AboutTai Yamanaka Expertise I can answer questions regarding Japanese business culture, business etiquette, corporate society, as well as provide know-how on how to research industries, corporations and communicate with business contacts.
Experience I have over 20 years of experience working in Japanese corporations as well as for American corporations doing business with Japan. I have served as a representative as well as a go-between for American and other corporations with Japanese businesses, industry and scholarly associations as well as government agencies
Expert: Tai Yamanaka Date: 5/25/2007 Subject: Job interview in Japan
Question Dear Yamanaka-san,
I am an Indian national - an engineer by profession carrying 5 years of international experience in the Refractories industry (India - < 1 yr) and China (4 years).
I have been invited to Japan in June to attend an interview with the Directors of a Japanese firm (a subsidiary of Nippon Steel). I have already met the India director and have received an informal offer through him via email. Now, the firm wants me to come over to Japan and discuss finer issues before both of us make an important decision.
I would be extremely grateful if you could advise me on what all to expect in the forthcoming meetings alongwith crucial tips from the Japanese business interviews. I am searching the internet and am coming up with quite a large number of comments.
I look forward to hear from you in the above context.
Best Regards
Vishal
Answer Hello Vishal,
Thank you for your message.
It seems that the Nippon Steel subsidiary was impressed with your 4-year career in China, that you have passed the preliminary evaluation, and now the company wants to see if you are ready for your next elevation in status.
Every interview is different, but generally, the interviewer needs to find answers to several concerns, all of which together answer the question, will you fit in? The concerns have to do with your sourcing, your positioning “up and down,” and “in and out,” and the measure of your performance.
Sourcing simply means where do you come from, and what were your formative influences. This is to identify your personal context, and to see if that package (person + context) would fit into the Japanese environment into which you will be asked to fit.
In a practical sense, this question asks who is your father and mother and certain of your relatives. Are they productive members of society? Who are your siblings and are they productive members of society also?
The Confucian basis of Japanese society means there is no real sense of privacy or individuality, as these concepts are understood in western societies: there is no individual without the familial and societal context.
The interviewer would like to know if your father (and major relatives) has succeeded in society, either by education, good working habits, connections and so forth. If he is, then those qualities presumably have been passed on to his offspring (i.e., you), assuming that you have a viably functioning family. The interviewer would also like to know if you have any association with undesirable elements.
“Up and down” positioning is where you fit in the corporate hierarchy. Were you a good underling in your younger years? If you have lead teams of subsidiary workers, did you lead well, while effectively taking orders from higher ups?
“In and out” positioning is how well you can identify with corporate interests and make those interests your own, when you are tasked with protecting those interests in your dealings with individuals and organizations outside of your corporate position?
And finally, Japan is a Confucian society, meaning that it is authoritarian. When they measure performance, they wish to defer to a disinterested third party. In practical terms, this means, did you attend and graduate from a prestigious school, did you earn good grades, have you professional accomplishments that were judged by scholarly and industry associations? Did your previous employers value your performance highly?
The more cynical interpretation of these questions is that the employer wants to know if you can take orders gracefully, and if you have differences, whether you know the proper outlets for that frustration, and failing that, if you know the accepted procedures for acting on those complaints. In other words, do you understand the context to which you are seeking to fit in? And are they convinced of your ability to do so?
This is simply a very general outline, but I hope this helps.
Please let me know if I can provide more information.
