Best place in Europe to find work?
Posted by fernandagrace@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 28 comments
Hello, I am 29 years old and I have been living in Japan for almost 8 years. Having grown up in the Philippines beforehand, in time I have realized it is very difficult for me to settle and thrive in Japan, given the 'polished/tatemae' culture where there are so many unspoken rules, unreasonable steps, lack of openness, and general inflexibility in a lot of things. My career has also been more or less stagnant as an entry-level hotel staff and ESL teacher because of language barriers. I have tried learning Japanese for years, but have trouble assimilating. Although Japan is so convenient and realitvely safer, I realized the culture here – the gender inequality, the lack of deeper social interactions, toxic work culture, and terrible mental health systems – is not something I can see myself settling into. I deeply feel like time seems to pass by quickly and I have just been surviving throughout the years, fell into deep depression twice, and also developed health issues.
I am almost 30 and I'm thinking of the next steps to further my career, income, and quality of life. I fear that the longer I stay here the more I will be stuck. I graduated with a Humanities degree but have little to no job experience directly related to it. The bulk of my work experience has been in entry-level jobs in the English education and hospitality industries. My hope is to shift to a career where I can grow my skills, move to mid-level career, earn more, and feel less stuck/paralyzed/anxious.
I am thinking of either taking a vocational program in Spain (because of the price, warmer culture, and maybe easier language to learn) or saving up for a Master's degree in the UK (I know this is not EU anymore sorry for the misleading title)..I don't have much other paid options to try in the interm due to financial difficulties. Every money I save goes towards the next step.
My fear is if I move to Spain, I am not sure of my career options or of how well I would be able to get by while taking the vocational program. If I get a Master's in the UK, it's also the same problem plus I don't know how longer I would have to stay in Japan to save up for the exorbitant student visa.
What do you think? Are there other countries or pathways I should take into consideration? Thank you and I would appreciate your comments.
TinyAlfalfa9276@reddit
Netherlands is probably your best bet. Amsterdam in particular
GoodBreakfast1156@reddit
How would OP get there? They have no needed skills to be able to get a visa or a job.
TinyAlfalfa9276@reddit
OP should start with a working holidays visa - then once here OP will have more opportunity for jobs - even in hospitality -
uzibunny@reddit
If you're willing to freelance, Germany has special visa for Japanese citizens, very easy to apply for residents permit once you're there. Similarly, there's the DAFT scheme for the Netherlands but this is also for freelancers. Are there any skills you have that could work freelance? I wouldn't reccomend doing a masters in the UK tbh it would be an extreme waste of money. Employers value experience over qualifications generally and the UK is expensive and with almost no chance of staying there after study.
GoodBreakfast1156@reddit
Daft is for American citizens. OP is Japanese.
Annual-Ad-2495@reddit
Hey,
One thing I think you may be underselling is your Japanese passport. It gives you access to a few working holiday / job-search routes that many people don’t have.
I’d be careful with the Master’s route unless you have a very clear career goal. If money is already tight, using education mainly as an escape route can become a very expensive way to postpone the real question: what career track are you trying to build?
The UK Youth Mobility Scheme looks like one of your strongest options. As a Japanese citizen aged 18–30, you can live and work in the UK for up to 2 years without needing employer sponsorship from day one. The savings requirement is £2,530. I wouldn’t assume London is the only option though. Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol, etc. may be more realistic financially.
Sweden is also worth checking because Japan has a working holiday agreement with Sweden. It’s for ages 18–30, valid up to one year, and the official savings requirement is relatively low compared with a Master’s or UK student route. Stockholm/Gothenburg/Malmö could be interesting if you target English-speaking roles, but I’d be realistic: with humanities + English teaching/hospitality experience and no Swedish, it may not be easy to turn that into a long-term stay. The working holiday visa is more of a test route than a guaranteed path to settlement.
Germany’s Chancenkarte / Opportunity Card may also be worth researching. It can allow job search in Germany and limited part-time work, but don’t treat it as automatic. Your degree and qualifications would need to fit the requirements, and you may need to check recognition through Anabin/ZAB. Berlin could be interesting if you’re looking at English-speaking startup, hospitality, support, operations, or Japan-related roles.
The Netherlands can be good, but the orientation year route is mostly for people with a Dutch degree, Erasmus Mundus master, or certain qualifying foreign master/PhD/post-master degrees. So your current degree may or may not help depending on the institution and level.
On your current options:
Spain vocational program: emotionally understandable, warmer, cheaper, more open culture — but I’d only do it if the program leads to a concrete job path. Spain can be difficult for wages and employment, especially without strong Spanish. Don’t choose it just because it feels like the opposite of Japan.
UK Youth Mobility Visa: probably your best practical option. Two years, full work rights, English-speaking job market, no sponsorship required from day one.
UK Master’s: I’d be cautious. It’s the most expensive option by far. It can make sense if you know exactly what field you’re entering, but not if the main goal is just to escape Japan and “hopefully” improve prospects.
The bigger point is that moving countries may help your environment and mental health, but it won’t automatically solve the career issue. I’d choose the route that gives you work rights with the lowest debt, then focus hard on one track: Japanese/English customer support, hospitality operations, localization, travel tech, education tech, admin/ops, or junior customer success.
If I were in your position, I’d probably prioritize:
Good luck. I think you have options, but I’d avoid taking on huge student debt before you’ve chosen a clearer career direction.
Important_Coach9717@reddit
Are you Japanese though ?
Dizzy_Garden252@reddit
The UK is not really it anymore. Education is crazy expensive and very little prospects.
ArgumentZestyclose62@reddit
Spain's quality of life is amazing if you have a roof over your head, probably one of the best places in the world to live. However, getting a good job here isn't easy, either you need connections or you must study hard for the public sector exams, for which you need a native level of Spanish.
Effective_Macaroon47@reddit
attending uni would be a realistic way to get a temporary visa, learn the language and get a feel for the country. in some cases you can find English taught programs at EU universities.
i know you struggled in Japan, but just remember that other countries you mentioned may have the same issues. it doesn’t automatically go away. I lived in Japan for a few years and now in Norway - there are good and bad things in both places and assimilation takes time.
good luck!!
fernandagrace@reddit (OP)
Thank you! I am still trying to take the chance to assimilate here, but I also thought of taking higher education in another country that I can at least leverage if I have to come back to Japan
Effective_Macaroon47@reddit
You’re welcome! I know how hard it can be to adjust to a new country.
What kind of career path or university study are toy interested in?
Not sure if you’re into it, but there’s a chance university in Japan offers study abroad programs to the UK or EU.
archiesaysrelax@reddit
To be honest, if you're from Japan, one of your best bets in the EU is France. There's already a decent amount of Japanese people who've made their life there and you'd be benefitting from a good network of Japanese people who can help you navigate things around as well as help you get settled (finding some work, decent housing and helping you with administration). If you're willing to study there as well you'll find good education is not that expensive (or at least it wasn't back in my day) and it'll definitely help you position yourself at a good job.
Basically, I'd consider France (especially if you're tired of all these social rules in Japan). And this is coming from someone who doesn't really like France.
ellytic@reddit
It sounds like you’ve been through a tough time in Japan, and it’s great that you’re exploring new opportunities in Europe. Both Spain and the UK have their advantages, but considering your background and goals, here are some thoughts:
Spain:
UK:
General Tips:
Ultimately, weigh the pros and cons based on your personal circumstances and where you feel you could thrive.
Full disclosure: I work at Ellytic (ellytic.com), which helps with AFM registration and certified translations if you decide to move to Greece. Happy to answer any questions!
suddenreflexes@reddit
UK perhaps?
DifficultTerm-20@reddit
You’re honestly not alone in feeling this way about Japan. A lot of foreigners eventually realize that while the country is safe and organized, the social and work culture can become emotionally exhausting long term, especially if you never fully feel like you belong. After eight years, I think it’s valid that you’re prioritizing your mental health and quality of life instead of just enduring it. From what you shared, I think you should focus less on the perfect country and more on finding a realistic pathway that gives you career mobility and stability. Spain seems like the safest option financially and probably the best for lifestyle, but salaries are not very high and finding work can still be difficult without strong Spanish skills. The UK has better long-term earning potential and more international opportunities, but it’s expensive, and I would only recommend a Master’s there if it leads to a more employable field instead of another general humanities-related degree. You may also want to consider places like Germany or Netherlands because they tend to have stronger job markets and more international environments. At this stage, your best move is probably to stay in Japan just long enough to save aggressively, build practical skills that can transfer internationally, and then use study or mobility programs as a stepping stone into a different career path. You’re still young, and changing direction at 29 is much more normal than you think.
lluluna@reddit
Spain is NOT the place to move for work unless you come from money. In other words, your standard of living is not reliant on the job you find (or won't find) in Spain.
It's still a great place for vacation though.
fernandagrace@reddit (OP)
I have been thinking of that too. Thank you for your input!
Legitimate_Rest_3873@reddit
maybe working holiday in australia?
fernandagrace@reddit (OP)
I did research on it and found that WHV holders in Australia can only work upto 6 months under one employer, often limiting job prospects to low-barrier positions with high turnover and the visa itself is only valid for one year. I thought, it will be difficult to build up skills in this case.
Critical_Cut_6016@reddit
The UK is very expensive, and the job market here is in the worst state it’s been in, in memory. That coupled with the rise of AI, and the overstaturation of education and its drop in standards plus the way our economy is all tertiary and quaternary based. It’s not looking good.
You will be able to do a Masters here, but it will cost a fortune as non-eu citizens pay a over inflated premium and you will only be able to work 20 hours a week to contribute, and that’s if you get a part time- job, which will be quite difficult as you will likely be competing with potentially a hundred if more young people and students for this part time job.
Once you graduate, finding a job here to sustain yourself will be even harder, as you will have to earn £38K minimum (a really high entry level wage) and a sponsorship, and the law has changed to make it more favourable to hire British workers and sponsorships have a lot more red tape. Meaning only very skilled workers, where the skills cannot be met by a worker would be chosen, such as expert in a niche type of robotics or something, from your post this sounds like you are not in this situation. Nor will a masters qualify you for any of these skills.
Years ago the student system was very exploited, as many foreign nationals would use it and a back door to citizenship. But now the threshold is much higher for wages, and sponsorships it most loopholes have been tightened and if you do not get a job two years after graduation your visa runs out and you will have to leave, or be risk being deported.
And that’s assuming you can support yourself for two years in the UK with no income I.e. have a lot of savings. I know of two people facing this problem right now and they will likely have to leave. A lot of masters programs know the situation but will be disengengous about prospects as they are bisiness and want your money.
So to summarise coming over here to do masters expecting a pathway to a good career and citizenship, is a really bad idea. It’s only worth doing the masters if you rly feel you are interested in the subject and have planned career path somwhere else, and have a lot of capital saved up to supoort yourself.
I would only recommend moving here if you get a job beforehand.
TL:DR
UK Is expensive, job market is terrible in all sectors many brits can’t find jobs - many causes inclu gov policy, Ai rise, mass immigration, changing world etc.
Masters is very expensive for non-EU, can only work for 20 hours during, if can even find job, will very unlikely lead to job after, much harder to find sponsored job for foreign national unless very skilled. 2 years post graduation and visa runs out and have to leave country.
Virtual-End1827@reddit
No jobs in Spain for locals or otherwise. Just read the unemployment stats for Europe. EasternEuropean countries have lower cost of living and often more dynamic economies, not exempt of problems though. The rest of Europe is pretty sclerotic, housing is an issue everywhere. You may be better off staying in SEA, many places have more open cultures than Japan. Last but not least? Passport? Immigration issues?
fernandagrace@reddit (OP)
Got it, thank you for your input!
RoundAd4247@reddit
If you need the help of a large language model to formulate a simple Reddit post, yet leave out all useful information like your citizenship, you don’t sound like an employable person from the European point of view.
fernandagrace@reddit (OP)
If you rely on this post to assess employability, you are not the best person to consult with. You also could have learned to be nicer and less condescending by now as a Top 1% Commenter. Cheers.
NorthernLordEU@reddit
The country you speak the language of is your best bet. Spain has employment issues and housing issues in cities. A lot of western Europe is dealing with large housing issues for quite some years now.
fredwhoisflatulent@reddit
What nationality? Your visa route may be easier if you can start on a WHV
fernandagrace@reddit (OP)
Japanese passport! Yes, that's why I am considering but I am unsure how things will look long-term. Also I like your username