Those of an analytical mind might be edging towards a career in finance, but are finding it ever so difficult to be able to narrow down to a particular area of the sector. Those in such a situation cannot really be blamed for such indecision, as there are plenty of directions they could focus on.

Two of the most popular and well-paid of these routes are insurance and pensions, but because of the fact jobs in either area bring with them good money and popularity, they are also incredibly competitive and you will require strong attributes to be able to succeed.

Skills required

Getting yourself a degree is the obvious first step and the subject should focus on the likes of business, economics, finance, law or mathematics, although you may want to do something slightly off route at university, which is fine, but you will require certain attributes to get ahead in finance in general. You will need to be a confident individual that feels self-assured enough to deal with a whole range of people and their problems, as well as the ability to absorb complex and in-depth information, then make decisions from that data.

For a job in pensions, you will, however, have to gain qualifications through related exams and you may feel the best route is to become an actuary and want to aim towards Star Actuarial pension jobs. The same can be made possible if you fancy an insurance actuary job and want to get into something such as risk management.

Becoming an actuary is no easy feat, however, and there are several years of exams and working as a junior until you can be a fully qualified actuary and be able to go after the big jobs that bring with them the big money.

Types of jobs
There are so many different job titles in both insurance and pensions, which might help ease the competitiveness marginally, and offer a certain degree of versatility if you decide to change your focus within the sector.

A common job within insurance is the role of insurance risk surveyor. Otherwise known as risk consultants and risk control advisors, a risk surveyor will work to determine the possible financial risk posed by offering cover for items, properties or perhaps something quite out the ordinary.

Moving onto pensions, a pension scheme manager has an important role to fulfil, as it is up to them to ensure that a company’s pension scheme is operating effectively and sustainably and will usually manage a pension fund as their main priority. You have to remember that in pensions you are dealing with peoples’ money that is set to benefit them later in life and become their livelihood after they retire.

This is an article from Star Actuarial who offer recruitment in numerous actuary roles, including pensions actuary jobs and insurance actuary jobs. Find out more at Star Actuarial Insurance Jobs.

This is a guest post for TheEmployable