Choosing my degree

4 comments

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

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   **Choosing my degree**

   Good morning all!

   I’m looking at going back to college and have a tough choice to make. I want to move to Japan in 5-7 years. This goal would change obviously depending on how long it would take me to get a degree.

   I already have an associates in Business/Marketing so going for a bachelor’s in that field would be quicker. This would give me time to get into the field and get a couple years of experience while I continue to learn Japanese so I have a better chance of landing a job.

   Or I could start from scratch and pivot to Computer Science. It would take me longer to get a bachelor’s but would likely get me a job more quickly.

   I know Computer Science is more lucrative. But I really enjoy marketing.

   Are Marketing positions readily available to foreigners? Is this considered a decent job?

   If I go into Computer Science, what field(s) should I focus on?

   I hear that ALT doesn’t pay well so I don’t want to go into that.

   Any suggestions or info will be greatly appreciated.

   Please note that details of *why* I plan on moving or anything to do with housing or other peripherals are not necessarily important to this question. I’m only looking for advice on this specific step at the moment. Thanks again for any help

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2. Well what do you want to do? I wouldn’t choose a field just because it will get you a job in Japan. CS isn’t an easy major and if you don’t enjoy it you’ll probably regret it later on and wish you did what you enjoyed. If you enjoy marketing then do that, but just make sure to get your JLPT N2/N1 and speaking skills/try to get to a business Japanese level.

3. Both business and technical directions are just fine, will get you money, give you plenty of opportunities, whatever. Only difference is that with business/marketing you will need solid footing in language, N2 (more like N1.5) level. Whereas with CS you can get by pretty easily with N3-level Japanese, sometimes even less.

   You may be able to achieve a “best of both worlds” situation by going into business IT. That is, most likely, IT project management. However as a former IT project manager I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy… requires a very specific type of spirit to thrive in that position. Your mileage may vary!

4. CS is certainly a useful skill to have in Japan or anywhere, but as others have mentioned, if you’re not super into it, it can be quite challenging.