Actuary exams

Tim Robbins

Hi,
I am thinking of a career change.
I am finding IT boring even though I absolutely love logic.
I loved Maths at School and was good at it. A few friends were telling me I might be more suited to Actuary.

Can you anyone tell me any information about the exams involved to do this?
Do I have to be working as trainee actuary to do these exams?
Or could I keep my IT job and just study for these at night?
Any advice appreciated?
Thanks
Tim

fizzy

Hi Tim,

I don't have time to write much of a reply now, but I did the Actuarial degree in UCD. I decided not to become an Actuary because I found that maths specialty left me cold, but here are a few links to get you started:

The society of actuaries in ireland has some good info and can arrange for you to meet with an actuary to find out if you would like the job - I would highly recommend this!
http://www.actuaries.ie/Careers_Education/HowtobecomeanActuary/HowActuary.htm

People in Ireland actually qualify by becoming a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (FIA) or sometimes a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries (FFA) in the UK. You can find lots of general info on their site at http://www.actuaries.org.uk/Display_Page.cgi?url=/index.html

There are *lots* of exams. The main routes in are:

a) start working as a trainee in an insurance company and do the exams while working (with some study leave and exams and a few tutorials paid for etc). You generally get an increase for every exam you pass.

b) do the undergrad degree in either UCD or DCU (UCD has a bit of a better rep generally but it's much the same) and get exemptions from some exams depending on how well you do, then work and study to complete the rest - it's good going to get them in 3 years!

c) i think there is a newer option available to you - UCD have a postgrad hdip in actuarial science now. Their maths school pages are down for me right now, but you can get some info from the stats site http://www.ucd.ie/statdept/ As far as I know this is a far shorter intensive course which gives you a fair few exemptions. if you are serious about it, this could be a good option. you could take a year out to do the course and you would at least have a good idea after that whether you would like being an actuary and worst case you would have a few more letters after your name and some new skills

The Irish society should be very helpful to you. I have not heard of people other than Insurance company trainee actuaries working and taking the exams. I think there is also a clause that says that you can't fully qualify without x years commercial experience as an actuary?? Doing it all yourself part-time would certainly not be an easy road, but give the Irish society a buzz and I am sure they will be delighted to give you some info and advice.

Good luck - it ain't an easy road, but if you are into it, it can be very rewarding - both intellectually and, of course, financially!

Running Bing

How high is demand for actuary trainees? For example if I did the hdip in acturial science after my economics degree how difficuly is it to land a job as a trainee actuary. Anyone any idea of what the pay is like and how it rises as you progress? Thanks.

nesf

The exams are difficult, a guy I know has about a year and a half (or something) to go and it most definitely is not easy.

If you don't have both a good head for maths and like it I'd stay well away. I'd even go as far to say that if you aren't the kind of person who'd do fairly well at maths at college level that taking it on might be just making your life very difficult for yourself (and I'm thinking of a mostly mathematical degree not a module or two of stats a year kind of stuff).

the_syco

fizzy wrote:

Their maths school pages are down for me right now

Its back up http://www.ucd.ie/statdept/actuarial.html

Info on the HiDip http://www.ucd.ie/statdept/homepage/hdip_actsci.doc

Academic Applicants will normally be expected to have a very good foundation in mathematics and/or statistics, and at least a 2.2 honours degree in a quantitative subject such as mathematics, statistics, computer science, engineering, or economics and/or finance.

Pythia

I'm currently applying to a few places in Ireland and the UK for an actuarial position.
I'm finishing up Economics and Finance (Maths Stream) in UCD.
Has anyone any idea what the main differences are in terms of type of work between life, health and pensions?
Do people recommend the job?
I'm also applying to risk management in the banks.