Interview

Yesterday, I had a job interview in Osaka, and I already have the impression it did not go well.

It started out not too well already: I answered an online job ad, and when I was invited to the interview and asked for my time preference, I said “Monday morning or early afternoon”, to which I received the reply: “Monday 16:30 is great for us!” So much for my plans for the evening.

Since I had to go to Osaka, I printed out the directions given to me by the company as well as a map from google. It is not good to be late to an interview, especially in Japan, so I factored in 30 minutes of grace period in order not to be late. Everything looked good – and then I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up nowhere near my destination. I asked somebody and this young woman was kind enough to accompany me to the building (I love Japan!); but even though I was just in time with 5 minutes to spare or so, I think this did not go down well.

I had to bring my passport and residence card to the interview, and my business manager visa was the next problem. The company usually deals only with individuals, and it is unclear if their standard procedures allow them to hire another company, which technically I am. Probably the paperwork has to be different. I promised to ask my lawyer about this, but I know that company policies are usually rather rigid here and people are not used to make exceptions.

The interview as such did not go that badly I think, but at the end I was ushered off the premises rather quickly. I am not sure whether this was because they were tired of me or whether there was somebody else waiting. My allotted time was up though, but in any case, it did not leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling… I will hear from them within a couple of weeks, apparently.

A Man presses a "reject" buttionAltogether, I don’t think I made it. Too many little details that did not quite click. Oh well, I guess I’d better chalk this off as learning experience. Two things I have already learned: First, to give precise times when I am available (Monday from 9:00 – 15:00) and second, that no map is 100% accurate; and when I’m lost the best idea and time saver is to simply take a taxi.