<p>Which is harder: Engineering, Pharmacist, or Actuary, in terms of :</p>
<p>1). Education
2). Stress levels on the job,amount of crazy deadlines, overtime, etc.
3). Difficulty of find employment</p>
<p>Thanks so much.</p>
<p>Become an Engineer, then if you don’t like that, you can transition into an actuary. Harder the other way around.</p>
<p>Get a B.S. in Engineering. Getting a MBA makes it easier to move up the ladder. Deadlines make it stressful, leading to necessity of overtime. Engineering has one of the best prospects in the job field.</p>
<p>Nobody should be an actuary as a “dream choice.” It should be purely an alternate choice. Specialization is too narrow. The exams can quite stressful. Most exams need at least 100 hours of studying(can get away with less for the first few). Most actuaries don’t even obtain fellowship. There’s already a large supply novice actuaries (maybe 0-3 exams passed), but there’s a shortage of experienced actuaries(Fellows with 10+ years experience). Considered the job with one of the lowest stress levels and even one of the best jobs. Most only work 40-50 hours a week. Not really recommended unless you’re on the top of your game for math. Education(Major/undergrad college)doesn’t really matter(resume-wise) as long as you can pass the exams. Of course, taking tons of math classes really helps. It’s a boring desk job to be honest. </p>
<p>source: hours of researching in cc, beanactuary.org, actuarial outpost, various career books, other internet sites, relatives</p>
<p>I’m still a high school senior, so I don’t actually have any relatives in these fields. Take it or leave it($0.02).</p>
<p>For your maturity, it is hard to believe you are still a high school senior. Your answer makes so much sense, and I’ve heard many things similar. Of course I wouldn’t dismiss your advice because of your age, and most people don’t even know what an Actuary is, much less what they do. So you are on top of your game… wow… it still blows my mind that you are a high school senior. good job on the research … high five!</p>
<p>haha have you noticed the similarity in our usernames? Anyways, thanks for your advice. :)</p>
<p>TLO - if you are comparing Engineering, Pharma, and Actuary for exploring career options, “harder” is the wrong question. Start researching what people who enter those fields do, and if that is something you enjoy or think you might enjoy (and then ways to test that). At the undergraduate level, I think preparation for any of those fields can be challenging. You can likely begin a rewarding career with a bachelors degree, but graduate degrees and the need to earn industry-recognized certifications will be a near-certainty. Also certain will be the need to continue learning as technologies and methods change and new ones are introduced. </p>
<p>Any job will have it’s high-stress periods (project / product deadline approaching, high-visibility meeting or presentation, employer is under financial stress) and down time. Most industries and businesses are cyclical - if you want a reasonable chance for lifetime employment, hope you can get tenure in K-12 ed or get elected to Congress. </p>
<p>Although the technology is dated and Data General is long gone, Tracy Kidder’s “The Soul of a New Machine” remains an excellent inside look at what goes on in a typical engineering career.</p>
<p>1). Education
2). Stress levels on the job,amount of crazy deadlines, overtime, etc.
3). Difficulty of find employment</p>
<p>Pharmacy</p>
<p>(1) Education-wise, there are two paths - a 2+4 program or a 4+4 program. The 2+4 program is two years of undergrad and 4 years of grad school, and the 4+4 program is 4 years of undergrad and 4 years of grad school. Pharmacy school isn’t easy, but (like with most majors), it depends on the school. Pharmacy school is definitely up there with medical school in terms of difficulty (which is harder is up to debate). </p>
<p>(2) Stress levels on the job depends on which field you go to - retail (100k starting/40hrs a week); hospital (1-2 yrs resident @ 50k/yr; 100k/40 hrs wk); industry (1-2 years fellowship @ 45k/yr; harder to say for salary & amount worked). Retail is the path that most pharmacists take - your average pharmacist at CVS, Walgreens, etc. work 40 hrs a week but the work can be stressful at times (peak hours, annoying patients, insurance problems, etc)</p>
<p>(3) Difficulty to find employment - getting harder, but its still a healthcare field that’s in huge demand. You’ll find that everything in healthcare is in flux right now but job stability is still pretty high compared to most other professions even though you will find a lot of doom and gloom. Nothing is “golden” anymore, not even being an MD (re: recent CNN article about bankrupt doctors)</p>
<p>source: pharmacy student, 3 internships in the pharmaceutical industry & ancillary industries</p>