal with and analyse complex data.
- Name a time when you have come up with a new solution to a problem.
- Name a time when you have had to complete a task or project to a particularly high standard (Hewitt)
- Explain a project which you have had to plan and see through to a successful conclusion.
- Why should we employ you? (KPMG)
- Plus standard competency-based interview questions. See our competency questions page
Tests given. See our practice tests for help
- Numerical test, 30 mins multiple choice data extraction type questions. Verbal test about 30 mins, read passage and say whether statements were true, false or couldn't say from the passage.
- Verbal test involved reading a passage and saying whether statements are true, false or can't tell from the passage. Numerical test involved analysing small amounts of data, multiple choice answers. Both were 30 minutes,
- The numerical test was the interpretation of graphs and pie charts and the questions get harder as you go along. The verbal test was one of those where you are given a paragraph and you are supposed to say if 'true', 'false', or 'can't tell' given a set of questions, and they get trickier as you go long.
- The numerical was the usual extract data from graphs, pie charts.It gets more complex as you go along but from what I've seen it's not important to finish and more often than not you are not expected to finish given the time constraint as they also look at your accuracy. The written test was a situation of a client who has a policy and dies and you as an actuary have to give your opinion on how the money should be distributed. The individual who dies has a child whose below eighteen, one over, a spouse who seems like they would be self dependent on their own and a mother who needs support. Each 45 minutes long.
- We were asked to write a report advising on whether a company should be restructured or not given some info. We were also asked to present our recommendations to the board.
- Group exercise in which we were supposed to be members of a board of directors for a clothing company decided in where to locate a new production plant, working from information given on sheets. See our selection centres pages
- You are told to assume there has been a plane crash and you, the people at the assessment centre are the only survivors. You are given a list of items that you have managed to salvage from the crash. You are first supposed to rank them individually, given 10 minutes after which you are supposed to discuss with the group, and agree on how you choose to rank them in order of importance. You are also supposed to agree on someone who will present what you agree on to the interviewers. It however seems like the decision made is not important, but rather how you interact as a group. See our balloon debates page
- Given a tour of the offices and taken to a pub for lunch with some of the trainees. (Mercer)
Tips
- Be calm, cool and collected. Participate as much as you can.
- The tests were both very tight for time so you need to work quickly through them.
- Research thoroughly recent relevant business stories and have an opinion on them.
- The whole event was well organised and it created an excellent impression of the company. (Britannic)
- Interviewer was very friendly and not intimidating. (Deloitte)
- The company seemed very impressive but, it was a very formal atmosphere throughout the day. (Hewitt)
- Everyone was very friendly and relaxed. (KPMG)
- Everyone was very friendly, interview was very relaxed and not an interrogation. (Mercer)
- Very relaxed informal office environment, everyone was very friendly and seemed very happy working for Mercer.
- Great company! You have to work for the position! (Prudential)
Links
- University of Kent Vacancy Database www.kent.ac.uk/careers/jobs/index.htm
- Institute of Actuaries www.actuaries.org.uk You can open the list of actuarial vacancies here
- Inside Careers Actuarial Careers Guide www.insidecareers.co.uk Excellent Guide to Actuarial Careers and Employers
- Chartered Insurance Institute www.cii.co.uk now has a new website about insurance careers called Discover Risk www.discoverrisk.co.uk
- The Emerald Group www.emerald-group.com offer entry level positions in to the actuarial profession and the students do not need to have experience within an actuarial role. Also able to help students find placements by putting them in contact with companies that offer summer internships or placement years
- GAAPS www.gaaps.com Actuarial Recruitment Agency
- Hays Actuarial Recruitment www.hays.com/insurance/actuaries-market.aspx
- Darwin Rhodes www.darwinrhodes.com specialist recruitment consultancy serving the Actuarial market.
- Newton Recruitment www.newtonrecruitment.com recruitment consultancy specialising in actuarial careers
- Insurance Jobs Board www.insurancejobsboard.com insurance industry vacancies
- Insurance Jobs www.insurancejobs.co.uk has an actuarial vacancies section.
- The Supply Curve www.thesupplycurve.com jpb board dedicated exclusively to employment opportunities for Economists, Statisticians and Econometricians
Some major Actuarial Employers
- Mercer www.mercer.com Consultants: includes HR Consulting and Investment Consulting
- Towers Perrin www.towers.com Consultants
- Punter Southall www.puntersouthall.com Provide actuarial services to occupational pension schemes and related employers.
- Barnett Waddingham www.barnett-waddingham.co.uk Consultants
- Watson Wyatt www.watsonwyattgraduatecareers.com Consultants
- Hewitt www.hewittgraduate.co.uk graduate opportunities with actuarial careers at Hewitt UK
- Standard Life http://ukgroup.standardlife.com/html/careers/careers.html
Vacation Work
The Institute of Actuaries www.actuaries.org.uk lists employers with vacation work and work experience opportunities in the Careers & Jobs section of their website
Actuarial science graduates can also enter a wide range of other careers which utilise their mathematical skills including
- Accountancy www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/accountancy.htm
- Banking www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sitebank.htm
- Insurance www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/insurance.htm
- Tax Inspectorate www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sitesgov.htm#FINANCE good area if your A level grades are weak as they don't select on these.
- Teaching mathematics www.kent.ac.uk/careers/siteach.htm
- Risk management, statistics and operational research.
See our Mathematics careers page www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Maths.htm for details of these
Once you have read this, visit the Careers Centre (in Keynes Driveway). You can browse in there as you would a library and ask at the helpdesk if you need help. I'm normally available there TUESDAY MORNINGS (10.30 am - 12.30 p.m.) and WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS (2.00 - 5.00 p.m.) for short discussions etc. You don't need make an appointment to see me at these times.
Bruce Woodcock - Careers Adviser for Actuarial Science
He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts--for support rather than illumination! Andrew Lang 43.78% of statistics are meaningless. There are three kinds of people; those who can count and those who can't. |
Last fully updated June 2009