Actuary Interview Questions

1.1What actuaries do - quantifying and managing financial risk for insurance, pensions, and investment

1.2The actuarial profession - IFoA, the qualification pathway, and the professional standards

1.3The actuarial control cycle - defining the problem, solving it, monitoring, and improving

1.4Actuarial roles in different sectors - general insurance, life insurance, pensions, consultancy, and emerging areas

2.1Probability theory - distributions, conditional probability, Bayes, and the statistical foundation of actuarial work

2.2Statistical inference - parameter estimation, hypothesis testing, and confidence intervals

2.3Regression and GLMs - linear regression, generalised linear models, and their application in actuarial modelling

2.4Extreme value theory - modelling the tail of distributions where extreme events drive the risk

3.1Time value of money - present value, future value, discounting, and the mathematics of cash flows

3.2Bonds and fixed income - pricing, yield, duration, convexity, and interest rate sensitivity

3.3Derivatives - options, futures, swaps, and the financial instruments actuaries work with

3.4Stochastic modelling - random processes, Brownian motion, and modelling financial uncertainty

4.1Life tables - how mortality data is collected, presented, and used in actuarial calculations

4.2Premium calculation - the actuarial pricing of life insurance products

4.3Reserving for life insurance - the calculation of technical reserves for life policies

4.4Actuarial assumptions - mortality, lapses, expenses, and the judgements that drive life actuarial models

5.1Claims reserving - the estimation of outstanding claims liabilities in a general insurance context

5.2Pricing for general insurance - the application of statistical modelling to GI premium calculation

5.3Reinsurance - the structure, types, and actuarial modelling of reinsurance arrangements

5.4Capital modelling for GI - internal models, Solvency II, and quantifying insurance capital requirements

6.1Defined benefit pension funding - the actuarial valuation of DB pension liabilities

6.2Funding strategy - the recovery plan, deficit management, and employer covenant assessment

6.3Pension scheme investment strategy - the actuarial contribution to ALM and investment policy

6.4Risk management in pensions - longevity risk, investment risk, and the management of scheme risk

7.1Enterprise risk management - the actuarial role in quantifying and managing enterprise risk

7.2Capital modelling - internal models, standard formula, and the Solvency II framework

7.3Stress and scenario testing - designing and interpreting stress tests for insurance and pension risks

7.4ORSA - the Own Risk and Solvency Assessment and the actuary contribution to it

8.1Machine learning for actuaries - how ML techniques are entering traditional actuarial work

8.2Big data in insurance - telematics, wearables, and the new data sources changing actuarial models

8.3Programming for actuaries - R, Python, and the coding skills that modern actuaries need

8.4Actuarial data visualisation - communicating complex quantitative results to non-actuarial audiences

9.1Actuarial reporting - writing actuarial reports that are technically accurate and understandable

9.2Actuarial judgement - when and how actuaries exercise professional judgement in uncertain areas

9.3Peer review - the actuarial quality process and working with reviewers constructively

9.4Working with non-actuaries - explaining actuarial concepts to finance, underwriting, and business stakeholders

10.1Technical questions - probability, statistics, reserving, pricing, and capital modelling in the relevant sector

10.2Case study questions - a reserving or pricing problem under interview conditions

10.3Examination and qualification questions - demonstrating current examination progress and technical development

10.4Salary negotiation, evaluating an actuarial team, and questions that reveal the study support, examination funding, and career development in the role