The University of KentCareers and Employability

Service

Actuarial and Maths Careers Presentation

You can download a copy of this presentation atwww.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm

Skills gained on a Maths/Actuarial Degree

Maths/Actuarial graduates are attractive to many employers because of their:

Ability to analyse information in a logical way

Investigative and problem solving skills.

Numeracy IT skills Especially finance &

computing

Destinations of Kent Maths Graduates

What can I do with a Maths degreewww.kent.ac.uk/careers/maths.htm

Destinations of Kent Actuarial Graduates

MATHS/ACTUARIAL JOB AREAS

Actuarial Work: insurance firms (Friends Provident) and Consultancies (Mercer)

Pensions Analyst: Deloitte, Nat West Bank

Accountancy: KPMG/PWC

Banking: Lloyds TSB

Tax: Coutts Bank

Statistical Work: GSS

Operational Research: GORS

Defence: GCHQ, DSTL

Computing: Logica, FDM

Teaching: PGCE

Risk Management

Actuary

Relatively small profession – far less jobs than accountancy

Consulting actuary• More people skills needed• Towers Perrin, Mercers• Early closing dates

Insurance company actuary• Slightly less competition• AXA, Sun Life

What can I do with an Actuarial Science degree?www.kent.ac.uk/careers/actuarial.htm

Inside Careers Actuarial Careers Guide www.insidecareers.co.uk

Accountancy

Biggest recruiter of graduates in the UK. PWC and KPMG recruit 1,000 graduates each

3 years training whilst working – paid a salary

Audit, tax and consultancy Some similarities with actuarial work Focus on good A Level grades. Main area is Chartered Accountancy

(ACA), but also Certified, Management and Public Sector Accountancy

• www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/accountancy.htm

Banking

Retail Banking

• Similar to shop work! Selling loans and managing accounts

Investment Banking

• Much more competitive.

• Get internships in your second year and apply early in your final year

• High A Level grades normally needed.

Statistician

Analyses and interprets data. Collects information, analyses it using statistical methods and computer programs such as SPSS. Interprets data for clients and users. Writes reports.EMPLOYERS: The largest employer is the Government Statistical Service GSS which employs 700 staff in more than 30 departments. Medical Statistics is also another large area with some major hospitals having statistical units.Biometrists work as statisticians in the pharmaceutical industry, as researchers in medical schools and hospitals and in agricultural institutes. SATISFACTIONS: intellectual stimulation of work.NEGATIVES: spend most of time in the office.DEGREE: Normally mathematics, statistics, economics or other statistics-related degrees. Graduates in other subjects can do an MSc in statistics.

“SCIENTIFIC” MATHEMATICS

• Scientific Officer - Qinetiq (2),Research Project Ass't - Pfizer

• Defence industry and other science and engineering companies: mathematical modeling and designing algorithms. The work is often research orientated and can be intellectually stimulatingGCHQ www.gchq.gov.uk national intelligence and security

• HM Government Communications Centre www.hmgcc.gov.uk

• QinetiQ (an agency of the Ministry of Defence)

• Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (dstl) (explosives/weapons technology) www.dstl.gov.uk/careers/index.php

• Defence Engineering and Science Group (DESG www.desg.mod.uk

• BAe Systems global aerospace and defence

• AWE www.awe.co.uk   (Atomic Weapons Establishment)

• Roke Manor Research communications research lab. of Siemens specialising in AEA Technology www.aeat.co.uk does contract research

• The Met Office

Teaching

• £20,000 bursary with 1st or 2:1

Three ways in:

• PGCE

• Schools Direct

• Teach First

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/siteach.htm

CHOOSING A CAREER

Prospects Planner: powerful career choice program

www.prospects.ac.uk/links/PPlanner

Choosing a career web pages

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Choosing/ChoosingCareer.htm

Information on many different careers www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin.htm

Actuarial CV

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/actuary-cv.htm

Maths CV

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/mathematics-cv.htm

• Finance and teaching practice interviews

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/mockivs.htm

Careers Talks and Employer Presentations www.kent.ac.uk/careers/casevents.htm

VACANCY AND WORK EXPERIENCE DATABASEwww.kent.ac.uk/ces/vacancies.html

Apply for jobs in the first term – vacancy emails every Monday in year 2.

Graduate Employer Directories are available in Careers Service

Moodle Careers Employability Award

• Much lower unemployment rate for graduates who completed the award last year www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm

• I won’t have any sympathy if you come to see me when you graduate without a job and haven’t bothered to do the award!

Moodle Careers Employability Award

Complete 3 of the following seven assignments• Analyse your skills and learn how

to make top quality applications

• Do you want to live to work or work to live?

• Researching careers

• Choosing a career

• Submit a CV

• Social media

• Action planning

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm#subject

14 Quizzes: need 75% to pass• Employability skills quiz• Employability skills quiz: drag & drop• How to develop the skills employers want?• Test your spelling and grammar!• What makes you happy at work?• How commercially aware are you?• Special interests topic lesson• Interview preparation• Practice interview• What are the most common interview

questions?• Aptitude tests and assessment centres• CV quiz• CVs and covering letters: drag & drop quiz• Career planning drag and drop quiz

Comments from students who have completed the award

You get a really nice certificate!

It was so easy, quick and I learned a lot.

Without realising, you have finished the course

and have already put together a very good CV

and covering letter.

It really blew my mind with some ideas I’ve never known

before, such as portfolio working and working from

home. I never thought about obtaining happiness from my

work before.

It would be mad to apply for a job or attend an

interview without doing it! Before the course I had only a vague

idea of my career path and opportunities. Now I am applying for summer internships and know how to

effectively sell my skills to a prospective employer and have a much

more focused plan for my future.

The module is very, very useful! I really love how it makes you to think about your personality and helps you to identify your

strengths and weaknesses.I found the module to be highly thought-provoking as it really

encouraged me to consider how my degree will benefit my future and what I can be doing now to

improve my graduate employment prospects.

I enjoyed the depth of the module. It went far beyond some general tips on

how to write a good CV and prepare for an interview. Rather it went in to detail

about the whole process of graduate job search from the beginning to the end. It

was very instructive .

The amount of time put into this is astounding! I actually spoke to friends from other universities who said they

wished they had something like this.

It has made me feel a lot more confident when it comes to

applications and interviews and has also made me think about skills that I didn't think I had

before. I recently had a very successful interview

largely because I put the advice on the module into

practice.

www.kent.ac.uk/ces Telephone: 01227 823299 Email: careerhelp@kent.ac.uk

Opening hours: Monday to Friday 9 to 5 including vacations

Drop-in times (no appointment needed): 10.30 to 12.30 & 2 to 5 pm

The University of KentCareers and Employability

Service

You can download a copy of this presentation at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm

WEB PAGES

Applications and Interviews (includes assessment centres and psychometric tests etc.) www.kent.ac.uk/careers/applicn.htm

Example CVs & Covering Letterswww.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/cvexamples.htm

Practice Interviewswww.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/mockivs.htm

Interview videos www.kent.ac.uk/careers/IntVid.htm

Careers Network

Helps current Kent students gain an insight into careers through contact with alumni - graduates of the University.

Information interviews, advice by letter/phone/email, work-shadowing. 

Visit the Careers Centre and ask to use the Careers Network at reception.

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/careersnetwork.htm

Careers Fair

12 - 3 pm. Tues Nov 5th Sports Centre

Meet employers from all sectors offering graduate jobs, placements and summer internships. Find out about the opportunities they offer and get first-hand advice and information. Everybody welcome, whatever your year or subject of study. 

PWC, Morgan Stanley, Teach First, AXA, Barclays etc. www.kent.ac.uk/ces/careersfair