Can I get into actuarial profession with a Music degree...
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Original post by Nevitt
In life I do 35 hours a week with one full day off for studying per week (so 28 really). Consultancies can do a lot more.
True, you'd probably have more hours with the Big 3 (Towers, Aon Hewitt, Mercer). I'm at a consultancy and work the same hours as you pretty much, with occasional overtime if I haven't managed my workload very well.
Original post by Slumpy
I went to a house party and got hammered, then spent most of today watching dr who before spending a few hours on a train. I think you win...
Alcohol and Dr Who > all.
Original post by wanderlust.xx
Alcohol and Dr Who > all.
Well, I had a blast I must admit.
So I just wanna thank Jelkin and JohnnySPal for their advice. Got offered a position with pensions at Towers a couple of weeks ago, completely surprised but I felt like I really connected with my interviewers and the other employees there! Really nervous as I feel like I'm being thrown in the deep end but just really excited too!!
Original post by TomLeigh
So I just wanna thank Jelkin and JohnnySPal for their advice. Got offered a position with pensions at Towers a couple of weeks ago, completely surprised but I felt like I really connected with my interviewers and the other employees there! Really nervous as I feel like I'm being thrown in the deep end but just really excited too!!
Thats great news, I have a couple of close friends there, you'll enjoy it.
Original post by TomLeigh
So I just wanna thank Jelkin and JohnnySPal for their advice. Got offered a position with pensions at Towers a couple of weeks ago, completely surprised but I felt like I really connected with my interviewers and the other employees there! Really nervous as I feel like I'm being thrown in the deep end but just really excited too!!
Maaaaan, envious much.
Well done!
Lol I dunno how much I declared on this thread but I basically applied to about 5 companies, first one being KPMG (the other big four had all filled spots automatically with interns... wicked thanks) and KPMG rejected me after the AC. Then I didn't really do anything for 4-6 weeks and suddenly TW got back to me. At this point I hadn't done any preparation for quite some time and thought I would just have to settle for being a teacher as I didn't think I'd get through the stages. The AC was incredible, I got along with everyone, candidates and TW employees, and I actually had a laugh a joke with people. The Graduate Recruitment lady was really friendly and we had a good joke about wales and stuff, and my interviewers seemed really interested in me and we got talking about my odd interest in japanese girl bands haha. It was so relaxed and I really felt like they cared about me becoming a part of the company.
Original post by TomLeigh
So I just wanna thank Jelkin and JohnnySPal for their advice. Got offered a position with pensions at Towers a couple of weeks ago, completely surprised but I felt like I really connected with my interviewers and the other employees there! Really nervous as I feel like I'm being thrown in the deep end but just really excited too!!
Nice work, which office are you going to?
I really enjoyed the AC for TW too, one of the reasons I went there in the end over others, it didn't feel like an interview at all
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by munn
Nice work, which office are you going to?
I really enjoyed the AC for TW too, one of the reasons I went there in the end over others, it didn't feel like an interview at all
I really enjoyed the AC for TW too, one of the reasons I went there in the end over others, it didn't feel like an interview at all
Tothill, London
Original post by TomLeigh
Tothill, London
Nice, I like a lot of the 2012 graduates that started there, it's a great location too as you can live just about anywhere in London and commute there in under 30 minutes.
Assuming you're going into retirement? It's pretty overwhelming for about a month but you settle in real quickly
Hey everyone.
I posted a bit ago but now have another question. For the actuaries in this thread, what type of actuary are you (pensions, GI, etc.) and do you think that is the right type for you? What are your reasons for picking that type over another?
A lot of sources can be vague about the differences in work day-to-day and what the experience is actually like. Any insight would be great. Thanks
I posted a bit ago but now have another question. For the actuaries in this thread, what type of actuary are you (pensions, GI, etc.) and do you think that is the right type for you? What are your reasons for picking that type over another?
A lot of sources can be vague about the differences in work day-to-day and what the experience is actually like. Any insight would be great. Thanks
Original post by lordromanov
Hey everyone.
I posted a bit ago but now have another question. For the actuaries in this thread, what type of actuary are you (pensions, GI, etc.) and do you think that is the right type for you? What are your reasons for picking that type over another?
A lot of sources can be vague about the differences in work day-to-day and what the experience is actually like. Any insight would be great. Thanks
I posted a bit ago but now have another question. For the actuaries in this thread, what type of actuary are you (pensions, GI, etc.) and do you think that is the right type for you? What are your reasons for picking that type over another?
A lot of sources can be vague about the differences in work day-to-day and what the experience is actually like. Any insight would be great. Thanks
I used to work in Pensions but am now in GI. In general:
- GI can be more technical, although people are kidding themselves if they think this is true of all GI work. What is true is that the range of technical work in GI is a lot wider than Pensions. You can be an expert in pretty much all pension-related issues. You can't possibly do the same for GI.
- The real difference should be to compare Corporate Pensions work (where you advise a company about how to manage how much they pay for their employees' pension benefits) and Trustee Pensions work (where you help determine the value of benefits, or you advise the people responsible for safeguarding pensions). In general, corporate work can be really interesting. Trustee work... not so much.
- You learn a lot more about business, and commercial awareness in Pensions than other actuarial fields. This is because your clients will be all sorts of businesses. In contrast, insurance is a specialised field.
- The easiest way to describe life is that it is a hybrid between Pensions and GI work. Life insurers tend to be large, so they have lots of data with which to work out how much to charge for their products, and how many claims they'll need to pay.
- Investments tends to be 'sexy' because of all the people who want to work in a bank. Eeeew. That's not the reason to go into investments. There's a lot going for investments - some investment actuaries build some really complex models - but there's also a lot which appears to be common sense.
A friend told me yesterday that when he worked in investments, he used to have to come up with multiple ways of saying the same thing to stop the client complaining that he wasn't getting any value. He got very good at writing variations of 'your fund manager has disappointed this month', 'the investment performance by your manager has been poor', 'other investments have outperformed your fund' etc.
Spoiler
Basically - join anywhere that'll take you (the market isn't so hot), and rest easy in the knowledge that you can make a role what you want it to be if you're enthusiastic enough.
Original post by TomLeigh
Lol I dunno how much I declared on this thread but I basically applied to about 5 companies, first one being KPMG (the other big four had all filled spots automatically with interns... wicked thanks) and KPMG rejected me after the AC. Then I didn't really do anything for 4-6 weeks and suddenly TW got back to me. At this point I hadn't done any preparation for quite some time and thought I would just have to settle for being a teacher as I didn't think I'd get through the stages. The AC was incredible, I got along with everyone, candidates and TW employees, and I actually had a laugh a joke with people. The Graduate Recruitment lady was really friendly and we had a good joke about wales and stuff, and my interviewers seemed really interested in me and we got talking about my odd interest in japanese girl bands haha. It was so relaxed and I really felt like they cared about me becoming a part of the company.
YAY! Congratulations! Do you know whether its trustee work or corporate? (Do you even care at this point?
)Original post by shamika
Spoiler
Can't rep you, but that deserved it on its own.
Original post by shamika
...
Thanks a lot. I'm only applying for internships at the moment but I'm trying to learn as much as I can about what they do and all that.
Also I'm both proud and ashamed to say I've read through pretty much the entire thread... Got to say though, it's been very helpful!
Original post by shamika
I used to work in Pensions but am now in GI. In general:
- GI can be more technical, although people are kidding themselves if they think this is true of all GI work. What is true is that the range of technical work in GI is a lot wider than Pensions. You can be an expert in pretty much all pension-related issues. You can't possibly do the same for GI.
- The real difference should be to compare Corporate Pensions work (where you advise a company about how to manage how much they pay for their employees' pension benefits) and Trustee Pensions work (where you help determine the value of benefits, or you advise the people responsible for safeguarding pensions). In general, corporate work can be really interesting. Trustee work... not so much.
- You learn a lot more about business, and commercial awareness in Pensions than other actuarial fields. This is because your clients will be all sorts of businesses. In contrast, insurance is a specialised field.
- The easiest way to describe life is that it is a hybrid between Pensions and GI work. Life insurers tend to be large, so they have lots of data with which to work out how much to charge for their products, and how many claims they'll need to pay.
- Investments tends to be 'sexy' because of all the people who want to work in a bank. Eeeew. That's not the reason to go into investments. There's a lot going for investments - some investment actuaries build some really complex models - but there's also a lot which appears to be common sense.
A friend told me yesterday that when he worked in investments, he used to have to come up with multiple ways of saying the same thing to stop the client complaining that he wasn't getting any value. He got very good at writing variations of 'your fund manager has disappointed this month', 'the investment performance by your manager has been poor', 'other investments have outperformed your fund' etc.
Basically - join anywhere that'll take you (the market isn't so hot), and rest easy in the knowledge that you can make a role what you want it to be if you're enthusiastic enough.
- GI can be more technical, although people are kidding themselves if they think this is true of all GI work. What is true is that the range of technical work in GI is a lot wider than Pensions. You can be an expert in pretty much all pension-related issues. You can't possibly do the same for GI.
- The real difference should be to compare Corporate Pensions work (where you advise a company about how to manage how much they pay for their employees' pension benefits) and Trustee Pensions work (where you help determine the value of benefits, or you advise the people responsible for safeguarding pensions). In general, corporate work can be really interesting. Trustee work... not so much.
- You learn a lot more about business, and commercial awareness in Pensions than other actuarial fields. This is because your clients will be all sorts of businesses. In contrast, insurance is a specialised field.
- The easiest way to describe life is that it is a hybrid between Pensions and GI work. Life insurers tend to be large, so they have lots of data with which to work out how much to charge for their products, and how many claims they'll need to pay.
- Investments tends to be 'sexy' because of all the people who want to work in a bank. Eeeew. That's not the reason to go into investments. There's a lot going for investments - some investment actuaries build some really complex models - but there's also a lot which appears to be common sense.
A friend told me yesterday that when he worked in investments, he used to have to come up with multiple ways of saying the same thing to stop the client complaining that he wasn't getting any value. He got very good at writing variations of 'your fund manager has disappointed this month', 'the investment performance by your manager has been poor', 'other investments have outperformed your fund' etc.
Spoiler
Basically - join anywhere that'll take you (the market isn't so hot), and rest easy in the knowledge that you can make a role what you want it to be if you're enthusiastic enough.
How long were you in GI for? What made you switch? Are you glad you did/do you miss the consulting side? I am really curious about GI
At my firm we do corporate and trustee work, and although some people prefer corporate work I wouldn't say that they're quite as different as you're saying (although I am a relative n00b).
EDIT: And congratulations Tom! Maybe you can join in our actuarial chat thread :bhangra: Really glad we could help you.
Original post by Jelkin
How long were you in GI for?
Pensions from... 2009, GI since 2011.
What made you switch?
More money! It was a bit random actually. My current firm basically headhunted
Are you glad you did/do you miss the consulting side? I am really curious about GI
Well I'm still in consulting! My current job is the least consulting GI type role I can think of, and I was talking to a director about doing more client facing consulting work. He pointed out that I still need to learn this core skill.
At my firm we do corporate and trustee work, and although some people prefer corporate work I wouldn't say that they're quite as different as you're saying (although I am a relative n00b).
By trustee work, I really mean member calcs (because that is boring after a while). Useful to do to actually understand how pensions work though. I didn't do anywhere near enough. I got promoted too quickly to do too much of the detailed calcs (which is definitely a bad thing).
EDIT: And congratulations Tom! Maybe you can join in our actuarial chat thread :bhangra: Really glad we could help you.
Well done! You and Johnny make interesting reading
Original post by shamika
Pensions from... 2009, GI since 2011.
More money! It was a bit random actually. My current firm basically headhunted
Well I'm still in consulting! My current job is the least consulting GI type role I can think of, and I was talking to a director about doing more client facing consulting work. He pointed out that I still need to learn this core skill.
By trustee work, I really mean member calcs (because that is boring after a while). Useful to do to actually understand how pensions work though. I didn't do anywhere near enough. I got promoted too quickly to do too much of the detailed calcs (which is definitely a bad thing).
Well done! You and Johnny make interesting reading
More money! It was a bit random actually. My current firm basically headhunted
Well I'm still in consulting! My current job is the least consulting GI type role I can think of, and I was talking to a director about doing more client facing consulting work. He pointed out that I still need to learn this core skill.
By trustee work, I really mean member calcs (because that is boring after a while). Useful to do to actually understand how pensions work though. I didn't do anywhere near enough. I got promoted too quickly to do too much of the detailed calcs (which is definitely a bad thing).
Well done! You and Johnny make interesting reading
Interesting!
You say you're in consulting - I think I must have the wrong idea of GI consulting from the way you write about it. I was under the impression that GI consultants were kind of seconded out to insurance companies when they were needed, as I couldn't think of how else they would consult
Please correct me?I don't mind member calcs too much (in fact I still enjoy them), but then, I guess I don't do so many these days because I pass them onto the new grads. And I get why you'd say it. I think it depends though as some can be really complicated! Do you use quite a bit of CT6 in GI?
Cheers
Instead of studying this evening I watched two episodes of Grey's Anatomy and the new Revenge. I blame my housemates for getting me into trashy TV.
Original post by Jelkin
Interesting!
You say you're in consulting - I think I must have the wrong idea of GI consulting from the way you write about it. I was under the impression that GI consultants were kind of seconded out to insurance companies when they were needed, as I couldn't think of how else they would consult Please correct me?
I don't mind member calcs too much (in fact I still enjoy them), but then, I guess I don't do so many these days because I pass them onto the new grads. And I get why you'd say it. I think it depends though as some can be really complicated! Do you use quite a bit of CT6 in GI?
Cheers
Instead of studying this evening I watched two episodes of Grey's Anatomy and the new Revenge. I blame my housemates for getting me into trashy TV.
You say you're in consulting - I think I must have the wrong idea of GI consulting from the way you write about it. I was under the impression that GI consultants were kind of seconded out to insurance companies when they were needed, as I couldn't think of how else they would consult
Please correct me?I don't mind member calcs too much (in fact I still enjoy them), but then, I guess I don't do so many these days because I pass them onto the new grads. And I get why you'd say it. I think it depends though as some can be really complicated! Do you use quite a bit of CT6 in GI?
Cheers
Instead of studying this evening I watched two episodes of Grey's Anatomy and the new Revenge. I blame my housemates for getting me into trashy TV.
I've got CA3 on Monday, but have spent far more time watching West Wing than necessary (yes I know I'm old... I've never watched it before!)
EDIT: GI consulting is similar to Pensions consulting for the most part, in terms of client interactions. We go out on secondment more, because smaller clients just don't have enough actuarial resource to do the techy stuff. Apart from that, we pitch to give advice to a client, similar to how a pensions consultant would pitch to trustees / corporate client to advise on the scheme.
The thing to remember is that insurers should have the relevant experts to do everything, but not even the biggest clients will be able to deal with everything in house. The other factor is that if actuaries in-house did everything, there'd be very little oversight over what they do. Consultancies often run parallel processes to compare numbers, and challenge the in-house guys (and that can be worth big bucks).
EDIT 2: I found member calcs the best way to understand how a flipping pension actually works! The amount of times I could've saved effort if I actually understood the benefit... Grrrrr...
(edited 11 years ago)
Wasn't sure where else to get advice from for this, so thought I'd come here. I'm trying to become a member of SIAS, and it says on the form that I need a professional person or a person of good standing in the community to certify my application. Any clues?
Thanks
Thanks
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