(2016-04-19, 11:36 am)scooter1 Wrote: My best advice ==> If you want to work in finance in HK or Singapore, you should network with 10+ people on the ground in Asia to get their views on your background, your plans for a Masters degree in Tokyo, and your plans to work in Asia. Use your work and university alumni databases; use linked-in. Get on the phone now.
Other observations ==> A few years back, an economist with a with a PhD from Harvard (who became a close friend) provided me some career advice that you may or may not find useful. Use it as one data point rather than gospel.
He noted that PhD track economics was extremely quantitative and strongly favored students with deep math skills; most everyone else just got left in the dust. His thought a masters degree in economics was not a particularly useful degree because many economist-employers just saw that as a failed PhD effort (which he said was often but not always the case). This was further compounded by the large number of economists vs limited number of good jobs, making for challenging job prospects for the economist with the masters degree. His strong recommendation to me was a good MBA. He strongly recommended against a masters degree in economics but said a strong PhD would open doors in a very competitive job market.
I think your engineering degree, MBA, CFA certification, and bank experience are credentials enough. Will another Masters degree make that much of a difference? Importantly, the finance and job markets will be at a different part of the cycle (better?). And you will be 3 years older, which matters to some people, unfortunately.
Also note people in Japan generally hold an undergraduate degree from Tokyo U in high esteem. Many of my Japanese friends have mixed feelings about various Tokyo U graduate degrees, however. I don't know the reputation of UTIPE in Japan or in Asia.
Finally, as you alluded, getting a good job in finance in Tokyo is difficult. The language barrier is a major issue. And most major international banks and asset managers have rebalanced their staff to other Asian countries (Partly due to the rapid growth of China and Korea, on a relative basis).
Good luck...
Hey Scooter,
I agree with what you said.
This said, my desire to study at Todai is not just in order to boost my career; I think that I am already able to apply directly to jobs in Singapore in finance (without getting another degree).
Thing is I actually do want to study and I'd like to sharpen my economics foundation (macro mostly). I don't mind the 20 months off work, I'll have the rest of my life to work and pile up that cash
.I also thoroughly want to live in Japan for a few years (for the personal experience) and my alternative options would be to try and find a job there (as already mentioned very unlikely to succeed), or to enroll in a language school (I'd do it, but I find that studying at Todai is a better option). Furthermore, I'm too old for the one-year Work/Holiday Visa between Canada and Japan.
I'm not willing to join any study program in Tokyo though, the ones that interest me a lot are UTIPE at Todai, Master of Public Policy at Todai, and Msc Finance at Waseda (considerably more expensive and rounds me off less than Economics or Public Policy).
Thanks for your feedback!