Actuarial assistant — Enrique Rodriguez

Enrique studied MSc Chemistry at Imperial College London before landing his job as an actuarial assistant. He explains how a love of maths is crucial in actuary work

How did you get your job?

I got my job with MS Amlin through an actuarial recruiter who helped me to prepare for the interview and gave me background on what the company were looking for. With the help of my university careers adviser I also tailored my CV to highlight any relevant skills and experience which I believed would help with my application. This made a big difference when I was applying.

What's a typical working day like?

I work in one of the reserving teams at my company. My role is primarily home-based, however my team often go into the office one to two times a week just to catch up or for important meetings.

My work mainly consists of independently reviewing the calculations of the other reserving teams, reporting results to our head office, performing actuarial investigations and assisting with projects or regulatory submissions. This allows me to interact with all of my team mates as well as a variety of other teams across the company. I have also had the opportunity to do some coding in SQL, VBA, Python and other specialised actuarial software as part of my role.

I also get to take study days once a week in the run up to my exams which I use to go over the exam material, attend tutorials and complete past paper questions. This is all provided by my company.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I enjoy the variety of work that my role offers, as my team will often get asked to perform actuarial investigations or assist with new projects alongside our regular reporting and review work. This helps to add variety to my role and means there is always something new to learn about.

I also really enjoy working with my teammates as they are all extremely friendly and knowledgeable, so we often end up learning new things from one another.

What are the challenges?

Sometimes the work can be quite fast paced, especially around regulatory deadlines or at the start and end of our business year. I have to make sure I prioritise my tasks and work efficiently in order to hit our deadlines.

It can also be difficult to communicate some of the actuarial concepts we use to other teams, especially those who don’t have an actuarial background. You have to make sure that they fully understand what you're telling them as often our team's results will be used elsewhere in the company.

In what way is your degree relevant?

Having a chemistry degree helped me to develop my mathematical, analytical and communication skills. These are very important for an actuarial career as you often need to analyse data or perform calculations, and then communicate the results of your work. I have also found these skills very helpful when tackling the exams.

How has your role developed and what are your career ambitions?

Over the last three and a half years I have sat a number of actuarial exams under the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFOA) and have been promoted as I have completed them. This has provided a defined career path for my role. At the same time, my team has gradually begun to give me more complex work and I have been given more freedom in how I complete my tasks as I gained more experience.

I'm not certain of what my ambitions are for my career, but my aim is to complete the IFOA exams and get qualified. I'd also like to continue to improve my skillset and knowledge of general insurance so that I can better assist my team, and I might consider managing others or specialising further a few years down the line.

What are your top tips for choosing a Masters?

I would choose a Masters that you think you're going to enjoy studying and which can fulfil your career goals. I'd also make sure to visit the university just so you can get a better feel of the institution and how the course is run.

What advice can you give to others wanting to get into this job?

• Be prepared to study for the exams for the first three to six years of your career. They can be very difficult and take a lot of time to prepare for, with failures being common. Perseverance is key.
• Make sure you enjoy the work. Not everyone likes working with maths, so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who can’t see themselves doing that kind of work.
• Be willing to ask questions. Sometimes you will get assigned tasks that you have no idea how to complete but your team may be able to assist you with. Knowing when to ask questions can help you to learn and develop your skills in the long run.
• Be open minded when applying for jobs. Actuaries can work in a range of areas and the work can vary dramatically across companies and individual roles

Find out more

• Read all about being an actuary.
• Take a look at the accountancy, banking and finance sector.