Why choose APR?

• Industry-leading training and a competitive study package, which has allowed APR staff to consistently achieve an exam pass rate far above that of the industry average.
• A wide range of clients and projects, giving you the opportunity to gain experience in many different areas of the industry.
• Given responsibility early on at client projects, maximising your learning and development.
• Be part of a small company, giving you the chance to work closely alongside some exceptional actuarial talent in an environment which champions mutual success.
• A competitive salary with a developing benefits package, including early participation in our bonus and profit-sharing schemes.

Details of the Role

APR are a specialist actuarial employer providing both resourcing and consulting solutions to our clients, who are primarily life and non-life insurers but may also be in less traditional areas.

After joining the Graduate Scheme, you will undergo a period of induction training, during which your skills and interests will be continuously developed and assessed to identify the best client projects for you. The projects themselves span a large range of areas of actuarial work but typical projects include:

• Providing specialist skills in short supply, such as model development or coding in various languages such as Excel, VBA, R and SQL.
• Working on major change projects, for example:
  • Those driven by regulatory developments.
  • Those stemming from strategic business decision.
• Backfilling of BAU work, for example financial reporting, pricing support or capital management – great for developing core actuarial skills and knowledge.

For future client projects, your development goals and preferences will be considered to ensure that you get the variety of work and technical exposure that you expected when you joined APR. By investing in key transferable skills like modelling, coding and data, it is easier for staff to apply their skills across all actuarial sectors rather than being pushed into a particular specialism early in a career.

When not on client project, you will work between home and one of our London, Edinburgh or Dublin offices. A key focus in such periods is on your technical development which is likely to mean significant time developing higher-order skills in areas like Excel model development, data and coding skills, and other proprietary actuarial modelling software.  However, there is also the opportunity to get involved in wider areas of the business such as recruitment, training, business development and marketing.

Even with staff being assigned to many different clients and projects, there are plenty of opportunities to collaborate within APR – our close-knit team is something we are very proud of. This collaboration might take the form of getting involved with internal APR work, attendance at training days or internal CPD events, or taking part in social activities.

About our application process

The key qualities we look for in applicants are talent and confidence.  We believe that most other characteristics we require, including excellent communication skills, flow automatically from these two qualities.

Successful candidates will be likely to have the following academic qualifications (or their equivalents):

• A 2:1 degree (in any discipline).
• 136 UCAS points across your three best A-level subjects.
• Grade 6 in A-level Mathematics and GCSE English Language.

We consider all applications based on their own merit, and note that previous candidates have been successful without meeting all of the above requirements. Please provide details of any factors you would like to be taken into consideration in your cover letter.

Demonstrable evidence of interest in, and proactive investigation into, some of the areas we have mentioned above would be an advantage.

Feedback from both successful and unsuccessful applicants is that while our selection process is challenging, it is also refreshingly straightforward and engaging, with all stages aimed at assessing a combination of your numerical ability, along with your potential for learning quickly and picking up the key attributes our clients value in APR associates.

We initially ask you to submit a CV and covering letter via the graduate pages on our website.  Selected candidates will then be invited to complete our online test and, if you pass this, we will hold a telephone interview with you.  The final stage is our assessment centre which lasts a couple of hours and consists of a face-to-face interview, a presentation and a written test.

We’re an equal opportunities employer, committed to building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working environment for all employees and contractors.  We champion a variety of voices, identities, backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. This commitment is closely aligned with our values, in particular We Excel, We Simplify and We Care. Please see APR’s website for our Equal Opportunities statement and commitments.