Actuarial Outpost
 
Go Back   Actuarial Outpost > Actuarial Discussion Forum > Careers - Employment
FlashChat Actuarial Discussion Preliminary Exams CAS/SOA Exams Cyberchat Around the World Suggestions

Meet the Employees of DW Simpson
Patty Jacobsen Simpson, Bob Morand, Kristyn Sakelaris, Sean Loboda, KC Cho, Maureen Matous, Ellen Page
Aaron Benton, Becki Tobia, Kimberly Skora, Margit Vogele, Barclay Burns, Jason Blundy, Dan Karrow, Tom Troceen
Valorie Mulder, Marianne Westphal, Carol Lee, Jennifer Retford, Kieran Welsh-Phillips, Lindsey Nelson, Emily Paxton
Angie Wachholz, Derek Mulder, Julie Garwood, Caitlin Cunningham, David Benton, Dave Retford, Sarah Cleveland, Rhonda Glick
Genevieve Shannon, Meghan Bautista, Carol Datu, Barb Rave, Jesus Perez, Dan Kane, Chris Zdenek, Scott Simon, Kriss Wells


View Poll Results: Aside from exams, are you satisfied with the work-life balance in your career?
I work in P&C insurance and I am satisfied 40 31.50%
I work in P&C insurance and I am not satisfied 5 3.94%
I work in health insurance and I am satisfied 20 15.75%
I work in health insurance and I am not satisfied 3 2.36%
I work in life insurance and I am satisfied 24 18.90%
I work in life insurance and I am not satisfied 6 4.72%
I work in pensions and I am satisfied. 4 3.15%
I work in pensions and I am not satisfied. 3 2.36%
I work at a consulting firm and I am satisfied. 11 8.66%
I work at a consulting firm and I am not satisfied. 8 6.30%
None of the above 3 2.36%
Voters: 127. You may not vote on this poll

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 10-23-2011, 07:53 PM
FortyHourWorkDay's Avatar
FortyHourWorkDay FortyHourWorkDay is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 84
Default Work-Life Balance

A lot of the hype around the actuarial career is about the great "work-life balance" we have. I think most of us understand this to mean life after exams - your free time while taking exams is going to be very limited. And of course it varies by company; the consulting actuary doesn't sign up for a 40 hour work week.

But how satisfied would you say you are with the work-life balance in your job, excluding exam time, compared to your expectations?

My take is that it isn't all it's cracked up to be, or at least it hasn't been for me lately. I've been working at a large health insurance company for about 3 years; the past 4 months have seen me working a LOT of nights, weekends etc. and I have gradually been made to feel extremely guilty for spending time with my wife and kids, while coworkers who are single without kids toil all night/weekend.

Anyone else feeling in the same boat lately?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 10-23-2011, 07:59 PM
Ionic Order's Avatar
Ionic Order Ionic Order is offline
Member
CAS SOA
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Seattle
Posts: 1,259
Default

Why don't you create a poll?
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10-23-2011, 08:07 PM
silverfox's Avatar
silverfox silverfox is offline
Member
CAS SOA COPA
 
Join Date: May 2005
Favorite beer: Westmalle Tripel
Posts: 13,479
Default

Worked at 4 P&C insurance companies. Never felt the way you feel. Rarely work more than 40 hours/week or take work home.
__________________
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10-23-2011, 08:23 PM
FortyHourWorkDay's Avatar
FortyHourWorkDay FortyHourWorkDay is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 84
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by HiLine View Post
Why don't you create a poll?
I was intending to but naturally my kid started screaming and I had to go take care of it!
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10-23-2011, 08:30 PM
silverfox's Avatar
silverfox silverfox is offline
Member
CAS SOA COPA
 
Join Date: May 2005
Favorite beer: Westmalle Tripel
Posts: 13,479
Default

I would have grouped the options Satisfied vs not satisfied rather than by employment type so the cluster (if there is one) would be more easily visible.
__________________
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 10-23-2011, 08:32 PM
FortyHourWorkDay's Avatar
FortyHourWorkDay FortyHourWorkDay is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 84
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by silverfox View Post
I would have grouped the options Satisfied vs not satisfied rather than by employment type so the cluster (if there is one) would be more easily visible.
That's a good idea. Are you really an admin here? Feel free to rearrange it if you want to or can.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 10-23-2011, 08:42 PM
FortyHourWorkDay's Avatar
FortyHourWorkDay FortyHourWorkDay is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 84
Default

Survey results seem to indicate I should move to P&C!
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 10-23-2011, 08:44 PM
Ionic Order's Avatar
Ionic Order Ionic Order is offline
Member
CAS SOA
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Seattle
Posts: 1,259
Default

I prefer the poll as it is. This way we know satisfaction rate broken down by industry and the total satisfaction level can be added up, which is easy.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 10-23-2011, 09:31 PM
annuitize annuitize is offline
Member
SOA AAA
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Studying for CSP
College: UConn
Favorite beer: BLL
Posts: 3,537
Default

I for one think work/life balance sucks. Being chained to a cubical for a MINIMUM 40hrs + 5hrs (lunch) = 45hrs per week is absolute torture. Getting out 5-6pm sucks, it ruins your night.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 10-23-2011, 09:37 PM
Dismal Science's Avatar
Dismal Science Dismal Science is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 17,713
Default

Welcome to being a wage slave.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:06 AM.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2013, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
*PLEASE NOTE: Posts are not checked for accuracy, and do not
represent the views of the Actuarial Outpost or its sponsors.
Page generated in 0.31614 seconds with 8 queries