Actuarial Work Experience!!!

Hey tsr people,
does anyone know where i can find any sort of actuarial work experience.... im in year 11 so its really hard cos the only kinds of work experience i've found so far is for people in university....
anyone know of any companies that will give me work experience for like 1 or 2 weeks?
anyone been on any acturial work experience? - i went to one at prudential it was really good but it was for only a day - i still learned loads and it was what made me realise this was the job i wanted (plus it came up on my morrisby test lol :wink:

).... so anyone looking for some work experience try Prudential.

Thanks.

Reply 1

Pandapple

hmm, when i was on work experience in yr 11, not many professions took people without any qualifications... so i'd think acturial work would be pretty hard to get?

hahaha, i don't trust morrisby imo. but thanks for the info on prudential.

Reply 2

gilbo

I got a week at an actuarial company just shadowing it was a local company. have a look on yell.com for local companies and send them a letter and perhaps a cv

Reply 3

Kyalimers

If you like making tea/coffee then yeh u'll be snapped up:

The problem is that everything Actuarial companies do is confidential so it would be a nuisance for them to have to ask every client whether you can work in their case. However..... I know of many people who have weekend jobs at Banks (You have to be 16) and one friend of mine gets 2K or so a year for working 6 hours on Saturdays only.

Reply 4

stosie

See if you have any contacts to local firms, if you just ask around you never know what you'll find. Thats how I got a week work shadowing at skandia life. My dad's friend new someone in the department. If not try speculatively applying to local firms (you can find a list of actuarial employers on the institutes website) try to write to someone in the actuarial department if possible as you don't usually get anywhere with hr. Expect to be unpaid at this stage and for them to only be able to offer you a two weeks max.

Reply 5

Pandapple

stosie

just interested about your signature. do they happen to still be recruiting for that programme?

Reply 6

mjluva4ea

Pandapple

haha i wouldnt trust morrisby either the results said my friend's sister's career was a gardener LOL she's now reading law at Oxford...shows how wrong these tests can be...plus if u kno what u want 2 do b4 u take the test u tend to answer the questions differentli assuring the results come up with ur already chosen career..lol

Reply 7

stosie

Pandapple

just interested about your signature. do they happen to still be recruiting for that programme?

No I think they closed recruitment in December. They start recruiting for 2nd year undergraduates to do summer placements in the preceding october.

Reply 8

Jed1993

Hi I am 16 years old and I am aspiring to be an actuary when I’m older. I’ve finished year eleven so it’s my holiday now till September and I was wondering whether getting an actuarial work placement such as a one day or one week placement or doing voluntary work in an insurance company or actuarial firm for sometime in the summer will help with university applications? However if it doesn’t what are the advantages of having an actuary work placement or doing voluntary work in an insurance company? Never the less I have to do one anyway when I am in year 12 at six form, so should I just wait till then?

Reply 9

CalumII

Second year actuarial science undergrad here: here's a few pearls of (possibly) wisdom.

Actuarial degrees are regarded in the industry with, not suspicion, but with healthy scepticism. This is partly old fashioned snobbery and partly hard-headed experience: a significant number of act sci undergrads are not really suited to the work and are just attracted by the suggestion of easy money.

The thing that does differentiate you is the work experience you've undertaken and looking ahead now is an excellent idea. At the moment, don't worry about specific actuarial experience - leave that for uni. Instead, go for generic financial industry experience. As long as you are sensible and appear reasonably serious, most places will not have a problem taking you on for a few days job shadowing or work experience. Also, most companies of any size continuously recruit client services people (the people that customers actually interact with), usually through a temp firm. Ring them up and ask them who that firm is, and as long as you are open minded, flexible and enthusiastic you should not have many problems getting something basic, and back end administration is a great way to learn how a financial services firm actually runs.

Reply 10

junaid393

Hi Guys, There have been some good points made in this forum and I just wanted to ask about work placements related to Actuary/Finance in the summer because I am in year 13 right now. Also, I wanted to ask, is a maths degree from KCL better than a maths degree from University of Manchester? Furthermore, I have heard students generally do an internship in the summer of their second year but I'm thinking of doing an internship in the first year and wanted guidance into how I could find an internship. Also, could someone help me out in how to write a good CV/cover letter including layout, what to include etc.

Thank you!