can you do any job in japan if you have a degree, or does it have to be what you studied?

i want to move to japan and the from what i know now, the only thing i would be intrested in to get a bachelor degree would be social work, but i dont know if you can become a social worker in japan as a foreigner. here, if you study social work you can do kind of everything because its very unspecific, but i dont know how its in japan and i cant find information for it.
i woudnt mind to work a different job, for example in a restaurant, because i already did that here and liked it. but i dont know if that would be possible and i dont find anything online. i know that there are specific visas for that but i think they are only for other countries and they are only for 5 years, but i want to stay forever or as long as i want.
i know that you need a degree for a work visa, but does it mean any degree and then you can do any job as long as it doesnt need a different degree, or does it mean if you have a degree you can work as what your degree is.
if that is the meaning, is it possible to do social work or something similiar?

4 comments
  1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

    **can you do any job in japan if you have a degree, or does it have to be what you studied?**

    i want to move to japan and the from what i know now, the only thing i would be intrested in to get a bachelor degree would be social work, but i dont know if you can become a social worker in japan as a foreigner. here, if you study social work you can do kind of everything because its very unspecific, but i dont know how its in japan and i cant find information for it.
    i woudnt mind to work a different job, for example in a restaurant, because i already did that here and liked it. but i dont know if that would be possible and i dont find anything online. i know that there are specific visas for that but i think they are only for other countries and they are only for 5 years, but i want to stay forever or as long as i want.
    i know that you need a degree for a work visa, but does it mean any degree and then you can do any job as long as it doesnt need a different degree, or does it mean if you have a degree you can work as what your degree is.
    if that is the meaning, is it possible to do social work or something similiar?

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  2. Short answer: no

    Slightly longer answer: to be able to enter Japan as a resident, you’ll need a visa. To get a visa, you’ll need a sponsor. If you want to move to work in Japan, you’ll need a company to sponsor for your visa. You’ll be allowed to work only on the fields as specified by your visa.

  3. >the only thing i would be intrested in to get a bachelor degree would be social work

    Then you should pursue this path.

    >i dont know if you can become a social worker in japan as a foreigner

    Most government jobs will require that you’ve taken the civil servant exam, and only citizens can sit for that. So you’re not going to be getting a job as a social worker. But there are plenty of non-government organizations (NGOs) that do community outreach type work. If you can find one willing to hire you (and not just accept your hours as a volunteer) then they should be able to sponsor you for a status of residence. It should go without saying that you’d need extremely strong Japanese skills for this sort of work.

    >i woudnt mind to work a different job, for example in a restaurant

    The work has to be something capable of sponsoring a status of residence. Restaurant work isn’t going to cut it.

    >does it mean if you have a degree you can work as what your degree is

    It’s worth mentioning that a bachelor’s degree is not the minimum education level. But a bachelor’s degree is considered a well rounded education, which means it qualifies for a wide variety of positions. If you have a lower level of education completed but it is specifically targeted then it would be valid for that type of work. For example, I have a diploma in “computer science and technology” from a college in Canada. It is very much not a bachelor’s degree. I could not use it to get a job teaching English. But it worked just fine to get me an engineer status of residence to work in the IT industry.
    So yes, a bachelor’s degree will open doors for you. I strongly recommend earning one. But if your degree is in social work and you end up getting a job in marketing, IT, teaching, etc… That’s totally fine.

  4. Gonna preface this comment with noting that almost every person who’s commented here so far has done so with your best interest at heart. Just because it differs from what you were hoping to hear doesn’t make it any less valuable.

    You can do any job you want, provided that someone hires you. If that’s teaching English or doing IT, most any degree will do (though for IT you should get some kind of computer background.) If it’s anything else, you will need some kind of specialized background.

    Given you don’t have a degree yet, a working holiday visa is always an option- it’s a one year visa and relatively easy to get if you’re from a country that uses them. If you really like living in Japan after the year is up, you can always move back, it’s not like it’s one-time entry.

    But it sounds like mentally and physically you’ve got a lot on your plate, and should take some extra time to work on yourself a bit more before coming here- literally everyone that comes to Japan, no matter how rosy their glasses are, end up disappointed some way or another. Compound that with having zero support network on arrival, and it’s a recipe for a bad time. Moving abroad is already an incredibly stressful ordeal, even more so with mental health issues and ED. There are countless new things here that could be unexpectedly triggering.

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