Jumping to Japan for big career boost

Zhang Shipu landed in Japan last week for a very important chapter in his life. He will be attending language school there and then apply for a master's degree course at a university.

Beginning 2013, Zhang worked as a radio host at Kugou Music, a subsidiary of Tencent Music Entertainment in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

Two years later, he worked for Tencent's marketing team in Shenzhen. But because of his educational qualification, a diploma from Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore - equivalent to a vocational degree in China - he missed out on many job opportunities.

"Academic background is very important for job applicants nowadays, irrespective of whether the employers are private or State-owned companies," the 28-year-old said.

"After all, the job market is flooded with candidates having a master's degree or even a doctorate."

In fact, even to apply for permanent residency in Shenzhen, one must at least have a bachelor's degree.

"I was increasingly becoming aware of the fact that the diploma from Singapore was not good enough for me to get a promotion at Tencent or find a better-paying job in another company. Therefore, I decided to pursue a master's degree in Japan," Zhang said.

But why Japan? "I studied in Singapore for three years and picked up a little bit about Western cultures. But the Japanese culture is new to me and I think studying in Japan will help me broaden my horizons."

The application process has not been easy and he needs to learn the Japanese language. "I need to study Japanese at a language school for two years," Zhang said.

Since March he has been taking language classes at a training institute after work and also preparing for GMAT and TOEFL.

He quit the job at Tencent in September and booked a flight to reach Japan on September 25.

"Hopefully, in due course, I can then get enrolled into a Japanese university and study for a master's degree for two or three years," Zhang said.

The cost of studying abroad will be very high, but, he says, Japanese universities are cheaper than those in the West.

"I decided to go through with my decision to study in Japan because I am interested in new opportunities that might come with the new experience. It is always worthwhile to invest in oneself and believe that by improving one's ability, one can have a better future."