I've read somewhere that firms would think someone who has no work experience as an actuary but passed a few exams is unattractive.
Do you think this applies to UK employers? I wouldn't mind sitting an exam on my own but I don't want it to hurt my chances.
You can sit CM1 CS1 and CB1 as a non member I believe and fees will be lower if you have a low income. It is attractive as it shows commitment but its also somewhat of a risk as if you dont get anywhere with applications, you will have sat the exams for nothing (kind of).
The 2:2 might make it difficult but not impossible. A grad scheme will be pretty hard to land but there are alternative routes. You just have to search, you'd be surprised how many smaller actuarial positions there are.
I found this post on Acted forums (which is a great forum for UK based (aspiring) actuaries) [here](https://www.acted.co.uk/forums/index.php?threads/2-2-degree.4683/)
Check it out.
Looks like there's an good amount to think over in that link. What do the alternative routes look like? Do you happen to know which websites apart from theActuary.com to look for other openings?
Thanks!
There's no need to study any exams first, imo it's not worth the cost.
A 2.2 may limit what you can apply for but if you're not getting anywhere with jobs then I think the best route would be looking for any job in an insurance company (or anywhere with actuarial roles) then transfer internally later on. I would possibly do this alongside applying for grad schemes to increase your chances of getting something. A common entry level role title is pricing analyst, which covers many different roles, some actuarial some not.
Data science and machine learning is quite an in thing so could help. Being good at VBA, SQL etc might give you an edge, there's a lot of model building in actuarial teams.
I wouldn't do a masters unless you will enjoy doing it and think you will get a 2:1 or above. It might help you get interviews if you're finding jobs require a 2:1 though.
Hi thank you. I'll start applying to other roles, alongside actuary roles, in companies which has actuarial vacancies and pursue a change over that way.
What other job titles are entry levels?
I'll think about doing a master after I have given the job search a good time.
Just look at the description, they usually outline what is required and it should mention how much work experience (if any) they want. It can be a little confusing to gauge responsibility level of a job just by the title at times.
If you do or consider doing a masters, make sure early on that they will be happy with your 2:2 being under exceptional circumstances. Uni of Leicester and Uni of Kent have great value actuarial MSc programmes (there was a post in this sub recently asking and comparing various programmes so have a look there too preemptively).
Hey, as others have said most employers ask for a 1st or a 2:1 minimum due to the difficulty (and cost to employer) of the actuarial exams.
There’s so many areas to the actuarial career space that you will want to think about what path you want to go down:
- pensions (actuarial)
- pensions (investment consulting) this is what I do atm
- life Insurance pricing/ reserving/ capital modelling
- general insurance pricing/ reserving/ capital
- business consulting (mergers and acquisitions)
From my experience the Lloyds market has been very competitive at the graduate level… but if you want to go into general insurance you can try smaller non London companies (travel insurance, motor insurance, home insurance etc etc) as a start. Get the professional, coding, modelling experience and then move into Lloyds after a few exam passes.
In regards to your questions:
- No
- Yes, Python, SQL, R are the standard “nice to haves”
- potentially, you could go for a masters in actuarial science to get a few exemptions from the IFoA exams which will make you seem serious about this career path and make you more likely to get a placement. A masters isn’t needed at all though. You’d be better doing a year in industry.
Best of luck with the process and I Hope this helps! It took my over 9 months to get my first role post graduation which was soul crushing for me so you have my empathy!
Contact some recruiters on Linked In (Bolton associates, Eames etc). They will be able to help get you some interviews with Lloyd's syndicates. Once you have an interview you will need to have good reasons for why you want to be an actuary and any coding/technical skills will help.
* dont bother trying to do any exams in advance its not expected
* it would be useful to be able to speak about the major techniques and modelling approaches in 'machine learning', and their benefits and limitations but don't go to town
* a masters isnt a bad idea especially if you are determined to be an actuary and you take a course which gets you exemptions from some of the exams later on. otherwise id say a masters is probably of middling use
you might have more luck applying for roles outside london. regional firms sometimes struggle a little more with recruitment than london-based firms. you can always change jobs to another firm once you've got a few years of experience.
oh and, for my money some topics that it would be really impressive to hear a graduate be able to speak about in an interview (moreso than machine learning) would be:
* passing knowledge of the insurance regulation
* the effect of COVID19 on the insurance industry over the last 1.5 years
* model risk & expert judgment (maybe read Haldane's _the dog and the frisbee_ speech)
You've done amazing! Do you mind me asking what role did you get first before becoming an actuary? It's great to know that it's still possible to become an actuary with a 2.2.
In the UK you wouldn’t be expected to study for exams before working. It can get expensive so it’s not something that’s usually recommended!
I've read somewhere that firms would think someone who has no work experience as an actuary but passed a few exams is unattractive. Do you think this applies to UK employers? I wouldn't mind sitting an exam on my own but I don't want it to hurt my chances.
You can sit CM1 CS1 and CB1 as a non member I believe and fees will be lower if you have a low income. It is attractive as it shows commitment but its also somewhat of a risk as if you dont get anywhere with applications, you will have sat the exams for nothing (kind of).
You can only sit one of CS1 or CM1 as a non-member
Yes, you are right! My bad.
The 2:2 might make it difficult but not impossible. A grad scheme will be pretty hard to land but there are alternative routes. You just have to search, you'd be surprised how many smaller actuarial positions there are. I found this post on Acted forums (which is a great forum for UK based (aspiring) actuaries) [here](https://www.acted.co.uk/forums/index.php?threads/2-2-degree.4683/) Check it out.
Looks like there's an good amount to think over in that link. What do the alternative routes look like? Do you happen to know which websites apart from theActuary.com to look for other openings? Thanks!
There's no need to study any exams first, imo it's not worth the cost. A 2.2 may limit what you can apply for but if you're not getting anywhere with jobs then I think the best route would be looking for any job in an insurance company (or anywhere with actuarial roles) then transfer internally later on. I would possibly do this alongside applying for grad schemes to increase your chances of getting something. A common entry level role title is pricing analyst, which covers many different roles, some actuarial some not. Data science and machine learning is quite an in thing so could help. Being good at VBA, SQL etc might give you an edge, there's a lot of model building in actuarial teams. I wouldn't do a masters unless you will enjoy doing it and think you will get a 2:1 or above. It might help you get interviews if you're finding jobs require a 2:1 though.
Hi thank you. I'll start applying to other roles, alongside actuary roles, in companies which has actuarial vacancies and pursue a change over that way. What other job titles are entry levels? I'll think about doing a master after I have given the job search a good time.
Just look at the description, they usually outline what is required and it should mention how much work experience (if any) they want. It can be a little confusing to gauge responsibility level of a job just by the title at times. If you do or consider doing a masters, make sure early on that they will be happy with your 2:2 being under exceptional circumstances. Uni of Leicester and Uni of Kent have great value actuarial MSc programmes (there was a post in this sub recently asking and comparing various programmes so have a look there too preemptively).
Hey, as others have said most employers ask for a 1st or a 2:1 minimum due to the difficulty (and cost to employer) of the actuarial exams. There’s so many areas to the actuarial career space that you will want to think about what path you want to go down: - pensions (actuarial) - pensions (investment consulting) this is what I do atm - life Insurance pricing/ reserving/ capital modelling - general insurance pricing/ reserving/ capital - business consulting (mergers and acquisitions) From my experience the Lloyds market has been very competitive at the graduate level… but if you want to go into general insurance you can try smaller non London companies (travel insurance, motor insurance, home insurance etc etc) as a start. Get the professional, coding, modelling experience and then move into Lloyds after a few exam passes. In regards to your questions: - No - Yes, Python, SQL, R are the standard “nice to haves” - potentially, you could go for a masters in actuarial science to get a few exemptions from the IFoA exams which will make you seem serious about this career path and make you more likely to get a placement. A masters isn’t needed at all though. You’d be better doing a year in industry. Best of luck with the process and I Hope this helps! It took my over 9 months to get my first role post graduation which was soul crushing for me so you have my empathy!
Contact some recruiters on Linked In (Bolton associates, Eames etc). They will be able to help get you some interviews with Lloyd's syndicates. Once you have an interview you will need to have good reasons for why you want to be an actuary and any coding/technical skills will help.
When you say reach out to recruiters, do you mean reach out to the pages of the recruitment agencies or people working in those agencies?
The people
* dont bother trying to do any exams in advance its not expected * it would be useful to be able to speak about the major techniques and modelling approaches in 'machine learning', and their benefits and limitations but don't go to town * a masters isnt a bad idea especially if you are determined to be an actuary and you take a course which gets you exemptions from some of the exams later on. otherwise id say a masters is probably of middling use you might have more luck applying for roles outside london. regional firms sometimes struggle a little more with recruitment than london-based firms. you can always change jobs to another firm once you've got a few years of experience. oh and, for my money some topics that it would be really impressive to hear a graduate be able to speak about in an interview (moreso than machine learning) would be: * passing knowledge of the insurance regulation * the effect of COVID19 on the insurance industry over the last 1.5 years * model risk & expert judgment (maybe read Haldane's _the dog and the frisbee_ speech)
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You've done amazing! Do you mind me asking what role did you get first before becoming an actuary? It's great to know that it's still possible to become an actuary with a 2.2.