Finance is a great industry to pursue and one area of finance that is sometimes overlooked as a graduate job is the pensions sector. This may either be because of lack of knowledge of this area of work or just the fact that other areas of finance appeal to students more. As with other areas, working in pensions can be equally as rewording in the work you do and the continuous opportunities for growth in the sector. If you are interested in learning more about how to get a pensions graduate job, well look no further here we explain what to expect when working in pensions, the different types of roles in the industry and the steps you need to take in order to land your dream pensions job!

What are the different types of pension roles?

So, what is a pension and what are the different areas of work in this industry? A pension is a system that allows an individual to get a steady income once they have retired. This is usually set up once you start working as part of a retirement plan with your employer or just set up individually where someone may want to save a part of their income for their retirement. To implement this system in our society there are many different roles and responsibilities in this industry.

The different types of roles in pension companies include:

Pension Advisor

Pension advisors are the first point of contact for customers who want to set up a pension for the first time and any issues or queries that may come along with this process. Advisors will also be able to help customers make the right decisions for their personal finances to ensure that the pension that is set up works with their day-to-day lives.

Pension Actuary

Because pension schemes can be affected by changing regulations and legislation; A pensions actuary’s role consists of working with lawyers and other professionals to ensure that pension schemes meet the needs of members, trustees and employers. They can provide specialist advice on investments, managing risks that might occur when providing pension benefits and scheme funding, as well as others areas in pensions.

Pension Fund Manager

They oversee all the fund activity between the company and customers to ensure that the information is correct, and any activity is both useful and beneficial for the customers and pensions company.

Claims Administrator

A claims administrator deals with customers who may have queries about their pensions; as well as pension advisors to ensure that any issues are dealt with in a professional and helpful manner.

Pension Scheme Manager

A scheme manager is responsible for thinking of new efficient systems or schemes for how to handle money held by a pension company. This ensures that people can get the most out of their money once they receive their pensions. Managers work with many different professionals in the industry to help develop different types of pension schemes.

What qualifications do I need?

To work in pensions as a graduate, some employers prefer graduates with a background in finance, economics, business or maths. For actuarial roles, numerical based subjects are desired; you may need to train to become an actuary whilst pursuing a pensions role. For roles such as being a pensions advisor or scheme manager, you would need to be quite knowledgeable of the industry and have an understanding of certain areas; such as tax implications and investments. So having a basic understanding of those areas could be beneficial when pursing those roles.

There are also a range of different graduate schemes with many companies; where you can learn more about the industry whilst working as well as training towards qualifications that are needed to progress in your career.

For other types of roles, you also do have the option of completing various types of qualifications to help you progress in those chosen roles. Find out more information on these pension-specific qualifications on Pension Careers.

What skills do I need?

There are quite a few skills you would need to demonstrate to employers when pursing a pensions role. Depending on the role you want to pursue, most pensions jobs require you to have the following skills:

• Communication
• Networking
• Negotiation
• Numerical
• Linguistic skills – Depending on where you work, there might be the opportunity to work abroad, or with people from all around the world, if you are working in an international marketplace such as the London Market; so language skills can also be quite beneficial.

Prepare to Succeed

Before applying for jobs make sure to do the right research; so you can learn exactly which area you would like to pursue and the type of role you would like to work as. Pension professionals can work in many different areas in the finance industry such as in actuarial work or even accountancy; so researching you area of interest is a good place to start.

You can then look into the many different employers that offer pension graduate schemes; as well as start to network and research their companies and competitors. This will hopefully prepare you for when you are applying and interviewing for future pension roles.