Actuarial Apprentice Review

My job title is Actuarial apprentice, I work in the retirement and invesment team. Day to day tasks include: calculating transfer values, compiling data and drafting reports for valuations,funding updates and accounting work. On a daily basis I interact with all members of the retirement team from other apprentices and graduates to senior consultants and partners. Externally I interact with clients and assets managers. My responsiblities include liasing with invesment to gather asset data for valuations and accounting and I manage communications from admin and offshore teams. I'm invloved in a couple projects, most noteably writing guides for the Learning and Development team and prospecting work.

I'm working towards my CAA (certified actuarial analyst) qualification, through exams and a work based skills logbook. Theres lots of internal training on offer and we get to attend training courses with apprentices and graduates around the country. My team are great and are always on hand to teach me anything I need to know.

I went to university for a couple a years and didn't enjoy it but i'm really enjoying my time here, the work is really interesting and Aon and BPP are very supportive of my studies. I didn't expect to be given so much resposiblity so early on, it's a great oppurtunity for me to showcase my skills.

I feel like a core member of the team and everyone is good at providing feedback and praise on jobs I do.

The study side of the apprenticeship run by BPP is very well organised and they are always on hand to help, with constant progress monitoring, tutorials and training they keep you on track. One thing that wasn't made clear was how much time should be invested into the apprentice in work hours, it's easy to fall behind when your work load increases.

I have monthly progress calls with my advisor, quarterly meetings with my advisor and manager, 2 full day tutorials per exam and they are constantly at hand for any questions.

We are given 8 study days(including 2 for tutorials). My manager has meetings with me to keep my on track for studying. Although most of my team are not aware of what my apprenticeship requires which can lead to very busy periods with little time to work on my apprenticeship criteria.

The salary is very good compared with other apprenticeships. There is loans on offer to help with travel costs and there is a wide range of benefits to choose from.

With the exception of our 2 week induction before we start I haven't seen any outside of work activies/events/or sports teams. Outside of work I mostly go to the gym and study in my spare time.

Yes

Apprenticeships offer a great alternative to university, you are gaining valuable experience, a qualification and earning a salary.

I applied online and was invited to an assessment day a couple of months later. The assessment involved team building activities, an interview and an intray exercise. The team building exercises are a great oppurtunity for you to show your leadership skills and ability to listen to others, go in with a postive outlook and try and find a balance between both.