Any actuaries about? DD (autistic) is considering the profession

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I wonder if any actuaries are able to offer any insights into the job, the training and career progression.

DD was dead set on BSc economics but after a uni visit yesterday she loved the actuarial sciences BSc talk. She likes that it’s a small course, seems supportive and friendly, covers the areas of maths/ data she enjoys and is focused on gaining professional qualifications and skills. Encouragingly, the gender balance at the talk was much more even than at the (huge) economics talk. Being blunt, she categorically does not want a course populated by overconfident public school boys.
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However, she’s never met an actuary in real life (she’s going to ask if her college can put her in touch with anyone.) Her main questions are over exactly how hard the maths is (she got a low 9 at GCSE/ predicated A for A-level but isn’t naturally brilliant like some kids are, although very strong on algebra.), the career prospects in London/South East (especially for women.) She’s also autistic, although my feeling is that might not be especially unusual in the profession, but she’s concerned about how easy she would find managing client relationships/networking.

Any thoughts on courses, applications, the job, the profession, getting relevant experience would be greatly appreciated and I will pass it all onto her.

i am not an actuary but used to work with many of them. They are all extraordinarily good at maths. The professional exams are generally regarded as the toughest ones

its a good career

You have to be phenomenally good at maths and able to work for years for constant rounds of very difficult professional exams. It’s no coincidence that there’s a lot of Oxbridge maths degrees in the profession.

Thank you. The tutor on the course said that they are looking for A at A level, and those who achieve A find the maths doable enough to pass the professional exams, which was reassuring. It only seems to
be LSE that wants A* but she doesn’t fancy LSE anyway. However, knows she’s not good enough at maths to do a maths degree at a good university, so is definitely not phenomenally good. However, she is a hard worker and very detail focused. I think she needs to talk to someone who has recently done the exams to get a steer on that perhaps.

The level of maths required is high but it's mainly the level of hard work for the exams which is the killer! I'm good at maths but I'm quite lazy and that was hard. The exams take up all your free time for a few months each sitting (twice a year.) You do usually get study days throughout the year (c. 1/week) but you have to use them properly.

The degree would give her exemptions for some of the earlier exams and she wouldn't have to necessarily be an actuary after doing the degree, she could do something else, so it's worth a go in terms of seeing if she likes this type of maths.

It's surprisingly female friendly (quite a lot of women) and good for flexible working if she wants to have kids.

It's the type of job where you definitely meet a lot of autistic people (diagnosed and undiagnosed).

Insurance is the place to apply for jobs afterwards, DB pensions work is basically dead. Pay is good and it's a nice career.

Being based in London basically gives you the widest job prospects possible for actuarial jobs.

Well, she’d certainly like that part of the job. She is not afraid to say what needs to be said, even if someone does not want to hear it.

user946372 Thank you, that is really helpful. Her tentative plan is to do the BSc with a year in industry, then the MSc, so she’d have done (I think) all the 9 initial exams while in uni.

Being able to use the degree in another way also appealed to her. She’s especially interested in data science roles, so might consider an MSc in that area. At the talk they were positive about it being a useful degree for other professions (eg accountancy) too.

Yes.

You need to be very good at certain types of maths. I could never get through a maths degree because there’s too much of the maths I can’t do (half the stuff needed for physics!), but if she’s good at statistics, algebra, calculus etc then I think she’d probably be ok.

Autism certainly wouldn’t hold her back in the profession based on the actuaries I’ve known.

I think she'll struggle as her maths sounds weak comparitvely but you have to be in it to win it. Did you ask about course drop out rates, it's quite high for actuarial degrees. Can she deal with failure or is it always someone else's fault?

That’s reassuring. Those are the areas of maths she enjoys and feels stronger in. She discounted engineering as she realised she preferred maths side of physics, rather than the applied (and possibly oilier) aspects, which is how she ended up exploring economics, econometrics and eventually actuarial sciences.

Her careers assessment/ a few basic psychometric tests at college matched her up with the job, which is how we ended up at the talk.

My colleagues son who he constantly moaned about not doing a tap in school but I always suspected was autistic got top grades in school and uni and is now an actuary and loves it. He fits the genius/autistic categories. His Dad was the same endlessly bright but lacking awareness of how smart he is.

I am an actuary - qualified for over 20 years now.

I am a very “traditional” actuary in that I have an Oxbridge maths degree and would probably describe myself as a “mathematician” as much as “actuary”. However, I work (by choice!) in what is probably the most technical / mathsy department and so there are lots of people out there who are far less keen on maths than me who are excellent actuaries. (Many are probably a better actuary than me as they care about the stuff I can’t be bothered to care about.)

The exams with maths in are the early ones so she would be doing them for her degree rather than as part of the “work and study” position so that would make life easier. (A lot more help is available if you are stuck at university compared to the working world. Plus you have a lot more time.)

I would say that I have suspicions about neurodiversity for a reasonable proportion of my colleagues who are over the age of 40. (Including myself.) There are several diagnosed in the younger generation that I know of (and I don’t know them well.)

I would advise an insurance company rather than a consultancy - pays less but life is nicer.

I have found it pretty family friendly - I have worked for 3 days a week for 15 years now.

Happy to answer other questions.

There's an English YouTuber (her channel is called PaigeY) who has just qualified as an actuary. It seems like you actually have to be incredibly intelligent to pass all the exams.
Paige was originally a graduate of Cambridge Uni with a degree in something like astrophysics!

It is phenomenally competitive to get on a degree course - my friend's daughter wanted to do it but other students with better maths results got taken on.

It often appeals to young people (or their parents) who look at the job prospects and salaries rather than the actual content, which is why there is such a high drop out rate.

My niece is just starting her degree in actuarial science. She achieved 12 x grade 9’s at gcse and 2x A stars and an A at A level. She has got her timetable and it’s full on. Think she’s in uni every day apart from 1 afternoon. There’s 30 in her class.

My son is in year 3 of actuarial studies in UCD, in Dublin . He really loves the course . He is very good at maths but definitely not genius level .
He scored 613 in his final school exams ( top score is 625 ). He needed 613 to get a place on the course . So it is quite competitive .
I think if your daughter is interested she should go for it !

DH is an actuary and until recently was an exam marker for the financial economics papers of the professional exams. He's autistic and has done pretty well career wise. He's just stepped down into a pre retirement role, no people management, 35 hour work week and still earns over £100k plus bonuses.

Recruitment always used to be solidly maths graduates but the profession is increasingly opening up to other subjects and DH's team includes economics and engineering grads as well as a maths and Japanese graduate.

The exams are pretty brutal and take over your life for a few years. Once qualified though the salaries and benefits are good and flexible working is possible. Females seem to be well represented now, wasn't always the case. The UK exams are also taken by students in many other countries and are well recognised globally so there are opportunities to work overseas.

DH loves it as he genuinely enjoys maths and gets to do it every day. Even senior roles are still quite technical so you do have love grappling with maths every day.