Actuarial, Insurance and Pensions

Have a look at Prospects and targetjobs to find out what roles in this sector involve and how to get into them. These are some of the job profiles available:

• Actuary
• Insurance account manager
• Insurance broker
• Insurance claims inspector/manager
• Insurance claims handler
• Insurance risk surveyor
• Insurance underwriter
• Loss adjuster
• Pensions adviser/consultant
• Pensions administrator
• Pension scheme manager

• analytical skills, problem-solving and logical reasoning
• effective communication, particularly the ability to explain complex information
• high levels of accuracy and attention to detail
• the capacity to react quickly
• numerical, research and administrative abilities
• integrity and self-discipline

Starting salaries for graduate jobs in this sector can vary depending on the position.

To get an idea of typical starting salaries use the following resources: 

• our Discover your Earning Potential Pathway offers access to The Pay Index. This shows you how salaries vary across different roles, industries and locations 
• job profiles, such as those listed on Prospects or targetjobs 
• vacancy sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn 

For information about how to negotiate a salary, visit Handling job offers. 

• Browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed.
• Use LinkedIn’s Alumni tool to find out what Newcastle graduates are doing now. You could ask to connect with them, to gain advice and insights into their career. See Newcastle Alumni on LinkedIn to help you get started or watch our quick tutorial on Getting inspiration from others [3:13].
• Attend alumni events, such as Newcastle Develop, to hear directly from our graduates.
• Sign up for mentoring support with Graduate Mentor and The 1 Hour Project. These aim to match students with industry professionals who can provide invaluable insights. Register to be connected for a one-hour meeting.
• Attend events, including recruitment events and employer and sector insights. Hear about graduate jobs, placement schemes, build your network and ask questions.

Searching for reviews online can be a useful way to get an idea of what to expect from certain roles or employers. Reviews are written by employees with different opinions about what makes a good employer.

Use the following review sites for inspiration and insight into the recruitment process:

• RateMyPlacement placement year reviews written by students.
• The Job Crowd – graduate job reviews
• Glassdoor – company reviews from employees

The following websites and documents give advice on careers in financial services:

• The benefits of working in finance - targetjobs
• Graduate Finance Jobs - Prospects
• Careers Advice – Actuarial Careers
• Careers Advice – Pension Careers
• Insurance: graduate area of work - targetjobs

Use online magazines and journals to follow news from your industry. Reading about trends and developments is important for applications and interviews.

Examples include:

• The Actuary
• Insurance Times
• Pensions Age

Attend events to hear directly from professionals in the industry. See our recruitment events and employer & sector insights for details of upcoming events.

Join finance specific student societies. The Accounting and Finance Society and the Investment Society often organises and promotes events or invites guest speakers to talk about their careers.

Use social media to find industry insights.

Join sector-specific groups on LinkedIn to keep up to date. Posts often include news, events and opportunities. You can also find useful insights on careers on X and TikTok. Treat these with caution, as not all content may be accurate.

Find out more about how to use social media for your career.

Consider joining a relevant professional body/industry network

Professional bodies often:

• run networking events
• have specialist groups you could join
• post vacancies on behalf of their members
• have member directories, useful for speculative applications

Key organisations include:

Actuarial

• The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA)
• Staple Inn Actuarial Society

Insurance

• Chartered Insurance Institute
• British Insurance Brokers' Association
• Association of British Insurers

Pensions

• Pensions Management Institute
• Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association

Finding professional bodies worldwide

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of professional bodies. Find them under ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each individual country guide.

Apply for advertised opportunities as early as possible.

UK applications typically open early in the academic year from September or October. Some close as early as November-December. Many employers close applications as soon as their places are filled.

Use our resources to get started:

• MyCareer - search for internships and placements in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts
• Internships, placements & shadowing - links to vacancy sites
• Global work experience - for internships or placements abroad

The Careers Service runs flexible term-time and summer internships with local employers and on campus. NCL internships are aimed at all students, from any stage.

Search for these under Vacancies on MyCareer. Type in ‘NCL internship’ into the text search box.

You can find these advertised throughout the academic year. Full-time summer opportunities are advertised from around March.

Access GoinGlobal for internships in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:

• additional vacancy websites
• CV, application and interview advice
• Advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world.

If you’re looking for inspiration, try searching our NU Work Experience Directory. You can see where our students have had internships and placements in the last five years. To see all results in a search category, keep the search field blank.

The resources in this section advertise both graduate jobs and graduate schemes. See our graduate jobs page to understand the difference between them.

For graduate schemes, apply as early as possible.

UK applications typically open early in the academic year from September or October. Some close as early as November-December. Many employers close applications as soon as their places are filled.

Graduate jobs tend to be immediate start positions which can be available all year round. You are more likely to apply for these towards the end of your studies.

Use our resources to get started:

• MyCareer - search for graduate schemes and graduate jobs in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts
• Graduate Jobs – lists graduate vacancy sites

Search the external sites below for more opportunities in actuarial, insurance and pensions:

• The Actuary Jobs
• Pension Careers
• Professional Pensions
• Insurance Jobs
• City Jobs

See International jobs for details of overseas vacancy sites.

Access GoinGlobal for job adverts in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:

• additional vacancy websites
• CV, application and interview advice
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world.

Start by identifying organisations you are interested in. Our guide to finding organisations below can help. Then use the following steps to approach them speculatively about possible opportunities:

1. Identify a contact name to address your cover letter to. Call or email to find out who handles recruitment within the organisation. Or, find a key contact in the department you want to work in.
2. Send them a tailored CV and cover letter. Express your enthusiasm for the sector. Show that you have researched the company.
3. Follow up your speculative application with a phone call, or email, around a week later. This shows you are serious and motivated.
4. If your application was unsuccessful, ask for feedback or advice, and keep trying!

You can use this approach at any point in the year. We recommend that you:

• start your research as early as possible to gather relevant contacts
• contact organisations around three months before you want the opportunity to begin

• Find organisations on MyCareer. Select ‘search' then 'organisations’.
• Use the business directories and databases on our Researching employers page.
• Search for companies on LinkedIn. The Find Alumni tool shows you where Newcastle graduates are currently working.
• Browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed.

• targetjobs - search employers by sector
• British Insurers Brokers' Association - insurers and brokers in the UK and Ireland
• Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - find an actuarial firm
• Professional body websites sometimes include member directories, which are helpful for finding employers

Search GoinGlobal’s employer directory for company information in 196 countries. Their country guides list professional bodies around the world.

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of recruitment agencies in specific countries. They are listed under the following headings:

• Staffing agencies and temporary help firms
• Executive recruiters and search firms

Recruitment agencies may not operate in the same way in different countries. In the UK agencies are free for job seekers, but this may not be the case elsewhere. Explore the terms and conditions of an agency before signing up to use them.