How has Sun Life’s rotation program helped further your development?
Rotation has given me the opportunity to strengthen different skillsets, pursue areas of interest and get exposure to various parts of the company.
I started at Sun Life on the Canadian Actuarial team where I worked with the business units across Canada to coordinate quarter-end financial reporting and developed a good understanding of the controls in place to monitor changes in reserves and income. This role allowed for broad exposure and gave me the opportunity to learn about how each business unit contributes to Sun Life as a whole, develop my communication skills and build relationships across the company.
When going through rotation, I decided to pursue a role that allowed me to hone my technical skills and round out my skillset by offering me the ability to dive deep on how results are produced at the most granular level. As part of the GRS Actuarial Financial Reporting team, I have been able to take ownership in the modelling process, which has helped me understand how our actuarial assumptions impact our financial results and develop new insights into our products and the clients we serve.
What tips / advice do you have for students and new grads?
Remain curious and be open to different types of roles. Look for roles that have little overlap with your previous experiences to make the most of the rotation. Every role will have many learning and development opportunities and even those that may seem less traditional can still have a lot to offer in helping you develop different skills.
Build a professional network and a personal brand. It may not seem important early on, but having that network across the company will be helpful when you are looking to join a new team. I find that volunteering within the actuarial community and attending events are a great way of meeting other actuaries and finding common interests. As you move through different roles, delivering high-quality work and establishing your reputation will go a long way in ensuring you are top of mind when new opportunities present themselves.