Interview Experience ~ The First

So this might come as news to some of you, but I’ve decided to jump ship and look for work with another company. I’ve been scouting the interweb searching for new opportunities. I’d had a few bites, a couple of Skype interviews but I don’t think anything could have prepared me for my very first face to face interview in Japan. Because if I have ever experienced culture shock since being here, this is the very first time that I’ve been truly aware of it.

I interviewed for a position with a company called Berlitz. They are well-known in English teaching circles and apparently there was a branch in the Fukuyama city. After three weeks of back and forth emails (and a week waiting for a response), an interview was confirmed and I made all the necessary preparations. Because I couldn’t attend an interview at the scheduled time, I asked if I could interview earlier due to work commitments. They obliged so I was grateful.

Taking the Shinkansen would have gotten me to Fukuyama in twenty minutes but it’s also super expensive so I opted to take a local train instead. This was expected to take just under two hours so I bit the bullet, woke up seriously early, put together a moderately formal outfit and made my journey. I arrived there over an hour early and decided to find the location. The school was not what I was expecting. It was a rather old-looking structure on the first floor and there was no Berlitz logo in sight. I was feeling extremely sleep deprived so I sought to find a coffee shop but alas, at 9:30am in the morning, not a one was open.

Maybe this was a sign of things to come.

I opted for some water instead, downed about half the bottle and then decided to do the Japanese thing and arrive a little bit early. I walked up the steps and came face to face with about seven Japanese men sitting in an office. They gawked at me in shock and I suddenly felt extremely small despite the fact that I towered over most of them. I bid them “hello” and then my interviewer exited the office and an awkward introduction occurred whereby he confirmed my name and invited me to take off my shoes. What I found strange was that he didn’t even introduce himself.

Just pretend that this guy is Japanese and you've
basically got my interview today.

I was led into a classroom and the interview began. It turned out that Berlitz was opening a new school at the station and that our current interview location was an English cram school. I was asked a bunch of questions to do with my current experience and whether I could handle new ones. More often than not, he would simply make random grunts as I spoke but whether they were in approval or disproval, I don’t know. What I found peculiar however was that he would often repeat the same sorts of questions but in a different way and often asked me about my life in Japan. Whether he was trying to make me feel at ease or it was a simple interview tactic, again, I really couldn’t tell you.

The bomb was dropped however when he implied that they were really looking to fulfil the remaining part-time position as all the full-time ones had been taken. I can’t say my heart sank but in order to sustain my life in Japan, I know that I require something full-time. I expected him to terminate my interview right there and then but shortly afterwards, he stated that it was time for me to demo a lesson.

Now in the email he sent me, I had been given information about the “students” in my demo. I was to demo for two students, one of pre-intermediate level and one of upper-intermediate level. I had expected that my interviewer, plus another member of the Berlitz team would pretend to be students of that level; this was what I’m used to I suppose. Instead of two, however, I actually got three native Japanese students and this time, my heart did sink as I’d only prepared content for two students.

I started off okay. I introduced my vocabulary but as I moved in the meat of demo, I forgot to teach some of my content. I had also created worksheets but as I instigated the final task, I realised that even these were poorly structured. The “students” laughed about it and so did I, but I truthfully was dying inside. I finished the task and then wasn’t sure what to do until one of the “students” stepped outside the room and called the interviewer back in. As soon as he appeared, he muttered a rather informal “that’s it” and I said goodbye to the “students”.

Earlier, my interviewer had made a joke about covering my travel expenses. When he returned again, he handed an envelope with 5000 yen in it. I was so shocked that I’m not sure if I accepted it correctly (you’re supposed to accept with both hands in Japan) and shortly afterwards, I dropped the materials I’d used in the demo lesson all over the floor. I felt so clumsy and wanted to escape as quickly as possible until I was told that one of my “students” would drop me to the station. Again, I was shocked because these sorts of things do not happen in the UK. We are never reimbursed travel expenses and nobody offers to drive an interview candidate to the station. What’s more, the station was only a ten minute walk away also, so I found this extremely particular.

It was only after getting into yet another stranger’s car that I realised that this “third student” had probably been sent there to observe me as I demoed my lesson. I just hadn’t been told this and I really wish I had, because then I could have focused on the other two. I tried to instigate a conversation in the car and then fell silent until he started talking to me again so I spoke to him a bit more freely. He took me to the station as planned. I thanked him, we bowed in farewell and I couldn’t have scurried away into that station fast enough.

Upon reflection, I think even before having the interview, I knew I didn’t want the job as much. What I wanted however was the interview experience as it had been well over a year since I’d interviewed last. But I didn’t realise that I would actually be walking into a purely Japanese environment; I was expecting to see one or two foreigners walking around. As a result, I probably would have done a lot more research but I’m now starting to realise that the email address I’d be corresponding with should have been a dead giveaway. It had been created through Yahoo Mail.

The people in question were pleasant. They didn’t do anything bad to me but I felt a little shaken after the experience - epic culture shock, I believe. I highly doubt any of the men in that facility had met a foreigner like me before and I’d never been in an environment quite like that either. So as soon as I got on the train, I contacted people and found out that apparently, it’s not uncommon for companies to reimburse travel expenses to interview candidates here. It didn’t make me feel any better; I felt really weird accepting the money but I know that it isn’t custom in Japan to turn away kindness.

I was told I would be contacted with the result but I’d be surprised if they offered me the position. Irrespective, as I said, I don’t think I want the position as much and I especially don’t want a part time role. It was certainly an experience however. Next time, hopefully, I’ll be more prepared…and less sleep-deprived.

Japanese Work Culture ~ Due Diligence

I’m actually in the process of writing up a second part to a prior entry I made and I was going to include this topic but figured that this was something that could quite comfortably stand alone. For you see, it’s not really news that Asians work bloody hard. In England, the highest number of Asians are Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian and they’ve done well for themselves. But the Japanese working culture is indeed what I would describe as a culture shock. And while it doesn’t directly affect me – as more often than not, I still see a two-day weekend and I don’t work nearly as many hours as the rest of the country – I’ve come to find that the way in which Japanese people regard work is quite interesting.

Look at that dedication.

Now I was previously aware from other sources that the Japanese – especially the men – are extremely conscientious. They bring home bacon like no tomorrow to support their families and anyone who does this is to be commended really. But I didn’t realise the exact extent of what it means to be a worker here. Because as a worker, you’re not just another employee; you’re an important piece – a cog even – operating inside a well oiled machine. And the harder you work, the better it is not only for your superiors but for your fellow colleagues as well. Everyone needs to work together. There is no “I” in “team” and all that jazz. And fundamentally, there are a lot of rules that must be followed, making it a far cry shy of where I’m from.

In the UK, the working week is fairly fixed. Most people work Monday to Friday, 9am until 5pm. There are folk that work early mornings however and some that do nights, but the “9 ‘til 5” momentum still stands and when Friday comes, people throw off the shackles and let loose. My general working week is Tuesday to Saturday (with a few changes here and there every couple of weeks) but what I came to find when leaving my house particularly early one Saturday morning was that there were lots of people out and about. This surprised me for 7.30 in the morning because on a Saturday in London, there’s barely a body about unless their staggering home after that Friday night. The train was positively rammed and it started to make me realise that whatever routine I may have been used to back home, does not exist here.

People work around the clock. Just because it says you’re starting time is 8am, it doesn’t mean you arrive at 8am. You have to arrive earlier – sometimes thirty minutes earlier or more. Arriving on time is frowned upon here and arriving late is just damn right bad manners. Persistent offences without a valid reason could even get you fired. In a similar fashion, leaving on time is just as bad. People might finish at 6pm but as a method of demonstrating commitment to one’s job, people will often leave later. (I sometimes wonder if people race in order not to be the first to leave). As a result, I could be coming home at midnight and I’ll see a train full of people heading in the opposite direction as they make the commute home. What’s more, I never see my neighbours but I can hear them and I’m aware that they leave for work earlier than I do and on occasion will return home later than I do.

I do not envy them.

I’ve also, noticed that it’s rare for people to have two consecutive days off. A friend of mine will work a five day week with a day off and then will work a four, five or even six day week (depending on whether it’s crunch time) before the next day off. This makes scheduling days or even evenings out quite difficult but I think the offices here try to make up for this by incorporating company events e.g. the infamous bounenkai (end of year party) and shinenkai (start of year party).

This “working culture” however doesn’t just extend to adults however, but to children as well. It isn’t uncommon for me to see kids out and about in school uniform on a Saturday as they make the trek to their cram schools or extra curricula activities. And they come out in their droves. I had even considered that some schools spilled over onto Saturdays at one point but I suppose that this time of year being exam period means that even the kids are working hard, whether trying to pass that high school entry exam or making their families proud.

Might not be a mansion but at least he made it.

Even the homeless are at it. In the UK, we attach a stigma to homeless people. They smell, they smoke, they drink and as such, it’s very difficult for a lot of them to find work. After all, who wants to be served by scruffy looking vagabond in the supermarket? But in Japan, not having a home doesn’t necessarily mean one doesn’t have a job. They might not have a most appealing of jobs but even the homeless have found alternative ways of survival. Some have even made little communities and ramshackle abodes for themselves as a means of shelter. In the UK, most folk sleep on the streets and if they try to make something for themselves, the police will move them on. In Japan, I think most people consider the homeless untouchable – literally – so as long as they’re not harming anyone, they’re left to their devices.

Otsukaresama desu! This is something that is frequently used in the workplace to acknowledge fellow workers and their hard work. I frequently use it during meetings or whenever I make a phone call to head office. I suspect this has become a necessity or has always been a necessity because following hard work comes the fatigue and everyone likes to be thanked in some way or other for putting in all those hours. Because when one day ends, the next begins. And at the end of that day, it I often see various people flaked out or fast asleep on the train. (Believe me, I’ve been there too).

So dust yourself off, roll your head back and close your eyes, young man. You’ve seriously earned yourself that kip.