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Who employs Actuaries?

Published on: 25 Jan 2016

Who employs Actuaries?

There are many companies in many different industries that employ actuaries or those with an actuarial skill set. Some examples of companies who employ actuaries are consultancies such as Deloitte, EY, PwC and KPMG, insurance firms such as Aviva, Legal & General, Prudential and Standard Life. You could also work for banks such as HSBC.

Whilst the IFoA does not employ actuaries directly, we advertise job opportunities from employers through the Directory of actuarial employers. Once you have decided on an actuarial career, you would look for work experience, an internship or placement or an actuarial graduate trainee role with an actuarial employer.

If you are applying for a graduate trainee role, you would apply to that employer through their specific entry route and then join our professional body once you’ve joined the employer.

Alternatively you can join the IFoA independently if you wanted to take some exams prior to gaining a job.

Entry requirements – Both the IFoA and employers have entry requirements that you must meet. It is very important that you familiarise yourself with employers' requirements as the recruitment process becomes more difficult if you do not meet their standards. You can read more about entry requirements in the “Our Qualifications” section.

Internships/placements/work experience/graduate vacancies

All of these opportunities can also be found in the Directory of actuarial employers. It is important to note that some actuarial employers do not offer internships or work experience, for work that may rely on a particular level of technical skill or confidential client work.

Often work experience is reserved for those in the penultimate or final year of university – although of course, there are exceptions.

When you are applying for a role, what employers want to see is that you have used your initiative to get a job or work experience in your holidays or even taken a gap year and done something productive. For example, skills that you will learn in any environment are “business skills” that employers may talk about in job descriptions. These are skills such as communication, team work, leadership and being able to think logically around a situation.

What if you can’t get an actuarial graduate role?

If you are unable to gain an actuarial job when you leave university you could apply for technical support roles or analyst roles in the financial services sector, opening opportunities to shadow actuaries.

If you are unable to get a job then you could look to take an exam independently, for instance Financial Mathematics for non-members.

What else can I do to increase my chances of getting work?

There are many ways that you can increase your chances of gaining a job, from gaining work experience, joining a society or club at university and increasing the amount you use your skills.

Official guide 1/16 cover To read more from the official guide to actuarial careers please click here.