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Actuarial, pricing & data science recruitment specialists
Sellick Partnership is a market-leading actuarial recruitment specialist focused on offering a complete recruitment service to actuarial professionals on a permanent, contractand interimbasis. Our specialist areas include:
At Sellick Partnership, we pride ourselves on the wealth of experience that our talented Actuarial Recruitment Consultants have and their ability to recruit at all levels across the actuarial sector.
Our client portfolio consists of some of the largest Global Consultancies, Insurers, Re-Insurers, Brokers, Lloyd's Syndicates and FTSE100 Retail Insurers.
We supply both permanent and contract talent solutions across the UK, Europe & Bermuda and excel at delivering a tailored service to both clientsand candidates. Assignments we regularly recruit for include:
Chief Actuary
Chief Risk Officer
Head of Pricing
Head of Actuarial
Pricing Director
Actuarial Senior Manager/Manager
Senior Actuarial Consultant/Actuarial Consultant
Senior Actuarial Analyst/Actuarial Analyst
Pricing Manager/Pricing Consultant
Actuarial Contractor
For our clients, we tailor our approach to recruitment based on the needs of your business, taking the time to get to know you, your business and your requirements, ensuring we provide exceptional recruitment services each and every time. We are always available to help with every stage of your recruitment process, from interview management and writing job descriptions to testing actuarial candidates and offer negotiations.
We also work in genuine partnership with each of our candidates, listening to their needs and matching their skills and experience to the most suitable actuarial roles. We support all candidates we work with, offering advice and assistance at every stage of the recruitment process to ensure they are fully informed at every step of the way.
We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from actuarial candidates of all backgrounds and circumstances, including minorities and those with disabilities. We consider job applications from all those who are able to demonstrate the skills necessary to fulfil the role. Find out more about our equality, diversity and inclusion efforts and initiatives or read our Equality & Diversity Statement for further information.
Get in touchtoday to find out how our Actuarial Consultants can help you.
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Latest actuarial & data science jobs
meet our people
Actuarial consultants
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Austin Brislen
Associate Director
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Charlie Christian
Senior Consultant
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Josh Spencer
Consultant
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Rebecca Miles
Senior Consultant
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Jack Dykins
Consultant
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Jack Williams
Consultant
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Megan Farmer
Resourcing Consultant
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Meet the Team
THE LATEST
Actuarial insights
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How to write the perfect Actuarial CV
When it comes to writing a CV for an Actuarial-focused role you might need some guidance on best practices, especially if you are a graduate looking for your first job or have been at your current place of employment for a number of years, leaving your CV outdated. The Actuarial team at Sellick Partnership look at hundreds of CVs every single week and are regularly asked by candidates how they can make improvements or how they should structure and format the document.With a plethora of knowledge for what the Hiring Manager or HR team will be looking for, we have put together some tips and suggestions on what to include in your CV, how to structure it to maximise your chances of getting an interview and what you can remove. Finding the balanceOne of the key elements to writing a great Actuarial CV is getting the right balance between being concise but also having enough detail. We all know there is no benefit to having a CV that is too long, however, if your past experience, qualifications and technical skills warrant two or even three pages, then this is absolutely fine.Fitting everything on to one page and, as a result, eliminating crucial areas of expertise will not help you in your job search. As long as you include a good overview of your experience, your relevant skills and education, as well as prompts for interview questions and quantifiable examples where ever possible, you will be on the right path.What you should includeA professional summary:Not all candidates do this, but we think all Actuarial CVs benefit from a professional summary at the top of the page. This should include information that succinctly outlines your skills, qualifications and work experience. Two or three lines should be enough for this and you should always include your level of qualification at the time of applying, including further details if you are studying towards a higher level, alongside your main specialism within Actuarial. This will offer a helping hand to HR who might not work within the Actuarial sector themselves.For example, for Life Insurance you might explain that your specialism is within longevity. Similarly, within General Insurance you might be a ‘motor pricing specialist’ rather than a ‘pricing Actuary’.Details about your next steps:Providing clarity on what you are looking for next or what is driving your job search is always useful. This might be due to one of many things such as: relocation, redundancy or you are looking for a step up in responsibilities. Similar to the previous point, these details can save time figuring out whether or not you are a suitable candidate.A good, active tone throughout: This can be taking into consideration words such as: ‘monitored’, ‘created’, ‘pioneered’ or ‘led’ and makes your experience sound much more impressive.This can also give you the edge on other candidates, showing that you had ownership of pieces of work and it displays your willingness to take on additional responsibilities.Quantifiable examples:We often see phrases which show that a candidate has ‘improved systems and processes’ which is useful but it would be better to give an example.I built XYZ which reduced the time taken for this process from four weeks to two weeks. It also made it easier for the team to generate different reports, different results or different data.This is a much stronger statement which gives the interviewer things to ask you about when the time comes. Equally, if you are someone with past experience in a consultancy setting, you should always provide information on the size of the client or the size of the deal you have worked on. This could be a range or an average but often, candidates might be working on multimillion, or even multibillion-pound clients. This is impressive for Hiring Managers to read and provides some interesting talking points.Education: Most employers will want to know details of your entire education, not just your university degree or Actuarial qualification/s.Not only does this speed up the process of going back and forward with a recruitment agency like Sellick Partnership, but it also removes the chance of anyone thinking you have something to hide. If there is an element of your education history that you aren’t happy with or something you wish had been better, we would still encourage candidates to include that information. If you have a good degree and Actuarial progress alongside it, your D in GCSE French shouldn’t be an issue.Other helpful additions within this section are things like dissertation topics and theses, particularly if you did a maths or statistics-based degree. If you’ve done multiple degrees, put them all on and if you have additional qualifications and accreditations such as Data Science courses, list them.Technical skills:You should include as much information on the different systems and coding languages you have used as possible. Try and include these in the experience section as well, detailing exactly where you have used those skills and how frequently.Exams:We would always want to see full, comprehensive details of any relevant exams. This includes: which have been passed and whether or not they were first time passes, which, if any, were exemptions from university, which exams you are waiting on results for and also which exams are scheduled in the next sitting. This shows history to date and what you have planned next.The first time pass acknowledgement is an extremely strong aspect to have on your CV. Similarly, if you get strong results for particular exams (top five per cent, for example), you should always highlight that as it will be a good talking point in an interview.What to removeNow we’ve provided an idea of what you should include in your CV, it’s handy to know what is irrelevant. Here are some of the things that are unnecessary to prospective employers:A picture and/or personal information such as your address, gender, location and age – these would be removed from your CV by the HR department in the first instance anyway, to eliminate discrimination. Cover letters – more on that below.Scales of proficiency – choose content over style. For example, some candidates will have four out of five circles coloured in for a particular skill. These graphics and images are much easier to lay out in a ‘technical skills’ section. It is better to say I am an advanced user of Prophet or I have done XYZ course, instead of illustrating that you have four out of five circles coloured in for Prophet and nothing to back it up with. It looks nice, but it isn’t quantifiable.‘References available upon request’ – if you are successful in an interview, a reference will be taken.No cover letter, no problem…As a rule, unless you have been explicitly asked to provide a cover letter, we would usually advise candidates to leave this stage of the process out as it could be a completely unnecessary step.Most cover letters provide the opportunity for you to explain why they are interested in the company and suitable for the role. However, generally speaking, that is what is expected from the interview.Grammar, grammar, grammarIt might sound obvious but the majority of CVs we receive have basic grammar or spelling mistakes. You should always check that everything is the same font, same size (unless you are using slightly bigger subheadings, for example) and same colour.You should also make sure that the correct words are capitalised, that the margins are aligned, and it reads correctly. One tip is to read the entire document out loud to yourself to guarantee that it makes sense. Or ask someone else to proof read it for you.Keep your CV up-to-dateThis doesn’t mean just adding in new roles and responsibilities but also checking whether the rest of your CV is still relevant. We see CVs of more experienced candidates who add in their current work but haven’t updated their previous role to the past tense, implying that they are still working at the company.You should also review your past experience and ensure this still sells your skills in the best way possible. There might have been something you did in a previous role that’s profoundly applicable to the job you are applying for. In these instances, you must make sure they are included.Non-Actuarial roles – keep them or ditch them?Some of your previous experience might not showcase the mathematical and/or analytical skillset you want to display but you can keep them on your CV. You might not necessarily need to list all of your responsibilities, particularly if it was a role that you had throughout university…The exception would be graduates or very junior candidates who may not have that much else to speak about and provides a way of showing you were working during university. These roles should demonstrate your ‘softer skills’ (communication, time management etc.) whilst your technical skills will be developed when you secure a role within Actuarial.Communication is keyWhen it comes to Actuarial jobs, many candidates are dealing with complex statistics, have exceptional analytical talent and possess good mathematical knowledge. This means that it can be integral to list communication details, especially if there are certain things that you have completed or were involved in that showcase those attributes.It’s always worth detailing which stakeholders or clients you have engaged with, including details of their seniority. Were you writing reports for them? Or, were you presenting to them?This is also important for people management credentials. Whether it’s ad-hoc or formal line management, showing that you possess good interpersonal skills is a great addition, whether this is managing people on projects or resource distribution within your team. For junior candidates, you might have been involved in mentoring and training graduates, which can help you stand out from other applicants.StructureYou should begin your CV with the professional summary section at the beginning. Then we would advise candidates to list their education alongside their exam history/upcoming exams and professional qualifications.Technical skills should come after this and levels of competency, this can be bullet pointed. We would follow this with details of relevant work experience.Candidates should list their experience in chronological order. If you’ve been in your current role for a good amount of time, you will probably have at least five to ten bullet points outlining your responsibilities. If it’s a candidate that has been at a company for a substantial amount of time and has been promoted within their team or changed roles internally then you can expect more.Hopefully, this can provide you with enough information needed to create an exemplary CV, showcasing your skills and qualifications as well as building compelling talking points for the interview stage.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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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.
