Marshmallow Answer (Is it difficult to enter the international cooperation industry without going to graduate school?)
Hello! Thank you for your question🙇🏻♀️
As someone who entered the international cooperation industry after attending graduate school, I struggled with answering this because it might sound like I'm just pushing my own position, but my conclusion is still “You should definitely go.” The biggest reason for this is
so that you don't narrow your possibilities by not going to graduate school.
Since I don't know your age or work history, please be aware that I am answering this under the assumption that you are a university student or a young professional.
(1) Master's degrees are required for almost all gateways for young professionals
UN Junior Professional Officer (JPO), World Bank Young Professionals Program (YPP), Ministry of Foreign Affairs Specialist in International Organizations, and other exams known as gateways for young people aiming for the international cooperation industry all require a master's degree to even apply. Furthermore, for most open positions at international organizations, a master's degree or higher is a mandatory requirement.
JICA Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, United Nations Volunteers (UNV), UN YPP, OECD Young Associate Programme (YAP), and other jobs that can be applied for without graduate school certainly exist (though for the UN YPP, only 60 people per country per field pass the document screening, and the application guidelines state that rankings are determined by highest degree, proficiency in UN working languages, and relevant work experience), but the
problem is that if you want to continue your career in the international cooperation industry after a 2-3 year term, you will be in trouble without a master's degree.
As you can see from the existence of graduate school scholarship programs for JICA volunteers and scholarship programs for young Japanese nationals provided by the World Bank, if you aim to work in the industry for a long time, you should basically go to graduate school.
As an exception, if you are an expatriate staff member for a Japanese NGO, a master's degree is basically not required as an application requirement. Also, for Japanese public institutions like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, JICA, or JBIC, a master's degree is not required if you join as a new graduate, but the probability of it being required increases significantly for highly specialized fixed-term posts (though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs forces both general and specialist staff to study abroad in their 2nd or 3rd year, and I have the impression that many JICA general staff also attend graduate school).
(2) Your competitors are not just Japanese people
From here on, I am answering under the assumption that you are: ● Not a native English speaker, nor do you use English at a near-native level ● Not a multilingual speaker. If these conditions do not apply to you, please ignore this part.
If you are not going to work for a Japanese organization forever, but instead aim for a multinational workplace like an international organization, you must win against other candidates who are native English speakers and/or multilingual, and who also hold master's or doctoral degrees.
For a Japanese person who is already weak in language skills, not having a graduate degree is only a disadvantage.
For those who do not have special expertise or whose future life plans are not clearly defined, you should go to graduate school to avoid narrowing your possibilities and to avoid the situation where you cannot even stand at the starting line. There is no reason to intentionally avoid going if you have a reason to go.
However, I think the timing of when to go is completely up to the individual. Some people go immediately after graduating from university, while others who decided to pursue the international cooperation industry after becoming working professionals go after gaining work experience, perhaps because they haven't decided on a field of specialization or want to save money first.
(3) How to gather information
If you have already seen them, I apologize, but please also check the website of the International Organizations Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the career site "PARTNER" operated by JICA. If you read the interviews of seniors who are active in the industry, you will see that although the timing varies for everyone, almost all of them have gone to graduate school.
If you are a student, it is also a good idea to consult with your university's global education center or similar office.
I apologize if my writing style was blunt, but I hope this is helpful.