Quantum News

Summer is the time when many of us take time out to relax and wind down, be it by the poolside of our hotel or in the beautiful countryside of our chosen destination. When the novel is finished and relaxation kicks in, our thoughts may often turn to our careers and where they are heading. In the July issue of our newsletter, we aim to give you an overview of the current state of the actuarial market both in the UK and International areas of our experience, in order to ensure that you can make the most appropriate decision as to where to go next.

When looking at the recruitment industry in the UK, it has, as a whole, shown strong growth since the last part of 2003. However, while this trend is certainly evident in the actuarial recruitment market, the picture is distorted by differing levels of activity within the various areas of actuarial work.

In the area of Pensions, the largest employer of actuarial resources, activity has once again been relatively stagnant. There are few opportunities arising at the moment and where these do exist, they are usually filled quite quickly and often from within. The outlook for recruitment within this sector does not hold too much promise of change, and for the foreseeable future will probably be the least attractive market from a recruitment perspective.

Opportunities for life actuaries with experience in financial reporting seem to dominate the vacancy lists, with vacancies at all levels from senior students through to experienced actuaries. Once again the consultancies maintain a constant vigil for high calibre consultants, while both direct insurers and reinsurance companies go to great lengths to ensure that they attract the cream of this year’s crop. In the London area, we are specifically looking for actuaries with excellent communication skills and experience of financial modelling, embedded values or realistic balance sheet work. We would also be delighted to hear from recent qualifiers with pricing experience and an interest in reinsurance.

Non-life insurance is pulling more than it’s representative weight in the actuarial market with almost a third of all vacancies listed as being in general insurance. The majority of these roles are for actuaries with considerable experience to draw on, and the consultancies appear to be the major hunters. If you are a qualified general insurance actuary with knowledge of the London market and good IT skills, please get in touch with us to discuss some of the opportunities available.

When taking a look at the international side of the actuarial market, for anybody interested in working in Asia, things are still looking bright in terms of new opportunities on the life side. In fact local experience is still very much in top demand, so those of you already working in Hong Kong, Singapore, mainland China, India or elsewhere in the region, are already a step or two ahead of the game.

Recently qualified actuaries are still being sought in Mumbai, India and companies repeatedly tell us that local experience is first prize. There is very little new activity in Singapore, but we are focusing a lot of our resource in this direction over the summer, and expect to have something more to report in our next newsletter! In the meantime, if you are considering a new job in Singapore, it would be advisable to get in touch with us now so that we can ensure we bear your details in mind when talking to our new and existing Singaporean clients.

Hong Kong remains the focus of most activity in the region and the emphasis is on regional posts. For example, a good all rounder, who MUST have local experience, is required for a position involving some travel to Taiwan and Japan. One large company is seeking a regional product and pricing actuary, with strong knowledge and experience of product development processes, to provide pricing support for countries throughout the region, as well as a nearly or newly qualified actuary for the same team. Another big employer is recruiting candidates with four or more years relevant experience on a number of fronts, including regional, strategic and traditional actuarial.

Our ‘Opportunity of the quarter’ is also a regional position, this time in reinsurance. A global reinsurance company is seeking an actuary with around ten years life experience, ideally from a retail, consulting or reinsurance environment in Asia, to head up the team in Hong Kong. The work involves handling all individual life and personal lines business across major Asian markets and the company is prepared to wait for the ‘right person’ to come along, but don’t delay in advising us of your interest as this person may be just around the corner!

So, in summary, there is a preponderance of regional work in Hong Kong at the moment and Prophet and modelling experience is currently in demand for most roles, particularly when this is combined with a pricing or product development background or useful language skills. So, if your strengths lay in any of these areas and the thought of regional work in Hong Kong inspires you, now would be a good time to get in touch with us.

The South African market is still pretty quiet, with only the occasional new role coming onto the market at the more senior levels. However, there has been a surge in demand at the junior student levels in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, for candidates who are progressing or have completed the 100 series and have one or two years experience. The message from most employers is that they are keen to start recruiting at junior level again, but only want to consider candidates who do not need to be coached on ‘how to be an employee’ i.e. they are not fresh onto the market. Unfortunately, (or fortunately for employers!!), they can be choosy in the current markets! In saying that, there does seem to be a bit of a gap in terms of students at that level, so if you are getting through the 100 series and have one or two years experience, we would love to hear from you!

To find out more about our current vacancies, take a look at our website at www.quantumselection.com or contact us at newsletter@quantumselection.com.

Exam Results

The publication of the long awaited April 2004 exam results has now come and gone. Congratulations to those of you who have been celebrating your success. Better luck next time to those not so fortunate.

The Telephone Interview

In this age of electronics, there are some instances where the first major contact with a potential employer is by means of the telephone. This is most likely to occur in the Asian markets for a first interview, particularly where the candidate is from overseas. Our experience shows that this can happen occasionally in the UK, but is more of a rarity.

Whatever the reason and however the telephone interview occurs, you must be prepared to handle the questioning and use every means at your disposal to gain the real thing – the face-to-face interview. The telephone interview can be seen as the trial run for the face-to-face interview and is an opportunity you must not waste as your future happiness and job prosperity may depend on it.

Being prepared for a telephone interview is all-important and takes organisation. It may be useful to keep your CV and the company/job details by the telephone in case the call comes through at an unexpected time. In most instances this is unlikely and your agency will have arranged the time of the call and informed you fully of what to expect and when to expect it.

Probably the most important point to remember is that during a telephone interview, the company representative has only his or her ears with which to judge you and that is something you must overcome. Use the following tips to help you:

Take a surprise call in your stride

If you receive a call unexpectedly, and you are unprepared, stay calm, positive and friendly and say ‘Thank you for calling, could you wait one moment while I close the door’, or something similar. Then put the phone down, take some deep breaths to calm yourself and pick up the appropriate company information and your CV and smile (this will reflect in your voice). Pick up the phone again. You are now in control of the situation.

Be aware of who you are talking to

Take note of your interviewer’s name when they introduce themselves. Your agency will have briefed you on who will be conducting the interview, but there are times when things change and the person who calls you may not be the one you expected.

Allow the company representative to do most of the talking

Allow the company representative to ask most, but not all of the questions, ensuring that you keep up your end of the conversation. Do remember that you need to ask a few questions of your own in order to reveal the fact that you are an intelligent person and suitable for the role on offer. This will also provide you with the opportunity to promote yourself for the role in question. Useful questions to ask could concern finding out the projects currently being tackled by the interviewer’s department. This way once the interviewer answers, you will either have a clearer picture of how to sell yourself or will have something to follow up on for clarification.

Beware of giving yes/no answers

These may answer the question, but give no real information about your skills or expertise.

Be factual in your answers

Give brief, but thorough answers to questions and avoid the urge to waffle and repeat points.

Speak directly into the telephone

Try to keep the telephone mouthpiece about an inch from your mouth and avoid the temptation to smoke, eat or chew gum whilst talking, as this will be amplified for the interviewer on the other end, giving a poor image of yourself.

Take notes

These will be invaluable to you in preparing for a face-to-face meeting. Also, if you are fortunate enough to have a number of interviews lined up, detailed notes made during or after each conversation will prevent confusion a day or two later when the memory starts to get hazy.

Know information about the company

If the interviewer talks about the company, you will also know facts from the details you already have in your information pack. It is useful to be able to add in details about what you admire about the company as this shows you know something about the company already.

Prepare suitable questions

If the company representative does not give you an opening to sell yourself, be ready to salvage the situation and turn it to your advantage by having a few job related questions prepared. For example, ‘What will be my main responsibilities in this role?’ Wait for a suitable pause once the interviewer has given an answer and then introduce the skills you have that would fulfil those responsibilities.

An important point to remember is that at this stage, you should not be asking about the salary, benefits or holiday entitlement. This comes later.

Finally...

The telephone interview has come to an end when you are asked if you have any further questions. At this point make sure that you ask questions that will improve your understanding of the job requirements, so that if you are invited for a personal interview, you have a good feeling for the role before you even start, and can better prepare yourself.

Hopefully your telephone interview results in an invitation to interview personally with the company.

Just for Fun

See if you can answer the following questions:

1.A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms.
The first is full of raging fires.
The second is full of assassins with loaded guns.
The third is full of lions that haven’t eaten in three years.
Which room is safest for him?

2.Can you name three consecutive days of the week without using the words, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday?

3.This is an unusual paragraph. I’m curious how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it? It looks so plain you would think nothing was wrong with it! In fact nothing is wrong with it! It is unusual though. Study it, and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd.
But if you work at it a bit, you might find out!

The answers are at the end of this newsletter.

Answers to the ‘Just for Fun’ questions:
1.The third. Lions that haven’t eaten in 3 years are dead.
2.Sure you can! Yesterday, today and tomorrow!
3 The letter ‘e’ which is the most commonly used letter in the English language does not appear once in the paragraph.

UPDATE

We would really appreciate your keeping us up to date on new exam passes, recent work experience and any other changes in the details we hold on file for you. If we have not heard from you for some time, please take the time to update us, either by using the link below, or by contacting your recruitment consultant directly.
Email: update@quantumselection.com

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