The best preparation is not to memorise separate answers for a “technical interview” and a “competency interview”. It is to prepare real examples from your own experience that show both sides at once: the actuarial substance of the work and the way you approached it.

This guide sets out how actuarial interviews are usually structured, what interviewers are really looking for, and how to prepare examples that demonstrate both technical credibility and behavioural strength.

How Actuarial Interviews Are Structured and Why the Stages Overlap

There is no single format for every employer, but for roles above graduate level, two or three rounds is common. The first conversation may be a screening call or informal coffee, particularly where the employer wants the candidate to understand the role before committing to a fuller process. Later stages may include a presentation, case study or a final discussion with senior stakeholders.

“For many senior actuarial roles, the process can run to two or three stages. Sometimes the first conversation is more of a screening call or informal coffee than a formal interview, giving both sides a chance to understand the role, the candidate’s background and whether there is a potential fit. Later stages often combine competency, technical and behavioural questions, and may include a presentation or case study. A final round, particularly for senior roles, is often with a senior stakeholder and may focus more on the team, strategy, goals and how the candidate would contribute in the role.”

Jenny Johnston BAFS, FIA, FSAI, Director, Acumen Resources

Jenny describes the process as having several possible layers: an initial conversation, a competency-based discussion, and, depending on the seniority of the role, a presentation, case-study or senior-level final round. In practice, these stages are not separate boxes. Competency questions often explore both behavioural and technical skills, while a technical answer can also reveal how a candidate communicates, applies judgement and takes ownership.

Paul also highlights the importance of softer skills, particularly communication, influencing and stakeholder engagement.

“Communication, influencing, stakeholder engagement, and how you click with the people you would be working with are vitally important. You are not an island. You have to slot into a team and work effectively within it.”

Paul Walsh FSAI, Founder and CEO, Acumen Resources

A more realistic way to think about the process is this:

What Interviewers Are Really Looking For: Technical Credibility, Ownership and Fit

Interviewers want evidence, not general claims. A candidate who says they have strong communication skills has made an assertion. A candidate who can explain how they translated a complex actuarial issue for a board, finance team, regulator or non-actuarial stakeholder has given evidence.

The same applies to technical capability. It is not enough to say you worked on reserving, pricing, valuation, capital, risk, IFRS 17 or Solvency II. Be ready to explain what you personally did, why the work mattered, what judgement was required, what assumptions were important, what changed as a result, and what you learned. If you are weighing how these areas fit into a longer actuarial career, our guide to the actuarial career path in Ireland shows how responsibility and technical depth build at each stage.

This is why competency-style preparation is so useful for actuarial interviews. The STAR technique helps you structure examples, but the content still needs to be technically credible. The strongest answers combine the situation and task, what you personally did, including the technical work and judgement applied, and the result: what changed, what was delivered, and what impact it had.

Why Technical Questions Are Often Competency Questions Too

Many actuarial candidates expect technical questions to feel like an exam. Sometimes there will be direct technical probing, but more often the interviewer will ask about work you have actually done.

For example:

• “Talk me through a recent reserving analysis you worked on.”
• “Tell us about a time you had to explain a technical result to a non-actuarial audience.”
• “Describe a project where you had to challenge an assumption.”
• “Give an example of when your analysis influenced a decision.”
• “How did you manage a situation where stakeholders disagreed with your recommendation?”

Each of these questions can test technical depth and behavioural skills at the same time. A good answer shows that you understand the actuarial issue, but also that you can communicate, influence, take ownership and apply judgement.

“In a final round, put yourself in the shoes of having got the role. Read the job spec and picture your day to day. How quickly would I get up to speed? What are the challenges? What am I bringing from my current role? Why am I an attractive candidate for this? Almost live and breathe the position, and let your answers come from that.”

Jenny Johnston BAFS, FIA, FSAI, Director, Acumen Resources

If there is a case study or presentation, treat it as the closest look the employer will get at how you actually work. Make sure you answer the question you were set, rather than the one you would have preferred. A short presentation or case study can tell a hiring manager more than a polished CV, so the structure, clarity and judgement you show in the room matter.

The Actuarial Interview Questions You’ll Be Asked

Behavioural competency questions are often underestimated. A hiring manager who asks about your communication skills does not want to hear that you have them; they want an example that shows them.

In actuarial interviews, that example will often be rooted in technical work. The best answers therefore do two things at once: they show the actuarial substance of the situation and they show how you behaved, communicated, influenced or applied judgement.

The standard way to structure that answer is the STAR technique: set out the Situation and Task, explain the Action you personally took, and finish with the Result. The key is to make the Action specific enough that the interviewer can see your role clearly.

The gap between a weak answer and a strong one is almost always specificity. Here is the same competency, communication, answered both ways.

Notice how both answers claim the same thing, but only one proves it. The stronger answer works because it shows the technical context, the candidate’s personal contribution, the communication challenge and the outcome.

Before the interview, take each competency listed in the job specification (communication, judgement, problem solving, ownership, stakeholder management and teamwork) and prepare two or three real examples for each. Where possible, choose examples that also show technical substance. A strong actuarial example should make clear what the technical issue was, what your role was, what decision or judgement was required, who needed to understand the output and what changed as a result.

Expect technical, competency and behavioural questions to overlap. In many actuarial interviews, they will not arrive as separate categories. A single question can test whether you understand the work, whether you owned the work, whether you communicated it clearly and whether your approach would fit the team.

How to Prepare for an Actuarial Interview

When Jenny is asked what separates candidates who interview well from those who do not, the answer is largely about preparation, and specifically the parts of it that are easy to skip.

“The most common mistake is simply not preparing: not taking the time to consider the job description and the competencies, not having pre-prepared examples. Have two or three examples ready for each competency and use the STAR technique. And actually research the company, go on their website, look up their Solvency and Financial Condition Report, and have a clear reason for wanting the role, from both a company and a personal perspective.”

Jenny Johnston BAFS, FIA, FSAI, Director, Acumen Resources

For an actuarial candidate, public disclosures are a genuine advantage that many people ignore. An insurer’s Solvency and Financial Condition Report can tell you a great deal about the business you are interviewing to join, including its business lines, capital position, recent results and strategic priorities. Reading it before an interview is one of the clearest ways to show you have done more than skim the advert.

The other important preparation is closer to home: revisiting your own experience. Go back over the projects, assumptions, models, reports, stakeholder conversations and decisions you have been involved in recently. Be ready to explain not only what you worked on, but what you personally contributed, what judgement was required, how you communicated the outcome and what changed as a result.

Questions to Ask the Interviewer

An interview is also an opportunity for you to find out if the role is right for you, and the questions you ask are part of how you are judged. Paul’s point here is worth taking seriously.

“A job description is a two-dimensional piece of paper. It is just as important that you understand the culture of the team, where you fit, and the room for progression. It is important that you get on with your manager and the people around you, and you can start to work that out from the questions you ask and the answers you get.”

Paul Walsh FSAI, Founder and CEO, Acumen Resources

Jenny suggests turning some of your questions back on the interviewer, because their answers tell you as much as anything on the company website.

“Ask the interviewer for their own opinion. Why do they like the team, the role, the company? What attracted them? If they have joined recently, ask about the culture, the work-life balance, what the company does to keep a culture going when people work remotely. It is also worth asking what they are looking for in the candidate, because it gives you a chance to fill any gap they raise.”

Jenny Johnston BAFS, FIA, FSAI, Director, Acumen Resources

Listen to how those questions are answered as much as to the answers themselves. The person across the table has hired before and will hire the same kinds of people again, so the way they talk about the team is a fair preview of what it would be like to work there. If something feels off, that is worth noticing now rather than six months in. If the answers reassure you, that is a good sign. For a wider view of pay, progression and career options, our actuarial salary guide is a useful companion.

If Interviewing Makes You Nervous

Plenty of good actuaries put off moving simply because they dread writing a CV from scratch as well as interviewing, particularly if they have been in the same role for years and are out of practice. Jenny’s advice here is to start on paper, well before any application.

“Sit down and write out the reasons you are even thinking about moving. What would you like to see changed? If you had a blank sheet of paper and could design your own role, what would it be? Take your time. Going through a process is time consuming and takes energy, so you need to be willing to put that time into preparing your CV and your interviews.”

Jenny Johnston BAFS, FIA, FSAI, Director, Acumen Resources

That preparation does two things at once. It clarifies whether you actually want to move, and it gives you the raw material every interview will ask for: examples, motivations and honest reasons. Nerves often come from feeling underprepared, and the work above is how you fix that. If it would help to practise with someone who knows how Irish actuarial interviews are run, that is exactly the kind of support Acumen provides. When you are ready to see what is out there, the current actuarial jobs are a good place to start.