Which Masters degree to pursue? Advice wanted!

[gijluiaard]

Hello!

I'd like to request some career-related advice, pretty much based on the question 'how do I get from where I am now to where I want to be'.

A little background: in July I will have two bachelor's degrees, one in Japanese, one in International Business. I did these degrees at separate universities, with both universities being top-10 (on a European level) in their respective fields. I spent a year in Japan on exchange (for my Japanese degree) during this time. I am now wondering what path I should take for a master's degree, which is the main point I would appreciate to receive advice on.

Basically, I'd like to work in Japan in the future. The year I spent there was enjoyable and I enjoyed the way of living, and would like to try this for a career as well. My Japanese is reasonable. I took the JLPT2 last month (unrelated: my Japanese degree was interesting, but did not prepare me very well for these type of tests, and my Japanese level is not at the level I'd hope from this type of degree). I have little relevant work experience.

I am leaning towards pursuing a master's degree in Japan. I'd prefer an English programme, for the simple reason that I will be unable to get JLPT1 certification in time for university applications. After looking at a number of programmes, those that seem interesting to me are the Economics programme at Waseda, the Institute of Business and Accounting at Kwansei Gakuin (an MBA programme), and - though I couldn't really find whether the programmes offered are fully in English - the Master's degrees at Hitotsubashi and Meiji. These degrees are all 2 years. An alternative would be pursuing a Master's degree in my home country, which would be 1 year, and would offer a very specialized type of degree (e.g. focused on finance, strategy, supply chain management etc.).

I would like to get a job in the financial sector. I've done some workshops and related events with a number of investment banks in the past, and this seemed interesting (mostly M&A), though this also seems to be an incredibly competitive field, and I'm not a straight-A student.

My main question, based on all of this, is 'how do I get from where I am now (double bachelor, no work experience) to where I'd like to be (good job in the financial sector in Japan)?'. Which masters' degree would I need to pursue to get to this point? A question I've been pondering for a long time is what has more value, a foreign (non-Japanese) degree from a good university, or a Japanese (but English-spoken) degree from a well-known (but not necessarily excellent international) Japanese university. I'd mainly be targeting firms that are not strictly Japanese-only, as I think that would give me more options in the future.

Thank you for reading this wall of text, and my apologies for its length. I hope someone recognizes my situation or has an idea what would be the best way to proceed.
Thank you!

[Nolivas]

I'm gonna give you a link to a website that might help you.

http://careers-in-finance.com/

My advice to you is to find someone who is doing the exact thing you want to do. Ask that person how they got there.

Its not the degree that's going to get you the job, its your experience and people you know.


Wow! not to critize but you sound like you have no idea what you want to do.

Let me ask you something your degree in Japanese was a language degree, am I right?

I would try and take your experience you've gain when you were in Japan figure out how you can apply it.

To be in Finance one has to know how to sell, which is why most people when they enter the finance sector start out being an insurance broker, financial planner, and so on. Then they work their way up to an analyst on wall street (sometimes) and then after obtaining experience and contacts do they go for an MBA and start working for the big companies doing major financial work.


Here's another link which may help you. http://educationinjapan.wordpress.co...n-in-the-news/

This is a trade journal I found on the web, I encourage you to read it. The journal will help you in knowing the industry in Japan.

You can even check out Gajinpot, right here and check out all the jobs that are offered to give you idea what skills employers in japan are looking for from foreigners.

As a general rule you can never go wrong with knowing a second language, so if I were you, I wouldn't be too concern with trying to find a Masters Business program taught in English.

I say that because just think of the number of people who don't know japanese but have much experience in finance?
Having a little bit of experience, business knowledge, and knowing another language could be the difference between you or somebody else getting that job with a company who trying to do business with another country.

[Nolivas]

Here are two more links

http://www.japaninternships.com/

That is a program where you can go on an internship in Tokyo, the cost of the program is 5000 dollars but you stay with a host family and includes meal and airport pick-up. Would not hurt to do this program first before moving to Japan for a masters program.


The other one is scotttrade.com, they have internships available there which can help you understand the finance industry at least on the brokeage side a little better.

I have heard the top MBA programs are in London, but I would get some work experience before attempting any advance degree because the whole purpose of getting an advance degree is a better job and more money and you cannot get that if you don't have work experience.

[Pogopuschel]

I'd advise against pursuing graduate education (or education in general) in Japan. Not only do Japanese universities not even come close to the level of European or American institutions educationally, but if you ever change your mind and want to return to Europe (or go anywhere else in the world) you are pretty much fuc*** with a degree from some Japanese university .

On top of that I don't see the benefit of getting and English degree in Japan. If you were getting a regular degree with instruction in Japanese form a well-known university than that may help you to be competitive on the Japanese market. But if you are getting an English-based degree anyway then a degree from a foreign university will most likely be a better choice career-wise, even for companies in Japan.

Looks like an easy decision to me. Save 1 year, save money, get better career opportunities by getting a degree from an internally reputable institution. The only drawback is you have to wait another year before you can move to Japan. I know that can be a biggie for some people though

Also, I don't know too much about the financial sector but I would imagine that it's a pretty different in Japan versus western countries. I'm not sure if pursuing an English-based finance degree would help you to find a job in Japan. I'd imagine it'd be though to find work.

[KansaiBen]

I'd advise against pursuing graduate education (or education in general) in Japan. Not only do Japanese universities not even come close to the level of European or American institutions educationally, but if you ever change your mind and want to return your Europe (or go anywhere in the world) you are pretty much ____** with a degree from some Japanese university .

Not only that the only reason many people get an advanced degree is because they plan to go into academia or they are putting off going in to the work force (or as is the case now) cant find a job so they stay at school. You will also find there is not a great deal of difference between having a BA and having a Masters depending on your major.

Masters degrees are not terribly highly valued by Japanese companies where they prefer to hire you straight from undergrad, have you work as a grunt for ten years and help you gain work experience.

[Nolivas]

[QUOTE=Pogopuschel;1207709]I'd advise against pursuing graduate education (or education in general) in Japan. Not only do Japanese universities not even come close to the level of European or American institutions educationally, but if you ever change your mind and want to return to Europe (or go anywhere else in the world) you are pretty much fuc*** with a degree from some Japanese university .


On top of that I don't see the benefit of getting and English degree in Japan. If you were getting a regular degree with instruction in Japanese form a well-known university than that may help you to be competitive on the Japanese market. But if you are getting an English-based degree anyway then a degree from a foreign university will most likely be a better choice career-wise, even for companies in Japan.

Looks like an easy decision to me. Save 1 year, save money, get better career opportunities by getting a degree from an internally reputable institution. The only drawback is you have to wait another year before you can move to Japan. I know that can be a biggie for some people though .

The biggest drawback will be him pursuing another degree without experience. That would be a drawback.


A head hunter told me that in America law, you are not required to list your education on the application, they cannot findout unless they ask for your transcripts. Anyway that was the best advice i got, so if japan is the same why you do not have to list your advance degree.

[ttokyo]

The year I spent there was enjoyable and I enjoyed the way of living, and would like to try this for a career as well.

Expect 'a world of pain' if you start in IB and want to build a career there, especially at the beginning. For a career in Investment Banking you should ideally be :
+ smart with a good business sense
+ ambitious and hard-working
+ frustration-resistant

If you say yourself 'you're not an A-student', a lack of talent can (at least partly) be compensated with extra work and effort.

How many internships in Finance/Banking have you had so far ? If none, try for some, either in Japan or your home country.
Many companies would only hire Japanese graduates or transfer experienced staff from abroad. If you want to be hired as a just graduated foreigner in Japan it is more difficult.

The point to be hired is 'what can you bring to the table'. Ideally you would have some skills among those :
J/European/US accounting, tax law, financial derivatives, IT/Programming, Language skills in Japanese/Englisch
JLPT 2 is a definite plus, but is probably not enough to read Japanese financial statements or contracts. If you can speak native French or German, that would be a plus for French/German/Swiss banks as only few Japanese would speak F/G.