Jack Williams
Consultant
London | Manchester | Liverpool | Leeds
West Midlands | East Midlands | Newcastle
- Specialism: Actuarial
- Roles: Contract and Permanent
- Location: Nationwide
London | Manchester | Liverpool | Leeds
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The importance of workplace flexibility within the Actuarial sector
Whether employers are allowing staff to finish early, work from home for a few days a week or take on a completely remote role within the company; the Actuarial sector has changed over the COVID-19 pandemic and it’s only going to benefit the industry when it comes to hiring exceptional talent. Here at Sellick Partnership, we work with a number of clients and recruit at all levels across the Actuarial sector. As well as working with businesses of varying sizes, there is also a diverse range of flexibility on offer from our clients. For some, they want set rules in place for employees to follow when it comes to being in the office. Others would prefer to hire candidates that can work remotely, with no expectation to meet in person – or at least not on a regular basis. Then there are companies without a plan in place, that are willing to listen to potential employees and, specifically, how they want to work, taking note of what factors are important to them. These ever-adapting approaches are equally as wide-ranging for Actuarial candidates. Some people have a preference to work remotely for a number of reasons. Others would rather be around their colleagues every day, favouring the traditional office setting and many candidates like to have the flexibility to choose how their weeks are structured Here we will delve into the advantages surrounding remote and office-based working, together with highlighting the benefits of having an element of flexibility and what that could mean for the recruitment process as a whole. “It’s proving very difficult for some companies to recruit, largely based on their flexibility to work from home. Those companies that can be fully remote are often preferred in the market. “It’s not always the case that candidates want to work fully remotely but they like the option – they like the fact that they can choose when and why they go in to the office and that there’s not a set amount of time they have to be there.” First of all, it’s worth noting that some of our Actuarial clients don’t have set long-term plans just yet. Several are conducting consultations, which are taking place over the next few months, to propose arrangements that meet everyone’s needs accordingly. This is a great position to be in (as a candidate or a client) as it opens up the point of discussion internally, which will subsequently result in better businesses. A company’s openness around flexibility suggests a lot about the wider culture and whether they will be responsive and fair overall. Ultimately, clients are struggling to attract candidates if they are expecting people to be back in the office full-time or if they are implementing a blanket policy across the business - for example, all staff must work in the office Monday, Thursday and Friday every week. Having a flexible outlook means that firms are becoming more attractive to new candidates as well as building a loyal bond with current employees who may be less inclined to look elsewhere. This approach, and the wider conversation around work-life balance, is a trend we can expect to see continuing as the vast majority of candidates now want to know what the company’s policy is at the very start of a recruitment process. Pros of being office-based: Seeing colleagues face-to-face can be invaluable. From a junior perspective, pursuing a role in Actuarial and undertaking the IFoA exams can be a big shift from university so it can be helpful to spend time with colleagues More scope for one-to-one training – staff can learn on the job from their peers, get help tackling problems and talk to senior employees about issues they may be facing. Building relationships – you can begin to establish a rapport with people which could be valuable when it comes to career progression. Chance to improve interpersonal skills – most Actuarial roles require technical mathematical skills; some people within the sector may need assistance developing softer skills, such as communicating with a range of audiences. Being office-based can boost those face-to-face relations which can, in turn, help people when it comes to getting a new job or being promoted. Company culture can often be interpreted easier in-person – it takes less effort to get to grips with how a company operates, encourages its staff and celebrates their achievements when it’s taking place right in front of you. Pros of being flexible: Clients open themselves up to a huge candidate pool as they can recruit from a much larger geographical area – some of our clients who are offering fully remote roles are able to access a wider candidate base than if they were only able to look within a reasonable commuting distance to their office. Similarly, companies looking for employees to come in only once or twice a week are seeing more applications from further afield as candidates are willing to cover longer distances when they know it won’t be expected every day. Time and money saved not travelling to work – many people have become used to the extra time and money they’ve had over the last couple of years from not having to commute 5 days a week Using time differently – whether candidates have hobbies, children or other commitments outside of work, they might prefer to use their time to do other things. Some people prefer working from home instead of being in corporate environments - Actuarial jobs can be very fast-paced and stressful so for a lot of candidates, that slightly more relaxed environment makes it more manageable. Only work your allotted hours – for example, you can start at 9am and finish at 5pm without the need to commute home when you’re likely to still be in ‘work-mode’. The overall message is that every client and candidate is different – their needs, their expectations and their circumstances. This is why there are benefits to being office-based, working remotely, and having some choice between the two. This level of flexibility is something that was long-needed within the Actuarial sector and is giving candidates a degree of confidence when it comes to their future options. Moving jobs, particularly for an Actuary, is a big decision so they want to make sure that a company is going to be a good fit for them and offer the flexibility they need over the next three, five and 10 years of their career when they might think about going part-time, having children or taking a sabbatical. As an actuary, you will have the choice of taking your career in different directions over time. Here, we look at the different possible career paths and explore the different options available to help find the right career for you. https://t.co/jDWv8JNWAn pic.twitter.com/NCTaS4BUEE — Sellick Partnership (@SellickGroup) February 23, 2022 A survey, which was carried out by recruiters Morgan McKinley, found that 71 percent of UK professionals would consider leaving an organisation if they didn’t provide their preferred flexible working options. In relation to that, 90 percent of employers have changed their policies on flexible working, compared to before the pandemic. Ultimately, this is an ongoing conversation that many of our clients are having with their current employees as well as candidates that are interviewing with them, using all of the information they gather to form a longer-term judgement on what they might offer. Here at Sellick Partnership, we are working on filling a number of positions with a multitude of flexible employers, meaning that we should, in theory, have something for everyone. Visit our Actuarial recruitment page here or take a look at our candidate and client resources for any assistance you may need.
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What are your career progression options as an actuary?
Actuarial roles can lead to a number of different possible career pathways, from management and project leadership roles through to technical specialisms. By weighing these options carefully, you can find the right path for you. Actuarial careers can be highly demanding, requiring advanced financial and statistical expertise to support clients in accurately assessing risks and making sound commercial decisions. However, the challenges of succeeding as an actuary are more than compensated for by the dynamic career opportunities these roles can provide. As an actuary, you will have the choice of taking your career in different directions over time, with varying pathways available to suit your specific ambitions and skills. Many will choose to pursue senior management roles or project leadership opportunities, while others will opt for a technical specialism, becoming a go-to authority within a specific subject area. Any of these pathways can lead to rewarding long-term careers and professional rewards. For actuaries considering their future career plans, it is worth assessing each of these options to determine how best to take your personal development forwards. Management roles Many actuaries aspire to take on additional leadership responsibilities over the course of their careers, with the aim of moving into a senior management role. This pathway will usually start relatively small, allowing you to gain an increasing amount of responsibility over time: 1. Mentoring or training graduates or interns within a firm 2. Overseeing the organisation’s junior analysts 3. Managing a small team within the company 4. Leading a larger team 5. Becoming the head of a department within the organisation Although this line of progression is relatively common, actuarial roles will not necessarily have a clearly formalised promotion process - instead, progress will usually be driven by the individual themselves, in line with their own ambition and initiative. Junior actuaries should look to volunteer for additional responsibilities, and have confidence in themselves to offer mentorship for graduates and new starters; by putting themselves in this position, they will be well placed to take any future opportunities to step into more formal line manager roles. By taking the initiative to follow a career pathway in people management, a successful actuary could expect to be managing a small team within around five years post-qualification. After 10 years, you may be overseeing a larger team of around five to 10 people, and those who successfully progress beyond this point will be able to take on senior leadership roles, with a team structure operating beneath them and more junior line managers reporting to them directly. Project and client lead roles Another alternative to conventional management could involve pursuing a role as a project lead, or heading up a client account within your firm. These roles are most likely to be available at larger consultancies or insurers, and will involve overseeing a specific project or account on a long-term basis, making key strategic decisions and coordinating a team of actuaries to deliver the best results. Generally speaking, a career as a project lead will start when you become part of a specific project or account at a more junior level, and then volunteer to take on additional leadership responsibilities. This may mean taking on a subsidiary role shadowing the project leader for a period of time, paving the way to take the lead on a smaller project of your own. Over time, you will be able to expand your expertise and move on to leading larger projects; for the most senior client leads, it may be common to oversee five or six major projects at a time. As with top-level management roles, progression in this area is likely to be based on initiative and a willingness to put yourself forward for more advanced responsibilities over time. By following this pathway successfully, actuaries can expect to be put in charge of a small project of their own within around five years, or acting as second in command of a larger account. From there, they can progress onwards to lead a major project or client account of their own. Technical expert roles For those who are not seeking leadership responsibilities but still wish to develop their skills and expertise over time, it may make most sense to position yourself as a technical specialist in a specific actuarial subject area. These technical experts are in high demand, and can be called upon to offer specialist advice on high-value accounts. Technical specialists will focus on some of the most important areas of expertise for actuaries, including: Pricing Reporting or reserving Risk/capital Systems and modelling General insurance principles Market-specific expertise, such as longevity modelling for life insurance Becoming a technical expert starts simply with education, and by dedicating time to gaining a large amount of knowledge in a specific area of interest. This will often start when you are still employed at a junior level, and your expert credentials will be enhanced the longer you focus on and gain recognised credentials within that field. The length of time you will need to study to be seen as a subject matter expert will largely depend on the specific area of study, or the demands of the business itself. As a rule, an actuary can realistically expect to call themselves an expert on a given subject if they have worked on it continuously for around five to seven years, but this could be higher or lower depending on the requirements of your sector. This on-the-job learning can also be supplemented by technical training in your own time, whether this involves studying software coding languages, or taking on a secondment with another team. Many firms offer additional courses through the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, allowing you to earn qualifications in areas such as data science. Being seen as a technical specialist is highly desirable and aspirational, and can generate many professional opportunities. In many instances, being a recognised technical expert can also be combined with management responsibilities, but this does not necessarily need to be the case. Which pathway is right for me? These are the three most common professional pathways for actuaries to progress their careers, and each offers its own opportunities and points of appeal. There is no single recommended pathway - actuaries are encouraged to choose their own preferred career development goals and follow them. It is worth noting that none of these pathways are necessarily mutually exclusive - indeed, there is often a lot of crossover between these career routes, meaning some may start down a technical path and end up in management, or vice-versa. Sometimes, actuaries will choose to cross these responsibilities over and fluidly adjust their career path according to their interests, giving themselves a diverse range of options at senior level. As such, junior actuaries are advised to have conversations internally about their potential career options early on, and find out what kind of opportunities are available. By asking yourself how you want to develop and pursue the goals you would find most fulfilling, you will have a strong chance of creating a long and successful career pathway for yourself. If you would like advice on the right way to progress your career as an actuary and the various options and pathways available to you, get in touch with Sellick Partnership. Visit our actuarial & data science recruitment services page to browse our latest actuarial roles, or to explore the various resources available for data science professionals.
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Austin Brislen: From Graduate Recruiter to Associate Director at Sellick Partnership
We spoke with Austin Brislen, who has recently been promoted to Associate Director, about his new role within Sellick Partnership and how his exciting career journey has developed so far. Back to the start Following his graduation in 2010, Austin decided to start looking for work straight after completing his degree. After spotting a job advert for a graduate scheme to become a headhunter, Austin fell into the fast-paced world of recruitment – a path that would take him all the way to becoming Associate Director at Sellick Partnership. Commenting on the early stages of his career journey, Austin said: “For me, it really was an organic process. When you find something that you really enjoy work-wise, before you know it, you’ve been doing it for a long time. Being a recruiter came quite naturally to me – I love that it’s one of those roles where you can drive really tangible results from the effort and passion you put in. “I realised quite early that I had a lot of the traits that are well suited to a successful career in recruitment. I was really resilient, naturally hard-working and driven, and had that appetite to push myself. I think by being naturally inquisitive and having a desire to want to understand things, I learned to take my recruitment skills to the next level and began gathering the necessary information to strive for success.” The move into Actuarial Over the years in the recruitment industry, Austin’s biggest area of expertise has been Actuarial – a sector that involves plenty of highly technical work and complex problem-solving. Actuaries are professionals that measure the amount of risk and uncertainty within a business to assess the next steps for moving forward with their strategies. For Austin, this involves working with General Insurers, Life Insurers, and Consultancies all across the UK to hire Actuaries on a permanent and temporary basis. In sharing what he loves about recruiting in the Actuarial space, Austin said: “The market for recruiting actuaries has been really interesting. It’s incredibly fast-paced and competitive which means there’s never a dull moment. For me, it’s one of the most exciting sectors in the economy. “I think many candidates feel the same. I’ve placed several candidates in my career who have gone on to become integral parts of the companies they were placed in. I really love watching candidates grow in their careers and helping my clients to secure candidates who are as passionate about this space and will drive really strong results for their businesses.” Exciting times ahead With several successful years behind him, Austin continues to look forward to his future in Actuarial recruitment and reflects on the unique draws of his career path. “It’s the human aspect of recruitment for me. I’ve built so many great relationships with candidates and clients – it’s amazing to revisit them later down the line and see where they are at with their careers and lives. I have also built great relationships internally here at Sellick Partnership with people from across the business. As I’ve progressed, I’ve had the opportunity to work more closely with different teams internally which has been fantastic. "Whether I’m running training sessions with our permanent consultants or working with Finance and Marketing departments at one of our regional offices, it’s great to work collaboratively with different areas of the business.” Since joining Sellick Partnership, Austin has worked hard to build a highly successful Actuarial recruitment team, but it didn’t happen overnight – here, Austin reflects on the unique challenges of expanding this area of the business and how he managed to build such a fantastic team that he now leads as Associate Director: “Building a team has been one of the biggest challenges of my career. Winning clients and building relationships with big companies is something that I’m now well versed at, but the real challenge is taking on those who may have never done that type of relationship-building before and really nurturing those skills. Anyone can be successful in recruitment – it just takes passion, inquisitiveness, and drive to get there. “I love seeing team members come in with lots of enthusiasm who are keen to develop their skills. I really enjoy sharing my knowledge and experience to help others succeed on their own career paths.” New beginnings Here, Austin outlines what this new and exciting step will mean for his career journey: “This role will give me the opportunity to further develop my skills whilst leading and upskilling the great team that I have. The wonderful thing about growth is that, the more we grow, the more we can offer services to new clients we haven’t worked with before – that’s the really exciting part. "I’ll always want to be as hands-on with securing the right candidates for my clients. Taking on those new clients is where I really get to learn more about the industry and add it to my bank of knowledge. However, I am excited for the continued opportunity to grow my team and nurture skills in others.” Sharing on why he will always want to recruit for his clients, Austin said: “The most exciting part of dealing with a new client is getting to know them on a human level, and that’s something I love. As a team, we really enjoy building those relationships, all the while remaining professional and providing a great service. Some of the best client relationships we have are the ones where we can talk about the business and get the job done, but also enjoy a good laugh here and there. I believe that the human aspect of recruitment is so important.” Finding inspiration During his career journey, Austin cites plenty of supportive mentors that have inspired him to get to where he is today. In addition to his professional relationships, Austin credits his parents for giving him the drive and work ethic that he has now: “My mum and dad have always been great at instilling the importance of working hard to get to where you want to be. I’ve always worked little jobs here and there – for example, on a Saturday morning growing up I would go to the garage and get £2 for brushing the floor. I learned at a young age that hard work produces good outcomes.” Austin said he has also been inspired by his colleagues and peers, particularly Managing Director Jo Sellick who has inspired his management style and approach with his Actuarial team: “The biggest thing I learned from Jo is the ability to trust people, delegate responsibilities, and allow them to make their own decisions. Jo is incredibly good at trusting people to do their job. Giving people the freedom to work and be creative usually drives the best results – it’s something I’m continuously trying to instil in my team.” A piece of advice Finally, when asked what advice he might share with an aspiring recruiter (or anyone who is unsure what career path to take), Austin said: “Pick a career that genuinely gets you excited – you need to be passionate about what you are doing in order to be happy. Having said that, it’s important to be realistic and level-headed where possible; every career will have its ups and downs, with periods where you feel like you're flying and others where you are in a trough. "When you are in that trough, seek out advice from the best people around you. Become an ‘information sponge’ and soak up as much knowledge as you can. Ask questions and be proactive. By asking for and accepting help, you will always continue to learn and become better.” Find out more about what it's like to work at Sellick Partnership in the Work for Us section of our website. Or browse our internal vacancies now to start your career in recruitment.
