advice on education options

[westaus]

I dont have any actuarial education but will have a BSc in mathematics at the end of the year. I was looking at applying for the 3 semester actuarial masters course they have at UNSW which provides the required courses for pt1 and pt2. What is the entry level employment market like in Aus (I am an Aus. ctizen)? Also I would like to keep the option open of working overseas someday and was wondering if pursuing accreditation under the UK or US systems would be be a better option?

Also I am currently enrolled in one of the dual degree programs we have over here, a BSc/Llb and would be stopping my law degree (it is tiresome) to pursue this so if the employment options at entry level are not good at all I would consider just finishing the llb and trying to find employment in an area outside the law.

Any general feedback would be a great help.

[Utopial]

entry level market in the actuarial industry in australia is BAD (unless you're in brisbane)

UNSW, Mac Uni and ANU all produce actuarial degree grads. before it was just mac uni and anu. 3 things screwed the entry level market:
1. UNSW starting up actuarial studies producing more grads
2. the AMP collapse
3. probably most importantly: medicine becoming post grad everywhere. so all the ppl who get high UAIs now choose between law and actuarial studies since it's subjective and hard to get into med. this has resulted in huge increases in the number of actuarial students at unis.

recruiters/career advisors know CRAP ALL. university staff are even worse - they lied to all the ppl doing actuarial studies with me when i went thru saying it was 100% employment...yeh...if u count mcdonalds as employment. staff just want lotsa ppl enrolled in their degree. even when told that most ppl arent getting actuarial jobs but have to go get finance or business analyst jobs, they kept advertising 100% employment.

take it from me - entry level market sucks, altho if u've got about 3+ yrs of ACTUARIAL expereince then the market is ok...but maybe that is even gonna stuff up. potential chain reaction

oh yeh - apparently there r hardly any jobs outside of sydney (and suncorp brisbane)

[Utopial]

btw - all the systems in usa, uk and aus have mutual recognition. so u can do any of them and work anywhere. no big deal
USA has less exams than both with slightly easier subject matter. it's basically straight out memorisation and simple maths but HEAPS of it. when i say heaps, i mean like 5 uni subjects pushed into one. massive. heaps and heaps of work. 2-4 hours of study every day for 4 months before the exam.

australia and the uk are similar. they have a whole heap of technically tricky subjects that u can get out of doing if u get credits or more in the right uni subjects. then they have a pretty straight forward pair of subjects called the 'control cycle.' pretty striaght forward, logical subject with no maths.
then there r 4 professionalism modules (subjects). heaps of work like the USA exams, but not memorisation stuff. they try make it 'judgement' based, e.g. u get presented with a practical workplace situation and u have to discuss the relevant issues. it's subjective so lotsa ppl have trouble with some of the subjects.

usa has the highest pass rates (40% as compared to 30%)

[DW Simpson]

I dont have any actuarial education but will have a BSc in mathematics at the end of the year. I was looking at applying for the 3 semester actuarial masters course they have at UNSW which provides the required courses for pt1 and pt2. What is the entry level employment market like in Aus (I am an Aus. ctizen)? Also I would like to keep the option open of working overseas someday and was wondering if pursuing accreditation under the UK or US systems would be be a better option?

Also I am currently enrolled in one of the dual degree programs we have over here, a BSc/Llb and would be stopping my law degree (it is tiresome) to pursue this so if the employment options at entry level are not good at all I would consider just finishing the llb and trying to find employment in an area outside the law.

Any general feedback would be a great help.

The Australian entry actuarial market is somewhat saturated, with so many act sci grads coming out every year. However, once you have experience, there are many unique opportunities for actuaries there, and the FIAA credential is internationally recognized. Some of these experienced roles are highlighted at www.dwsimpson.com/australia.html

This discussion thread: http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actuarial_discussion_forum/showthread.php?t=35561 , especially the Institute of Actuaries of Australia: Strategic Plan 2004-7 (.pdf file) http://www.actuaries.asn.au/PublicSi...7%5bweb%5d.pdf , may be of value to you.

[westaus]

Cheers for the info guys