So my limited number of years working as an actuary have been in pricing. If I wanted to find a new position and these new jobs are in non-pricing, would I be a candidate at a disadvantage given my background is in pricing and I’d pretty much be a newbie in the said new position?
I’ve had some exposure and gained some knowledge in reserving from studying for exams and limited work projects but I want to consider trying something new like reserving or reinsurance.
Would I have a very slim chance of getting a role (ACAS role) in reinsurance/reserving?
For starters, pricing vs reserving is a different dimension than reinsurance vs insurance vs consulting. There are pricing and reserving reinsurance actuaries.
To that end, if you’re just a few years in I don’t think it makes a huge difference, can switch pretty easily (although recruiters will act like you’re a woman running out of time to have kids). Many will also recommend you at least want a mix of reserving and pricing experience based on the view of an ideal chief actuary, although I’ve been pretty happy to purely focus on pricing.
At your level, reserving is going to be pretty easy.
I started my career in reserving. Didn’t need exams to learn quickly what was going on. Reserving only gets complicated when you try to do the fancy stuff, which most companies don’t do anyway.
But back to your question: how to jump fields (different LOB, function, or completely to non-actuarial). The managers aren’t necessarily looking at your background, but how you tackle problems, resolve conflict, manage projects and time, etc. Have examples.
I think a lot of it comes down to how good you are at interviewing. If you are below average at interviewing (like me), you’ll have a pretty hard time switching disciplines. It’s so much easier (for me, anyway) to talk about actual experiences than try to convince a stranger you can learn quickly. There will usually be a candidate that has the experience they want, so you have to be great in the interview stage.
I’ve been okay with interviewing but I always stick to not lying/exaggerating my skills.
I don’t want to start a job and surprise them that I don’t even know the basics to something I portrayed as I’m proficient at.