Job Discussion Forums

[MrCAPiTUL]

Follow up: I was unaware that there was a university in japan that actually offered graduate courses in Business, in English (re: Sophia U). I had researched a bunch of different schools and found they were in Japanese. This is good to know.

Anybody know if Universities in Japan have structured internships (similar to here in the States) that lead to employment upon graduation?

[ghostrider]

I'm looking into the same thing. Temple University is about the only option to get a US degree aside from distance learning or Columbia's Teachers College. My original post-graduation plan was to do JET, come back for my master's after a year at UCLA, USC, or UCSD, then return for a higher paying non-teaching job there, assuming I didn't hate it during JET. Instead, I was made an alternate in JET, time flew by, applied again, alternate again. Now I'm starting to feel old and am thinking maybe I shouldn't waste that year or two there, and if I do go, I should get my MA while there. That option at least gives me time to figure out if I even like living there, and to find out what sort of job options I realistically have outside of teaching.

However, UCLA, USC, UCSD all have study abroad programs as well (Keio University). It'll be easier than moving back and forth from work to school to work again, but I'm taking a risk. If I don't like living in Japan much, I'd have spent 2 years of my life (3 if you count the year of waiting between now and fall 2007) and thousands of dollars poorly. I'm not even sure the degree I want here (IR/IA, focus on Japan or East Asia, perhaps joint MBA or MBA in Intl Business) is necessary or that useful outside of government jobs.

Most of my work experience has been with computers. I know a lot, but I lack certifications, CS degree, etc. From reading other Japanese job forums, it sounds as if IT is one of the top options for foreigners outside of teaching, so long as you are near fluent in Japanese. Temple offers certifications in that field as well. Hmmm. Tough.

[PAULH]

[MrCAPiTUL]

Ghost, I would definitely consider a joint degree with something besides just IR/IA. Keep in mind that nearly 80% of Political Science graduates (IR and IA are a sub-discipline of Poli-Sci) do something in academia. Honestly, there aren't too many government agencies that hire people with those credentials, either. Most government jobs want people that are specific to each field. With a poli-sci degree you are very limited to intelligence work, political campaigning, military service, think tanks, or consulting (if you are lucky). Other than that, there isn't a whole lot. I am an International Relations geek, and I am considering an MBA or MA in International Commere, or a Masters of Public Administration (believe it or not, you can pull quite a few good paying business jobs with an MPA). Bear in mind, though, that the type of jobs you land with an MBA will heavily be influenced by the calibur of school you graduate from. Prestige is everything in the business world. Japan has a lot of finance jobs, too. A lot of foreign companies do work in Japan, as well. It isn't just all IT that goes to foreigners. If you can speak J pretty well and have an MBA or MA in Intl Biz, I would think you could find a very nice paying job at some sort of firm in Japan.

[ghostrider]

Yeah, I am a bit of an IR geek myself obviously. I have a BA in IA (harhar), but as all of us know, it doesn't mean jack, especially since I don't live in DC or New York.

I'm a bit worried about going the business direction as I'm not much of a business-rocks!, corporate-type. However, I have to face reality in that I will have (and have had) an extremely difficult time getting a job with an IR degree here and even more so in Japan. It keeps coming back to International Business. When I talk about this with family and friends, the same is said. They know someone who did an IR/IA degree, but ultimately went on to get an MA in IB or an MBA because they couldn't find work. It's probably not anywhere near as dreadful as I fear, and certainly looks more appealing to me than other popular business fields like finance and accounting.

Assuming I go that direction, then I have to decide how I want to go about it. Do I stay here and finish school, go to Japan for a year or two and then finish, or go to Japan and finish while there. I have much to think about.

Update: Just read this thread, and even IB sounds hopeless in Japan (but perhaps not accounting and finance, haha). Maybe I should just get an eikaiwa job and figure things out while there. Judging from these and GP forums, experience seems to mean much more than the degree, though having both certainly helps as well.

[MrCAPiTUL]

Yeup. Sad, it is. Even in DC and NY it is hard to find jobs w/this degree (I have my BA in IR, as well). Most of the jobs with IR require a minimum of a Masters, and then it is usually in the fields that I already highlighted. The questions you ask yourself are the same questions I was asking myself a short time ago and I sometimes still ask myself. International Business isn't a bad route to go, at least you can apply your love of foreign affairs into the mix and get paid a handsome salary.

[ghostrider]

MrCapitul: I've noticed Bloomberg posts jobs quite often (click "News" and "Finance/ Economics"). I'm going to look into that some more (could be 5000+ people apply for each position, so I'd have almost no chance). If that's a reasonable option, I could go back to school to learn about job markets, particulay the Nikkei, plus journalism and/or broadcasting. That would put my IR major to some use, rather than starting completely over doing IT. And, of course, I'd study my ass off to reach Level 1 on the JLPT (around Level 3 now, ie, useless). If I go into broadcasting, I could also, possibly, make some use of my 4 years of audio visual equipment experience. What do you think?