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Flexible hours in actuarial roles?

M

Milly

Member
I’m only a year into my graduate scheme but I was wondering if there are any actuaries out there that have some flexibility with their hours? Right now my job is 9:30-5:30 but I find what that means is people start a lot earlier and finish a lot later as standard. I have friends in other fields who can adjust their hours to like 8-4 or do a few extra hours one day to leave early another but I haven’t come across that at all in insurance. As much as I like my job I wish I had more time for myself, as with studying and working combined it does eat up your life and it would be great to have a job where I could work extra hours Mon-Thurs and leave early on a Friday.
 
My job lets me start as late as 10 and finish as early as 4 as long as I work a minimum of 37.5 hours per week. In reality, we're usually so busy that it's difficult to finish at 4 and most people work well over their minimum hours. We do have a flexible holiday policy though so if we work through a really busy period and we've recorded a lot more hours than we're paid for then we can take additional holiday leave. I think it's always going to be a busy job as long as you're doing exams too. I usually study on my holiday leave anyway so you basically find that you're never not working in some way. I think that's just what has to be done though to qualify quickly. I know some people do move to a 4 day week once they have a few years post qualification and that's definitely something to consider. I think we've earned it if you get through these exams!
 
Roy672 said:
My job lets me start as late as 10 and finish as early as 4 as long as I work a minimum of 37.5 hours per week. In reality, we're usually so busy that it's difficult to finish at 4 and most people work well over their minimum hours. We do have a flexible holiday policy though so if we work through a really busy period and we've recorded a lot more hours than we're paid for then we can take additional holiday leave. I think it's always going to be a busy job as long as you're doing exams too. I usually study on my holiday leave anyway so you basically find that you're never not working in some way. I think that's just what has to be done though to qualify quickly. I know some people do move to a 4 day week once they have a few years post qualification and that's definitely something to consider. I think we've earned it if you get through these exams!
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Yeah I have studied on annual leave before, which is another reason why I wish I could be more flexible with my hours. Your situation sounds quite good.
 
Hi Milly, in my experience if you want to work your contracted hours you just need to start doing it! Let's face it, pressing the on button on your computer at 9.30am and 5.30pm every day is even easier than passing CT9/CB3. I'm being slightly facetious as I realise this can be tricky if you work in an environment where most/all colleagues work significantly beyond their contracted hours. If it causes problems you can stand your ground (e.g. legally) but of course in practice things can become a bit unpleasant and in that case it might be time to search for a new employer or at least a new role at your current employer.
 
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