Is majoring in economics and Japanese, with a minor in Global and International Studies a good road?

Question

I will be definitely majoring in Japanese...but I am not sure if I should also major in economics...or international relations...

I was leaning towards doing a double major in economics and japanese, with a minor in global and international studies...but I'm not sure. Since an economics degree can get me further along...(with jobs/careers)...I thought that this would be the best path. Just in case an international relations degree won't help me.

I was also thinking about doing an international relations and japanese double major, minoring in economics. But if I did that, I don't know if I'd be able to get a good job/career.

What do you think? Should I just do what I'm doing? (Econ/Jap double major and minor in international studies)

If I do, do this, then I was thinking about being an International Trade Specialist...but if majoring in international relations...then maybe something similar...or the foreign service.

Answer 1

You are laboring under a mistaken assumption that your undergraduate major somehow matters. It doesn't, unless it is engineering, pre-med, or pre-law. What matters is the skills you acquire and people you meet along the way.

Take your Japanese major, for example. Whether or not you have a degree in Japanese is unimportant; what is important is that you speak, read, and write Japanese, have lived in Japan (and studied or worked under influential people there), and can order around flight attendants, train conductors, waiters and hotel employees in the traditional Japanese way. The latter will impress the Japanese well beyond any degree you may have...

Same goes for your Economics major. Unless you have special skills (SAS programming or advanced statistical analysis, for example), the employers (more specifically, their HR departments) will not know the difference between you and someone who majored in Business, Accounting, Finance, or even English literature. To repeat, it is your special skills, not your major, that will set you apart...

Answer 2

I have no idea what you would do with an international relations degree, never seen a job opening ask for one. But, I love the idea of Econ/Japanese. In certain industries like mine the Japanese language would be very helpful, and a smart analytical person schooled in Economics and business who speaks Japanese would be very valuable. I went to Japan last month and getting around was surprisingly difficult. (I do automotive market research).

Even though Japan is not a high-growth area like China, there's still 125 million people there, and the U.S. obviously does a lot of business with Japan -- yet almost no Americans seem to know Japanese, and very few Japanese can speak English, because their schools are even worse than ours about teaching foreign languages.

If you actually became adept in the language and had business knowledge, that would open up a lot of doors for you. Do that and send me your resume when you graduate!

Answer 3

Why don't you think of where you want your education to lead you? i.e. what career you'd like to have? Some jobs just want you to have a degree but some are more specific. Take the courses that are most specialized for the job you want.

Answer 4

Well, japanese isn't that popular of a language.
If you want a guarenteed job I would major in Spanish or Chinese.
THat is becoming very popular in AMerica, and were definitely going to need people to help with that.
As far as everything else, im not sure..