While I go to a good university in England studying Maths, it pains me how I have very little marketable skills in Japan other than being good at analytic things in general (most specialised mathematics/statistics jobs require PhDs). In England my options are pretty much financial/insurance related, but they all seem pretty dry and I'm not suited for a corporate job. Other than that I suppose I could become a school teacher.

I have two more years left before I graduate with a Masters in probability/statistics/finance, so maybe in that time I could learn something useful that could end up serving as a career that I enjoy like freelance photography, but I dunno if that's realistic. Has anyone else learnt a completely new skill to get a career like this?

I have some basic experience in programming but I don't find it particularly stimulating on its own. Being a school teacher at an international school in Japan seems rewarding, but from what I've seen that'd require years and years of experience back home first. I suppose there's always translation.

I'm just about JLPT1 level now and can get a marriage visa in Japan so right to work isn't a problem, at least, but all I feel I'm qualified for now is low skilled positions. I don't think I can be an english teacher/waiter when I'm 40 with kids or bank on becoming a superstar gaijin model/host/tarento. :S

Hm.. I don't know if this really qualifies as a job skill, but I would learn to play the guitar. It doubles as an easy lesson plan (teach kids some campfire song = lesson for the day)

I did do that for a few years so I guess I'm already set then.

Well, you turned down 2 most profitable options right off the bat. Finance and IT. You can live like a king if you are a good financial engineer who speaks English and Japanese in Tokyo. Being a teacher will earn you a quarter that or less, and it will probably be very hard to find a long term position in Japan. If you can do something you find more interesting with a PhD, that seems to be a better option to me, though I have no idea whatsoever what "specialised mathematics/statistics jobs" can be and how many openings are available for that kind of jobs in Japan...

How about being a help desk agent in japanese? For that (on the higher levels) you'd definately need some strong IT and math skills, but it's still not programming.
Or you could ask magamo in the "ask magamo" thread. I think he has a PHD in quantitative mathematics or something like that and he's japanese. He might be able to give some advice.

Hmm, I'll go ask magamo then, thanks. ^^

While I'm still studying for financial engineering while completing my degree, I don't think I'm that interested in it. It's too abstract and competitive a field for me, I want a more down to earth job. Salary isn't too important, as long as I can support a family.

Hmm, I might try actuarial work, that seems less stressful than pure finance.

hmm, found this

http://www.allenlowe.net/2008/06/16/how-...-in-japan/

I heard that being an actuary is actually one of the best money;stress ratio jobs out there.

dizmox Wrote:Hmm, I'll go ask magamo then, thanks.

I sent a little long reply to you. It's already 3:50 am here, so I'm sorry if I didn't make much sense in the reply!

One thing I forgot to say in the email is that often industries have their own periods in a year to hire new graduates and that this period might not fit very well if you graduate a non-Japanese graduate school.

Anyway, I think there are too many options to list for a bilingual math major studying in a good university.

dizmox, why don't you post magamo's reply here?

zachandhobbes Wrote:I heard that being an actuary is actually one of the best money;stress ratio jobs out there.

Are they not counting the tons of actuarial exams you need to pass or something?

dizmox Wrote:Hmm, I'll go ask magamo then, thanks. ^^

While I'm still studying for financial engineering while completing my degree, I don't think I'm that interested in it. It's too abstract and competitive a field for me, I want a more down to earth job. Salary isn't too important, as long as I can support a family.

Hmm, I might try actuarial work, that seems less stressful than pure finance.

hmm, found this

http://www.allenlowe.net/2008/06/16/how-...-in-japan/

There are dozens of different specializations within the overall finance field, all with varying degrees of stress/life balance. With your educational background you pretty much qualify for good starting positions in all of them. I'd do some more research into them. I'm sure you can find something that fits your lifestyle.

Yeah, I'm still trying for finance actually. I'm a little behind most of my peers in terms of experience so I'll be trying to catch up over the next summer. Even if it's not a proper internship, hopefully I'll be able to find something that will let me enter the industry.

EDIT: I seem to have fluked my way into financial engineering, lucky me.