lol , really? tell you something.. just a gossip among students in my school or whole malaysia..chinese students won't be as easy as malay student to get oil and gas course..(my MALAY teacher told me and MALAY friends)<not being racial criticism zzz..

take this,other developing countries like Dubai,are paid lucratively no matter what type of engineer,in Malaysia,high salary is based on TYPE OF ENGINEER,and of course oil and gas engineer are highly paid,this is because we have petroleum in our country,however you think they want non-bumi citizens to govern entire professional jobs?only one university in malaysia offer this course and that is universiti teknologi petroleum malaysia,they decide,they control,they teaches and they will decide your future

however if i have the opportunity i will definitely considere it

so thats why i'm taking actuarial science locally or overseas, not mainly because of the highly paid but the specialties,i feel that being actuary is very special because they can solve something that most ppl can't ,just like doctor >.< for engineer,all you need is the basic knowledge and the company or government will supply the TOOLS for it,all you need to do is read the mannual book zz which i think this is one of the reasons engineer salary is low because our country only IMPORT never INVENT...

so.. HELLO ACTUARY!!!

I don't take that as an insult to say that engineer is just someone who reads manual book and do things with supplied tools. I take it as you being a bit too young and ignorant. Period.

As someone who is also good in Maths and have been at the verge of nearly go to Actuarial Science (I can do it now, if I want to, having a partial scholarship from a UK university), I really find interest/passion to the course is very important. Don't be blinded when choosing a course. I really feel that if you were to cross out a profession in your list, it's best with a reason you don't like it, instead of telling out the weakness/ bad things about the job. Every profession has its bad and dirty side.
Actuary, although I am not in the industry, is a job in office. Any office conspiracy and politics should apply to actuary as well, especially him/her being someone who is unique in a group.

Why are you looking for high pay?
Is using money as a blanket a very happy thing to do?
Is using money as toilet paper a very happy thing to do?
Is using money as fuel to lit up lamp a very happy thing to do?

Money is not the factor in choosing course, but interest.
I don't think you really digest the opening post of this thread.
I am not discouraging you from becoming an actuary, but I really wish people would consider well before going.
Please please, think wisely and carefully.
You are biased, if I want to conclude.

(I don't wish to bring up what an engineer is going to do, and don't think will make a engineer vs actuary post. This is a post of actuary.)

Yes Dubai WAS highly paid until recently.....now many projects lack of funding.... besides that without good negotiation skills you might actually be getting paid way below the supposed market rate for ur expertise

from ur previous posts, i dare say, u are just like any other people, thinking that good in maths will be able to grant u the entry to the field of actuarial studies.

1st of all, kindly read back the 1st post by TS, math is important, but if u are so into math, taking a math degree will be better for u

2ndly, actuarial studies is a combination of finance, accounting, econs, sociology and math, actuary does not spend time solving math question in their work. They analyze, calculate with computer programs and come out with a set of premiums that will maximize the profit of the company they are working for (insurance sector).

3rdly, read back the 1st post again, its great to know that a real actuary started this thread to guide those wanting to pursue this field.

epplegaara, a word for you, great in math for high school level doesnt mean u will be great in uni level, it merely suggests that u have a good grasp of basic. u are still young, immature? take time to discover the world after SPM.

What job in oil and gas are you talking about?
There are so many. My Chinese friend works in Petronas. When you talk about O&G don't just think about Petronas. There are so many foreign companies like Shell, Schlumberger. Schlumberger do pay better than Petronas.
Why not O&G traders? They earn bonus like 12 months, and even 24 months during good time.

Chemical engineers are "engineers" too, they are higly sought after by O&G companies.
"All you need to read is manual book" are for technicians, not engineers. You have a very wrong perception of engineers. Which engineering field you talking about? Chemical? Electronics? Civil? etc...

Go to Job & careers section, read up some posts and post some questions there. I feel that your view is too narrow for now.

THank for the share.

ya i think i'm still young but engineers really don't earn much in malaysia,i don't want to have a salary range 2k -8k with many years of experience,and it is not fair,i dare you persuit engineer course and i'm sure you will end up with normal life,and i hate normal life.excelling in studies is useless if the rewarding sucks,i rather continue my parents business if i know my PROFESSIONAl job is useless,sure some much but very few

and why everyone is agains me?because i said i was proficient in maths?
hey i did said being actuary need a wide range of knowledge,communication skill,and yes i know actuary is the combination of comerce study,and i don't think anyone who are persuing to be an actuary have the same perspective as you guys,

ya this forum is about the path to be an actuary,

and kwh1986 ,engineer is an easy course in M'sia no doubt,just having credits can be engineer

bbjslee wth are you talking about?the foreign companies you said just offer job not course,employee always have bonus sia zz

and kwh1989,don't criticise me if you don't know my history of study,you might think i'm being arrogant ,but what are you talking about?spm is the BASIC of everything -.-
those dropout are those who fail because they slack during course

actuary is a job which deals with risk,anyone who loves to solve math will be disappointed because actuary solve probability ,statistic and so on
i love probability chapter add math so think i should persuit actuarial course and i love challenge.
as from what i read in an acticle made by actuary,maths will not be the major problem to be a n actuary,is the determination,ingenuity and ability to think outside the box.

and tan,choosing a job based on interest is very good no doubt

This post has been edited by epplegaara: Jul 7 2009, 08:24 PM

Take some time to think, my friend.
Don't refute for the sake of refute.

haha, u sounded as if u really know wut probability is about? kiddo, like i said, u got a lot to learn, and for your information, im taking actuarial studies as my major now, and im entering 2nd year soon. and ppl here mostly started their degree, even tanjinjack is an engineering student. so most of us here experienced sth u have yet to explore, we are viewing our opinions because im pretty sure by the time u started degree, u will share the same pov as us now. in the mean time, u r juz a kid....closed in a box by malaysia education system?

okay, i believ you

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Added on July 9, 2009, 5:25 pmany idea oversea or local actuarial course better?
after graduate,which paper is the most recognise?example SOA

oh and the salary range for fresh graduate with out any exams yet and after exam

This post has been edited by epplegaara: Jul 9 2009, 11:52 PM

REVIVE DEAD THREAD

so lets say i am taking an engineering course. i am not required to have a degree but so long i pass the papers, it is as good as a qualification paper for my job application as an actuary?

It really depends on the company and the actual job/position you're applying for.

I learn something new

REVIVE DEAD RIVIVED DEAD THREAD

Actually I wanna ask more about scholarship matters....

I am an AUP student (currently in first sem), I wanna ask is it possible to get a handsome figure scholarship if i wanna admit into University of Wisconsin-Madison or University of Michigan, Ann Arbor? Cuz... I dont want to be trap in uni like Drake or Lincoln yet personally felt incapable of entering UPenn...

No. Both are stingy universities. They don't have aid for foreign student unless you're extremely exceptional, which in such a case you wouldn't be doing ADP now.

well, so, CGPA 4.0 wont help either isnt it....

No

i'm not sure if this thread stil continuing, or shld i start a new topic.. =)

ok, here it goes, i've read some comment, saying tat being an actuary doens really specifically require a degree in actuarial science, as long u have those actuarial professional cert / recognized paper with any related degree

so i have 2 questions here,

1. wat are the related degrees will you recommend which also allow you to become an actuary?
for ease to answer tis question, i'm interested in actuary is bcuz i like maths / calculation and quite good at it as compare to other subject (i know many ppl say liking maths alone is not enuf), i like solving problem (1 of the game i like is mastermind n sudoku), i'm strong in logical thinking, i like to think n analyze. on top of tat, salary ofcuz is my reason to this career but it doesn mean i wanna become millionaire, i just wanna have more stable financial as my current job is not stable.
reason to ask this question is bcuz i would prefer to have more general degree n yet is my favorite n capable in it

2. let say, u fail to become an actuary, where else can u go with these recommended degrees above (if u answer question above)?

to narrow down the answer, i will only take up courses in malaysia cuz i prefer working in malaysia n financial issue.. =)

thanks so much if u could help me by answering tis question! =)

maths, economics etc.. basically any subject with a "quantitative" background. engineering also..



economics -- work in the financial sector/bank etc.
maths -- work in the financial sector/bank, statistician, etc.. although with maths you might want to take some subjects in financial maths etc. search for terms like black-scholes, ito's lemma etc. to know more

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Added on April 2, 2010, 6:51 pmwith maths degree, u can then specialise in financial maths (involves maths/calculations like actuarial science, but financial maths is more "pure maths" instead of statistics like actuarial science).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_finance

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Added on April 2, 2010, 6:51 pmyou might want to take a course like this below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Quantitative_Finance

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Added on April 2, 2010, 6:53 pmif you have a masters degree in financial maths (see link above), you are very well placed to go into alot of areas in the financial sector (investment banking, banking, finance all these stuff etc.)

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Added on April 2, 2010, 6:55 pmif you like stats, then maybe actuarial science would suit you. if you like more pure maths, financial maths would suit you more.

This post has been edited by gomes.: Apr 2 2010, 06:55 PM

1. If you aim for actuary, sure do Actuarial Science la... But you can try other courses that are related, Mathematics should be most recommended. You can do Economics, Finance, Accounting etc. as well. But if you want to be actuary, why bother about other degree? (Follow to question 2)

2. It's not that you do a AS degree you are dead stuck in the actuarial industry. You can do a lot more things than that. There are a lot of graduates venturing into finance industry, and not many have actually tried to progress to become a better actuary (exams are tough, you know!!).
An AS degree gives you sharp strong analytical skills that are desired by a lot of fields, especially finance.