1. Guest Lecture Series Professor Michael Sherris  Introduction to Guest lecture series  Becoming a Better Actuary and Actuarial Student: –Tips for Job Skills that will get you hired, –Guide to better Presentation Skills and –Getting the most of the actuarial tutorials

2. Guest Lecture Series  Purpose –Provide information to actuarial students about the industry and careers –Cover some recent developments in the industry –Provide students with an opportunity  to meet with professionals  to find out about future job prospects and areas of actuarial work  to enhance business awareness and knowledge  to learn some presentation skills  to network

3. Guest Lectures Upcoming:  Week 5: March 29th, 2004 Adam Driussi, Quantium, Actuaries In Marketing  Week 6: April 5, 2004 Catherine Deegan, IPG Consulting, Employment opportunities for actuarial students  Week 9: May 3, 2004 James Collier, KPMG Actuaries, Structured Finance

4. Guest Lectures Upcoming:  Week 11: May 17, 2004 Professor Michael Sherris and actuarial staff - Honours in Actuarial Studies, how to apply, what is required to enter, how the Honours year is assessed, Scholarships and other information

5. Job Skills That Will Get You Hired  Communication skills –explaining technical topics clearly –giving short and to the point answers –group problem solving and activities –team work and leadership  Business awareness –current events –read the AFR every day  Presentation skills  Computing skills – Excel, VBA

6. Presentation Skills -Tips  Take into account –the type of presentation: 5 minute tutorial presentation –your audience: lecturers, students, potential employers –room size (small room, large lecture hall)  Pre check any A-V equipment in advance  Presentation format –Logical structure - benchmark might be 20% introductory, 60% main ideas, 20% more advanced - sum up –Font size, number of slides –Use technology

7. Presentation Skills - Do’s  Practice beforehand –know your material (avoid reading from notes) –be confident about your topic (avoid nerves) –check timing, number of slides  Prepare for possible questions in advance –have friends quiz you already  Leave time for questions and discussion

8. Presentation Skills - Do’s  Consistent format of slides  Large and Legible  Small number of main points per slide  Key points highlighted  Use of graphs, figures  Rehearse

9. Presentation Skills - Do’s  Speak clearly, don’t mumble  Vary your tone  Show enthusiasm  Address the audience  Point to the screen (not the slide on the o’head projector)  Do not fiddle, jangle keys, scratch  Stand upright and move around  Use of hand movements

10. Presentation Skills - Don’ts  No headings  Lots of details  Small unreadable font  Looking away from the audience  Mumbling  Reading from notes  Monotone voice

11. Actuarial Tutorials  Five factors underpinning successful learning: –wanting to learn (how motivated are you?), –needing to learn (future success), –learning by doing (do the tutorial exercises), –learning through feedback (quizzes and assignments and learn by your mistakes), and –making sense of what you are learning (understanding - the final exam!)  Attendance at tutorials essential (and required if you wish to pass the course)

12. Research on Learning  Key ideas –Active learning (doing) –Deep (understanding) and surface learning (memorizing)  Educational research –students retain –10% of what is read –20% of what they hear –30% of what they see –50% of what they see and hear –70% of what they talk over with others –80% of what they use and do in real life –95% of what they teach someone else

13. Actuarial Tutorials  What skills are we trying to develop apart from technical knowledge? –Discussion of problems (working together in small groups) –Presentation to peers (presenting your solution to the class) –Safe environment to make mistakes and ask questions (the best student is not always the one who makes the least mistakes)  Participate - active learning  Role of tutor –help with your problems –they do not necessarily know everything

14. Actuarial Tutorials  How to make the most of the actuarial tutorials –Come prepared, attempt as many of the exercises in advance –Identify the problems that you did not understand –Ask questions about topics that you do not understand  Group problem solving –working together and meeting new friends –building team skills –helping with those group task job interviews

15. Questions  About –Upcoming guest lectures –Job market –Job skills –Tutorials