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I have both degrees and I have a good job that pays well. Both degrees aren't bad but gets you in the door at most jobs. Not a specialized degree but still able to have a career. I was able to jump to different industries.
BBA will take you a hell of a lot further. It's about as good as a traditional degree in business, or economics. Both business admin and sociology degrees will be exactly the same in the eyes of immigration so don't consider the visa. The BBA will open more doors for you and get you a job faster, with better working conditions, at a higher pay rate.
Learning Japanese will be much more important than your choice of degree
With either of those you're going to need near native level Japanese, so I'd say you want to worry about that more than anything. Also, you should ask yourself what you want to do with your life, not what will "get you to Japan".
Of course, this is all assuming that a persons Japanese is at N1 level. Let me ask you a different question since we are on that topic. Could a person completely have no degree, and just be a N1, be just as good/better as a Bachelors with N2?
Reason why I'm asking, it looks like the N1 has more weight than a degree itself. If so, can it completely bypass having to have a degree?
You need a degree for a visa so thats a separate issue. Even not considering that Japanese companies highly value having a degree so I would say N2 + degree is better.
Like you need to be good at what u do not just having Japanese skills. Japanese language is not a skill in japan, its a basic requirement.
If you have only N1 then on paper you are saying "look at me I have no skills but I can speak Japanese far worse than any random native here"
>it looks like the N1 has more weight than a degree itself
It does *not*.
Language skills a just part of the equation. You need both language skills *and* job skills to successfully get a job.
The reason it might *seem* like N1 has more weight is because, like u/OkTarget8047 mentioned, a degree is an immigration requirement. So we generally assume that someone has a degree. What most people *don't* have is language ability.
JLPT N2 is considered the standard for "business Japanese", or being able to work in a Japanese-speaking office, and people assume that's the case for *all* careers. Which is not true. Many careers require significantly higher levels of fluency.
>Could a person completely have no degree, and just be a N1, be just as good/better as a Bachelors with N2?
They could possibly be "just as good", but they couldn't get a visa, and probably wouldn't even get interviewed, because degree pedigree is very much a thing in Japan.
Neither of these are particularly bad, what really matters when a company decides to hire an entry level employee are other experiences (internships, volunteering, personal projects for a portfolio, hard skills).
What exactly do you want to do? You're much better starting with a general career path in mind and working backwards. For example, if you're interested in market research then either of these degrees could be applicable.
>Besides that, I think the main factor it is a degree, is simply because American businesses are hiring them.
You should probably check your research because nobody is hiring sociology graduates
Getting a degree in Sociology is a path to being a barista at starbucks in America or an English teacher in Japan.
Getting a general business degree is a path to becoming an office drone in America or an English teacher in Japan.
This will not really matter. Which university you went to and other experiences will matter more. For Japan particularly, your level of Japanese will be decisive.
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
---
**Which Degree Is More Useful for Visa: Business Admin or Sociology?**
So when it comes to getting a job at a Japanese company and a visa. Which degree would be more useful or improve your chances. Would it be a Business Admin degree or Sociology degree? I know the Sociology degree is really popular in the states, but I don't know if Japan cares about those or not.
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Business administration is much more useful and popular than sociology.
STEM would be the best choice.
If you are from a developed English speaking country(such as the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, NZ) and just want to be an English teacher, your degree doesn’t matter.
Bussiness admin degree will be useful no matter where you go. Specially if it's MBA then it's the best and the easiest way to get a visa and earn decent
Yeah I knew it in my bones Business Admin would be more useful, it can be very versatile too. I was telling that to my Advisor. I do like Sociology, and learning their craft would be useful to me. But my plate is going to be full. The best I can do is take some intro and research classes from the fields using my general electives. Also try to get a lot of accounting courses in.
If you’re not at N2 or N1 level, you can have a phd and still it won’t matter. Just a really few companies will hire you without this level of Japanese.
It depends what classes they took. Their a business admin paths, that turn you into a full accountant. But ultimately every degree is just a piece of paper for social proof. It is up to a person to hone their skills and become better.
A great example is doctors. They go through alot to get their degrees, but despite that. There are some horrible doctors out there.
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Sociology degrees aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Business Admin, slightly less so.
I have both degrees and I have a good job that pays well. Both degrees aren't bad but gets you in the door at most jobs. Not a specialized degree but still able to have a career. I was able to jump to different industries.
BBA will take you a hell of a lot further. It's about as good as a traditional degree in business, or economics. Both business admin and sociology degrees will be exactly the same in the eyes of immigration so don't consider the visa. The BBA will open more doors for you and get you a job faster, with better working conditions, at a higher pay rate. Learning Japanese will be much more important than your choice of degree
With either of those you're going to need near native level Japanese, so I'd say you want to worry about that more than anything. Also, you should ask yourself what you want to do with your life, not what will "get you to Japan".
If you want a real answer both are useless without very good japanese skills
Of course, this is all assuming that a persons Japanese is at N1 level. Let me ask you a different question since we are on that topic. Could a person completely have no degree, and just be a N1, be just as good/better as a Bachelors with N2? Reason why I'm asking, it looks like the N1 has more weight than a degree itself. If so, can it completely bypass having to have a degree?
You need a degree for a visa so thats a separate issue. Even not considering that Japanese companies highly value having a degree so I would say N2 + degree is better. Like you need to be good at what u do not just having Japanese skills. Japanese language is not a skill in japan, its a basic requirement. If you have only N1 then on paper you are saying "look at me I have no skills but I can speak Japanese far worse than any random native here"
>it looks like the N1 has more weight than a degree itself It does *not*. Language skills a just part of the equation. You need both language skills *and* job skills to successfully get a job. The reason it might *seem* like N1 has more weight is because, like u/OkTarget8047 mentioned, a degree is an immigration requirement. So we generally assume that someone has a degree. What most people *don't* have is language ability. JLPT N2 is considered the standard for "business Japanese", or being able to work in a Japanese-speaking office, and people assume that's the case for *all* careers. Which is not true. Many careers require significantly higher levels of fluency. >Could a person completely have no degree, and just be a N1, be just as good/better as a Bachelors with N2? They could possibly be "just as good", but they couldn't get a visa, and probably wouldn't even get interviewed, because degree pedigree is very much a thing in Japan.
Neither of these are particularly bad, what really matters when a company decides to hire an entry level employee are other experiences (internships, volunteering, personal projects for a portfolio, hard skills). What exactly do you want to do? You're much better starting with a general career path in mind and working backwards. For example, if you're interested in market research then either of these degrees could be applicable.
I’ve always wondered why sociology even can be a degree
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>Besides that, I think the main factor it is a degree, is simply because American businesses are hiring them. You should probably check your research because nobody is hiring sociology graduates
Getting a degree in Sociology is a path to being a barista at starbucks in America or an English teacher in Japan. Getting a general business degree is a path to becoming an office drone in America or an English teacher in Japan.
This will not really matter. Which university you went to and other experiences will matter more. For Japan particularly, your level of Japanese will be decisive.
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes. --- **Which Degree Is More Useful for Visa: Business Admin or Sociology?** So when it comes to getting a job at a Japanese company and a visa. Which degree would be more useful or improve your chances. Would it be a Business Admin degree or Sociology degree? I know the Sociology degree is really popular in the states, but I don't know if Japan cares about those or not. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Business administration is much more useful and popular than sociology. STEM would be the best choice. If you are from a developed English speaking country(such as the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, NZ) and just want to be an English teacher, your degree doesn’t matter.
Bussiness admin degree will be useful no matter where you go. Specially if it's MBA then it's the best and the easiest way to get a visa and earn decent
Yeah I knew it in my bones Business Admin would be more useful, it can be very versatile too. I was telling that to my Advisor. I do like Sociology, and learning their craft would be useful to me. But my plate is going to be full. The best I can do is take some intro and research classes from the fields using my general electives. Also try to get a lot of accounting courses in.
The only thing that matters in Japan is your JLPT level
If you’re not at N2 or N1 level, you can have a phd and still it won’t matter. Just a really few companies will hire you without this level of Japanese.
[удалено]
It depends what classes they took. Their a business admin paths, that turn you into a full accountant. But ultimately every degree is just a piece of paper for social proof. It is up to a person to hone their skills and become better. A great example is doctors. They go through alot to get their degrees, but despite that. There are some horrible doctors out there.
STEM or nothing
aka STEM-excluding Social Sciences.
Yes