<p>I apologize for making another one of these "what should I do with my life" threads, but I've often found unexpected and helpful advice from CCers, so I thought I'd give it the old college try.</p>
<p>First, here is a brief look at my stats/etc.
I'm a rising junior at a top 5 LAC, majoring in Japanese (no, I don't know why either) and minoring in Mathematics. I speak/read fluent Japanese (for those of you in the know, I passed JLPT2 last year, and feel very confident going for JLPT1 this December) as well as have conversational Mandarin. </p>
<p>I have some math aptitude, but due to study abroad issues (I'll be spending my junior year in Japan) and my college requiring a thesis or comprehensive research project in every major, double-majoring in Japanese and Mathematics within four years is now impossible for me. After a particularly apathetic and difficult semester, I find myself sitting with a 3.57 GPA (not exactly, because my school has a strange grading system) but I'm looking to raise that to about a 3.7 after my junior year.</p>
<p>I'm at a bit of an impasse regarding what jobs/careers I should be setting my sights on, and just what I should be doing to get there. I've thought of getting a PhD in either Japanese Literature or History, but the dismal prospects in the academic job market are far from confidence-inspiring. I have a great deal of interest in business and finance, though with the shakeups in the finance industry surrounding the sub-prime credit bubble I'm not sure what kind of chance I would have at landing a gig.</p>
<p>As far as jobs go, I'm not looking to get rich, though it would be nice to have enough to support a wife and kid, should I decide to get married. I don't mind working hard or having to prove myself, but I would appreciate a career with sane hours after 5 to 10 years of experience (i.e. 50-60 hours a week with a nice vacation would be nice after 5-10 years, but the 70-100 hours a week common in finance would not). The other big stipulation is that I would prefer to have a career with some kind of Asia connection, whether that be working there or working at a company that trades with Asia. </p>
<p>As far as I see things, I have a few possible choices. I could enter finance, a subject I find intriguing, but one that has a work-o-holic culture that I do not; I could enter law, an profession with similar positives and negatives to finance; I could enter consulting (think McKinsey and Bain) or even shipping and international trade (think Maersk). Other possibilities include becoming an actuary (though I'd likely forfeit any Asia connection) or going for a fifth year at college to try and complete a Japanese-Mathematics double major.</p>
<p>The problem that I've consistently come up against is that though the public seems to believe that you'll have the world around your finger if you speak a few Asian languages and graduate from a good school, I've yet to find entry-level positions which support that thesis. Sure, if I had 10 years experience as a bond trader or a management-level position in engineering I could secure a nice job relating to Asia, but I just can't find the entry-level positions.</p>
<p>So what do you guys and gals think? Get into sales and trading? Get into shipping or consulting? Try to rearrange my educational concentration or get an advanced degree? Have a suggestion that I haven't listed?</p>
<p>Thanks for the comments in advance; I truly appreciate the advice and input. :D</p>