The experience of a volunteer member of Council
“I would be fibbing if I said I pushed myself forward to run for Council. My instinct was that there would be much more senior members of our profession who would be looking to take these positions. However, after chatting this through with some of the executive support staff and the leader of the Scottish Board, I was convinced this was something I should go for, not “one day”, but now. I put myself forward and was delighted to be elected in 2012.
I am absolutely passionate that as members of our profession we should stand up and be counted at all stages of our careers and add our voice to the direction of travel our profession takes. After all this is in all our interests.
The current Council members were exceptionally welcoming which really helped when getting up to speed with all the acronyms, different working parties and committees. Every view is respected and listened to.
I have been very impressed with the support staff that work alongside Council members. They are dedicated to the profession in the same way we are and are working exceptionally hard to achieve our goals.
I have been pleasantly surprised at the professional feel of Council, with clear goals and strategic objectives for each year. By far one of my highlights has been getting involved in some PR for the profession when the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries sponsored the Scotland Highlands and Islands’ Mathematics weekend. This involved radio and newspaper interviews to help promote our profession and the event.
I am extremely keen that we continue to look for further ways to engage with the public and expand the awareness of our profession and this is certainly something that is firmly on Council’s radar. I would highly recommend getting involved in Council. The time commitments are not overly onerous for the amount you gain from the experience (plus you get that nice feeling of doing something good for your profession!).”