Name: Ilona Roberts

Company: Punter Southall Ltd

Age: 28

Year of joining Actuarial Profession: 2004

Year of joining current company: 2006

Exams passed to date: CT1-7, CT9, CA1-3

Why did you choose to become an actuary?

After university, I got a temporary job working on the pensions review. I enjoyed the problem solving aspect of the work and decided that an actuarial career might be for me

Did you find it hard to adjust to working life when you first started?

No, as I had already been working in a non-actuarial role for a couple of years, and have had summer/weekend jobs since I was 15.

How do you find balancing work and study?

It's getting harder. At first my motivation was high, and friends were also doing professional exams. Now I have more responsibility, friends have completed their qualifications and I just want to finish. I luckily have a very supportive husband who keeps me going.

Do you find you have much free time?

Close to the exams, I have very little free time, so I make the most of it in the couple of months after the April and September sittings.

How relevant are the exams you’ve studied to the job you do? (i.e. Do you apply what you've learned?)

I've found them pretty relevant. The early exams give a good theoretical grounding and the later exams are very relevant to my day-to-day job.

How do you find working in the pensions industry?

Pensions always seem to be in the news and concern nearly everyone. They are also very complex. As a result the work is always interesting and challenging.

What skills, if any, would you recommend trying to develop before starting work with a company?

Communication skills are vital as you never work alone on a piece of work, and everyone who applies for an actuarial role has an excellent academic background. I also recommend general work experience.

How do you think the 'credit crunch' is affecting the profession?

Clients are much more fee conscious so we have to be much more aware of budgets.

What prospects do you see for actuaries in the future?

I think we will begin to see a new generation of defined benefit/shared risk schemes in the future.