Job Discussion Forums

[chirp]

Let's get back to the OP's concern: phone interviews.

Let me start by saying that I am not suggesting that the OP did any of the things I am about to mention, sometimes you just don't click with the other person. Unfortunately, they have the power to move you on to the next step or not.

General comment on phone interviews:

1. Any communication, written or verbal, with any employee of the prospective employer, should always be polite and professional. I don't care if you are talking to an administrative assistant or the security man at the door; negative impressions have a way getting to the hiring manager's ear.

2. Make sure that you answer any phone number you provide the prospective employer with professionally. Don't have stupid answering machine messages. Don't let your 5 year old sibling answer the line. You are being judged from the moment you (or anyone else) picks up the phone.

3. If you are busy, unprepared, driving, in the bathroom, at a bar, whatever; politely ask the individual if they could call back at a more convenient time, and make sure you are in the right headspace when they do.

4. Just because you aren't in their office, don't think this isn't a "real" interview, it is. It is a step in the screening process. A quick and efficient way to determine whether the hiring manager wants to spend their valuable time meeting you in person.

My personal opinion now, about what not to say during phone interviews for jobs in Japan:

1. Is it easy to get a Japanese girlfriend/boyfriend?
2. I have never taught anything before, but I heard that anyone can teach English in Japan.
3. I will only work in Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto/Okinawa.
4. I love anime. (response to "Why Japan?")
5. I expect the company to pay for my apartment.
6. I don't have any money to get set up in Japan. That's why I am looking for a job.
7. I am worth more than 250,000 yen monthly. (I don't care if you are, you are not talking to anyone who has the authority to negotiate your salary at this point).
8. I have never lived away from home.
9. I must be in the same place/company/office as my girlfriend/boyfriend.


I could go on, but most importantly, just do the following:

Be polite, be professional, speak clearly, be flexible and be prepared.

[Hoser]

[Chris21]

A lot of the hiring that I've witnesssed in Japan is done by Japanese managers. Perhaps it's the cultural tendency to be indirect, or just an unfamiliarity with Western hiring practices, but I have seen far more poor interviewers than good ones.

I've been rejected by places that I thought were a sure-thing, and hired by places that I thought were impossible... you never really know. Just try to assess your performance as honestly and candidly as possible, correct anything that might have come off poorly, and try again.