changing career from teaching..

[barabash]

Hi,

I am a maths teacher thinking of changing career to an actuarial profession..
Just wonder if anybody else on this forum or anybody you know did that?
How difficult would it be in terms of finding an entry job position without having a financial background?
How many exams do you reckon needed to have a chance of getting a job?
I am based in London.

Any advice will be appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[ngongtiti]

Hi,

I changed from engineering to Actuarial 18 months ago. what I did was do one CT exams, just to prove to employers I am capable of passing the exams, and I got an offer after like 4-5 interviews.

are you an A-levels maths teacher? if yes...I think you'll be fine.

My advice will be to show prospective employers that ur serious by trying out CT1 or CT3 (statistics), before applying for jobs.

there are plenty of teachers who have done same.

 

[barabash]

Thank you, ngongtiti!
Yes, I'm teaching A level in a sixth form college..
Just started studying for CT1..

 

[Schuey]

Hi,

I changed from engineering to Actuarial 18 months ago. what I did was do one CT exams, just to prove to employers I am capable of passing the exams, and I got an offer after like 4-5 interviews.

are you an A-levels maths teacher? if yes...I think you'll be fine.

My advice will be to show prospective employers that ur serious by trying out CT1 or CT3 (statistics), before applying for jobs.

there are plenty of teachers who have done same.

Hi which branch of engineering did u used to work in ? What made you go from engineering to actuary ?

Thanks very much

 

[old.student]

Hi

I moved from IT to Actuarial and did the PDip at Kent. I knew at least two maths teachers on that course, one of them was top of the year.

It is entirely possible and has been done. I recommend doing a conversion course if you can rather than studying on your own.

On the job front, Not an issue. I moved to GI consultancy with a 2.2 after the PDip in the height of the GFC. I think things may be easier on the job front now.

 

[bystander]

Doing the diploma is a pretty firm commitment. What you may consider is doing one subject by self study just to make doubly sure you want to make the leap. With diplomas, some firms love them others hate them because of the imbalance of theory versus work skills and practise. But as you have a career background and a work history rather than straight from uni, I think more employers would be receptive.

Good luck with the transition

 

[old.student]

Hi

Thanks for your post.

Please could you give some insight to how you found the PDip course @ Kent including how good/active/helpful their careers department @ is

Thank you

Hard work, 9 months of pretty hard study. I liked the idea of doing the course away from London (cheaper, less distractions) living on campus saved a lot of time. It is pretty much full on from day one and easy to slip behind. I previously did a masters straight after my BSc and that was a lot easier than this PGd. It is a big investment but I think you have a better chance of a job if you have had previous work experience, wouldn't recommend straight after a degree. You will get a lot of stick for not doing the exams properly but who cares after you are qualified? If you can afford the time and cash do the masters straight after - I wish I had!

There is a careers fair and employers visit campus, all in all about the same as other Uni's I've attended.

 

[morrisja]

Depending on the availability of jobs, the cost of any course and what exams you can get from it, I'm not sure it's beneficial to do a Pdip.

- easier to get employed with no financial background if you also have no exams (depends on level of available jobs of course)
- taking 9 months to pay to go to the course (and they are costly I believe) - is just putting you 9 months further behind in experience
- Opportunity cost of having a *slightly* higher paid entry level actuarial role for 9 months is pretty high. Exams bump it up, but the base salary isn't that bad. Giving that up for 9 months to pay to do a course isn't sensible in my opinion (again depends on specifics of the situation)
- You can pass 4 CTs in your first year of work.. so if you have one or two on your own you could end up with 6 CTs and a years work experience which is more valuable anyway!
- You'll get more study days and have the exams paid for - study packages are usually quite good!
- You can make the change to an actuarial job quicker and more flexibly in a year than the change to a diploma (presuming standard semester structure)

Just to put it in perspective - I did an actuarial undergraduate degree so I'm not against exemptions from exams! I was going to go to college to study something in any case so it made sense to get exemptions while I was there. I also got 9 months work experience while in college which counted for a fair bit when I came out looking for a job!

If I was undecided about whether I was going to college or not then I would have gone working straight after school and done the exams through work - would have been quicker and easier on the wallet plus I'd have 3 more years of experience.

I'm completely open to correction on this. My view is entirely based on my understanding of the costs/benefits/courses available in Dublin.