Translation of することになっている


I have the following sentence to translate for class.

[code]

    森田さんは、
    ヴァージニア州立大学を卒業してから
    日本の映画の会社に就職することになっている
    
[/code]

So far I have the following.

[code]

    Morita-san
    after graduating from Virginia State University
    became getting a full time job at a Japanese movie company.
    
[/code]

That `することになっている` seems strange to me. I would expect `するようになっている` which is a
structure we recently learned.

Can anyone explain and maybe give a better English translation?




「ことになる」 means "it has been decided/it has been arranged". The focus is on the
fact that the decision is not made by the person being the topic of the
sentence but by someone else (e.g. employer, parents).

For example:

> 留学することになりました。  
>  It has been decided that I will study abroad.

You passage can be thus translated as:

> 森田さんは、ヴァージニア州立大学を卒業してから日本の映画の会社に就職することになっている。  
>  It has been decided that Morita-san will get employment at a Japanese movie
> company after graduation from Virginia State University.

* * *

Note that there is a similar structure 「ことにする」 which conveys the meaning that
the decision is made by yourself. For example:

> 留学することにしました。  
>  I have decided to study abroad.




「ことになる」 means "it has been decided/it has been arranged". The focus is on the
fact that the decision is not made by the person being the topic of the
sentence but by someone else (e.g. employer, parents).

For example:

> 留学することになりました。  
>  It has been decided that I will study abroad.

You passage can be thus translated as:

> 森田さんは、ヴァージニア州立大学を卒業してから日本の映画の会社に就職することになっている。  
>  It has been decided that Morita-san will get employment at a Japanese movie
> company after graduation from Virginia State University.

* * *

Note that there is a similar structure 「ことにする」 which conveys the meaning that
the decision is made by yourself. For example:

> 留学することにしました。  
>  I have decided to study abroad.

