Pension Consultant Interview Preparation Guide

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☛ Flexibility in working hours: Actuary can have flexible working hours and can balance his professional commitments
☛ High Salaries: From beginning onwards, salary package are excellent, and in high paying jobs it is considered as one of them
☛ International Opportunities: There is no limitation to one country, it is applicable all over the world
☛ Central Role: Many companies and government institute are highly dependent on the research and result of the actuary. On the basis of their calculation, they take a decision whether to implement the new ideas or not
☛ Wide Scope: The area or field for actuary is wide, you can work in a specialist area like insurance, pensions, benefits, healthcare, investments and banking, etc.

The career prospects, job content, work environment, day-to-day duties, etc.

One high-pressure situation we were in recently is that a business contacted us interested in setting up a policy for all their employees, totaling over 150 individuals. It was a huge potential case that would have brought in a lot of money for our organization. My boss encouraged everyone to dedicate a majority of their resources to landing this client. It required some late nights and working on the weekend to get everything together, but I managed to get through by talking everything out with my colleagues. Everyone else was going through the same thing, so it was easy to talk with my peers so that we could discuss trepidation or worries. It was really helpful to have people who understood precisely what I was going through, and we ended up landing the client in the end.

You may have gaps in employment for many reasons. Be honest. Speak confidently about the experience you gained during the gaps that could transfer to on-the-job skills. For instance, if you were a caregiver, you likely managed complex personal finance issues. As a volunteer, you might have worked with diverse groups and managed challenging schedules.

Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel and Access are very important in processing payroll and organizing attendance, hours worked and pay adjustments. Qualified applicants should have considerable knowledge of Microsoft applications.

Occasionally mistakes in payroll happen. This question allows the applicant to describe how he would resolve a situation that involves a disgruntled employee who needs assistance.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets standards for minimum wage, overtime, commissions, wage garnishments, record-keeping and reporting. Payroll administrators must be very familiar with these laws to comply with FLSA requirements.

I think the question that I will never forget was the most difficult one that I had to answer. They asked me an analytical question, where I had to estimate the answer based on little information. They weren’t too interested in what my final answer was, more how I got there and what assumptions I made. It’s the sort of difficult question that you can’t really prepare for, but tests your ability to think on the spot and think critically.

Try to postpone this question until you receive a job offer. Prepare by knowing the going rate in your area. A good resource is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. If you don’t know the range and the interviewer persists, reply, What salary range are you working with? The interviewer may very well tell you.

I have been working in the insurance industry for some time, so I have become accustomed to handling criticism. I have one coworker in particular who has a real knack for pointing out minor mistakes, and I have learned to take it in stride and implement suggestions rather than fighting someone about it.
Landing a new pension agent position might seem difficult, but by studying these pension agent interview questions and answers, you will be much more prepared.

Yes, this is something of a generic question, but there’s an added weight to it when asked to actuaries. Because it’s such a candidate-led market, most recruiters are headhunting rather than being deluged by CVs, suggests Stubbings, and as a result they want to see some enthusiasm for the role.

“Why are they moving? Actuaries are not the most among the most risk-taking people, so employers want to understand their motivations for making a move, whether that’s culture or potential career progression,” he says.

My greatest strengths are threefold: -
☛ To be able to recognise my weaknesses
☛ I have the ability to pick up procedures quickly
☛ An excellent temperament which means I don't get rattled easily

The role of the actuary in consulting firm varies, it may include

☛ Give investment advice
☛ Evaluating a company’s insurance program cost for the employees
☛ Can work for a labor union to evaluate and estimate what the new health plan provided would cost
☛ Giving evidence on how automobile insurance rates should be determined
☛ Testify in court about the loss of potential lifetime earnings by a person who has been disabled or killed in an accident
☛ Determining the future pension benefits based on the current value in divorce cases.

Lognormal distribution is a probability distribution that is used as a model to claim size distribution; it is positively skewed and has a range from zero to infinity.

Some of the common actuarial software used in industry are

☛ Milliman Acturial software solutions
☛ Moses
☛ GGY-AXIS
☛ Poly Systems
☛ Prophet
☛ PTS
☛ RMISWeb
☛ SAS
☛ TAS
☛ Towers Watson

The main role of actuary analysts is to save companies money and time, by identifying the possible risk in investment. Apart from that they have to

☛ Identify an area of investment having a minimum risk factors
☛ Avoid the situation where the quantifiable risk is relatively low in terms of the potential gains
☛ To provide actual quantifiable estimates by creating complex financial models
☛ Providing rating or ranking of different investment opportunities based on the risks to the possible returns

Actuarial analyst’s works in the insurance industry and use statistical model to analyze the data and calculate the costs associated with certain events such as

☛ Product failure
☛ Accidents
☛ Property damage
☛ Injury and death
☛ Destruction due to natural calamities ( hurricanes, earthquakes, pandemic and terrorist attacks)

Actuarial life tables are statistical charts that provide detail about life expectancy in a given population.

A. You felt your career prospects and progression could go no further and you need a challenge where your potential can be exploited.

I've listened very carefully to what you've told me about the position and on that basis I'm confident that I could do the job as well as, if not better than, the others you have seen.

☛ At Korgau Pension Fund Administrator we provide services to a wide range of businesses. Which industry or business type do you have the most experience with?
☛ We have a wide range of services at Korgau Pension Fund Administrator. Have you ever used any of our services?
☛ Many of the management and higher level roles with Korgau Pension Fund Administrator require a Degree in Business or similar. Please walk me through your post-secondary education.
☛ Due to the nature of Korgau Pension Fund Administrator business and services we may ask that you complete a full background check. Are you willing to comply?
☛ At Korgau Pension Fund Administrator we seek to hire those who think outside the box. When was the last time you made a suggestion for workplace improvement? What was the outcome?
☛ At Korgau Pension Fund Administrator we have many local competitors. In your opinion, what makes us stand out from the crowd?
☛ Korgau Pension Fund Administrator values philanthropy and community giving. How do you choose to give back to others?
☛ At Korgau Pension Fund Administrator, our primary work is to cater to other businesses. What do you foresee as the biggest challenge working in the commercial services industry?
☛ Customer service is our top priority at Korgau Pension Fund Administrator. What is your customer service philosophy?
☛ We value accountability at Korgau Pension Fund Administrator. If a customer sent a formal complaint about an interaction with you, how would you handle it?
☛ Do you fully understand what we do at Korgau Pension Fund Administrator?
☛ When have you contributed to an effort to obtain a corporate goal?
☛ When have you faced an unexpecting difficulty?
☛ Where do you see yourself a year from now?
☛ Tell me a specific instance when you found it necessary to be precise in order to complete the job.
☛ What are your career aspirations beyond this job?
☛ Why do you want this job?
☛ Rate your communication skills from 1-10 with proper examples backing your given rating.
☛ Considering your background is in an industry different from ours, what skills and characteristics do you have that qualify you for this position in this industry?
☛ How did you maintain a good relationship with your last boss?
☛ Outside of work, what type of creative activities do you like to pursue?
☛ How do you determine priorities when you have multiple projects due?
☛ What was your biggest take-away from your post-secondary education?
☛ Do people see you as a trustworthy and honest individual?
☛ What kind of people do you enjoy working with?
☛ Tell me about a time when you took charge of a situation, but the outcome was disappointing?
☛ As a manager, who has been your greatest influence? A person that has defined what type of leader you wish to be.
☛ If you had $50,000 to build your own business, what would you do?
☛ When a problem arises, what are your first reactions?
☛ What are your salary expectations?
☛ Tell me about a time when you received criticism from your manager. How did you react to that criticism? How did you make improvements based on that criticism?

☛ What kinds of projects do you typically work on? What has been the focus of the last four or five projects you have worked on?
☛ What do you see as the major issues facing this industry?
☛ What has been your average number of clients at a time?
☛ Do you tend to focus on one project, or do you handle a number of projects simultaneously?
☛ What steps do you take to ensure that you do not spread yourself too thin among your clients?
☛ How do you keep track of your progress during a project?
☛ We want to achieve savings of 20% in the next 12 months. How can you help us reach this goal?
☛ Walk me through the life cycle of a recent project you worked on from start to finish. What results/deliverables did you achieve? What went well and what did not go well?
☛ Tell me about a time when you faced an ethical dilemma, and how you managed it.
☛ What are some important ethical considerations for consultants?
☛ Describe how you typically conduct a sales meeting.
☛ What's your leadership style?
☛ Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult client. What did you learn from the experience?
☛ What would you do differently?
☛ How would you explain a complex technical issue to a client?
☛ You are consulting a small firm that sells a well-reputed product. A large competitor starts selling a similar product incorporating the most recent technology. What should the small firm do in response?

☛ Tell me about yourself.
☛ What is your greatest strength?
☛ What is your greatest weakness & how can you overcome it?
☛ Why are you leaving or have left your job?
☛ How do you handle stress and pressure?
☛ Describe a difficult work situation/project and how you overcame it.
☛ Why do you want this job?
☛ Why should you be selected over other candidates?
☛ What are your goals for the future?
☛ How do you evaluate success?

Part of the reason for asking this question is to gain an idea of how the actuary interacts with peers and managers – whether that’s developing or assessing a junior colleague, or responding to the demands of a superior. However, very often simply calling on actuaries to relay this information is a test of their communication skills.

“Employers want to see evidence of healthy working relationships, but half the point in asking it is to see how actuaries respond when they’re required to tell a story for five minutes,” he says. “Increasingly, it’s important for actuaries to be commercial as well as technical and communication skills are integral to this.”

Skills required to become actuarial is

☛ Good understanding of statistics and math’s
☛ General knowledge of business and finance
☛ Basic knowledge of programming languages, statistical analysis programs, spreadsheets and databases
☛ Good communication skills which include preparing reports and giving presentation
☛ Good analytical and problem-solving skills