Job interview in Japanese?

[Crispy]

I have been contacted about a job as a bilingual software tester at Microsoft, for X-Box games. The contractor recruiter (who is not knowledgable about Japanese) says that the interview will be in Japanese, and that if I get the job, I will be one of a very few non-native Japanese speakers who have, and that I will be communicating in Japanese at all times (including in bug reporting). It's a massive opportunity to improve my Japanese ability and a stepping stone into both MS and the world of game development in Japan, not to mention a chance to play games so new that the Japanese game mags don't even know about them.

The only problem is, at this point in history, the idea of doing an interview in Japanese scares the hell out of me. If the interviewer is expecting native level conversation skills, he may be fairly close. However, if he expects native level reading ability, I definitely can't help him there. The recruiter said that I would probably be shown a Japanese game manual to read, and I am pretty sure that I will not be able to read it 100% no matter what section he selects, probably around 80%. Apart from that, I have never been told exactly what needs to be said at a job interview in Japanese, the language has specialized words for every damn situation out there, doubtless there are words specifically for interviews as well, not to mention the fact that I haven't conversed with anyone in Japanese in months. But more than anything else, I just don't know what skill level is expected of me. It will be either tomorrow or otherwise in the near future. Does anyone have any advice, encouragement or doomsaying?

[Gaisaradatsuraku!]

Easy. You're fucked. Throw yourself at the mercy of the interviewer and hope for the best.

[Taro Toporific]

Easy. You're fucked....hope for the best.

"....hope for the best" 'cause Xboz Japan is megafarked.

Microsoft Japan got a black eye on the Web this week when a Nikkei Biztech report revealed that one of 34 Xbox employees laid off back in March (Xbox hasn't been doing well here) said that he felt like he was "treated like a criminal". He was referring to Microsoft's apparent lack of finesse in carrying out the actual firing. According to the report, the foreign division head called the entire 200 Japanese Xbox staff together and told them that 34 people would be fired. Not saying which ones, they were told to go back to their desks and check their e-mail...

Further, the report says that the company blocked off the elevators and exits around where the sacked employees were supposed to gather later, with security guards. Apparently they couldn't even use a rest room unless accompanied by a guard. Perhaps this is standard Microsoft Japan procedure... but it still must have been pretty shocking to the local employees involved. In Japan, this kind of treatment is usually reserved for people committing a criminal act at work ...

Ironically, and you know how these things are, the Diet just this week passed a new law on how employees may be dismissed. This is the first time that such a set of guidelines has been formalized. Although the intent of the law is to let Japanese corporations actually fire people more easily, the final watered down wording contains the phrase that dismissal has to have "objectively rational reasons and be in line with accepted social customs". In the case of Microsoft, a hugely successful company that could arguably have reassigned the employees elsewhere, the courts would have had a field day. ... however, the new law won't be actually used for another 6-9 months.

From T E R R I E 'S T A K E
A weekly roundup of news & information from Terrie Lloyd.
(http://www.terrie.com)
General Edition Sunday 29th, June 2003 Issue No.236

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Related news....


Microsoft Cuts Xbox Console Price in Asia to $179
Bloomberg - June 30-- Microsoft Corp., the world's biggest software maker, said it cut the price of its Xbox video-game console to $179 in Asia excluding Japan ... [/quote]


Check outAre Games Deadthread

[cstaylor]

Good luck Crispy! Do you have namecards made up yet?

[Crispy]

Nope. Remember, I am not in Japan, I am currently residing in Microsoft...I mean, Redmond WA. I don't know all the details (I will get a call back tomorrow), I don't even know if my interview is with a Japanese, a Japanese-American, or some white guy who speaks it natively.

[GomiGirl]

Take a prop with you - a trusty Nelson or *gasp* electronic dictionary. Tell them you carry it with you at all times to help with the Kanji.

Don't pretend to know more Japanese than you do - but that you are willing to learn. I think that sometimes real fluency can be a little intimidating to Japanese employers especially if their English leaves a little to be desired. Play on the "pet gaijin" factor but that you are willing to learn.

But on an aside - you wanna work for M$? Hasn't X-Box just laid off a heap of staff?

[Neo-Rio]

Nope. Remember, I am not in Japan, I am currently residing in Microsoft...I mean, Redmond WA. I don't know all the details (I will get a call back tomorrow), I don't even know if my interview is with a Japanese, a Japanese-American, or some white guy who speaks it natively.

All you can really do is hope for the best.

I had MAJOR hassles getting a Japanese CV together, and my Japanese girlfriend just about wrote it for me.... not that my current company cared.

Mind you, I am in a Japanese company and I haven't even taken a Japanese proficiency test before... but my Japanese is good enough to growl like an oyaji, to fool people into thinking I speak Japanese.
Mind you, my company is shite and low paying... and not anything like the 800 pound gorilla Microsoft is.

And while you're at Microsoft, tell them to scrap calling it an Xbox in Japan.
Japanese people just look at the big cross on it and think "Big Batsu". Maybe change the X to the mathematical algebraic 'x' or something.
And come up with some more games based on anime and comics and have lots of naked girls in them which are cute, and to quit concentrating on getting devlopers to make games that look too realistic.. that just pees off the Japanese gamer to no end.
If "Game is art" to Microsoft, they should get more anime artists.

[Taro Toporific]

Nope. Remember, I am not in Japan, I am currently residing in Microsoft...I mean, Redmond WA. .

OH MY BUDDHA!
You're being sent to Japan on the "PACKAGE."
Real housing toka, paid education toka, cost-of-living bonus toka, twice-a-year airfare toka... the Package adds up to more than your bosses are being paid . . . just think of that "fun".

[Crispy]

Uh, I think it's a little early for that. This isn't a straight MS gig, it's a contract deal that I assume is staying right in Redmond for the time being.

[Big Booger]

lie,
fake it,
play the piper,
you come out honest,
you loose job
sayonara Japan.
:d

[American Oyaji]

I thought they called it BATSU BOKUSU (batsu box)

just do your best.

Thats all you can hope for. If they need anyone that KNOWS games and is an avid game player, and can creat games that will be viable in usa and Japan, give me a call. I'm serious.

I've actually tried to get M$ attention, but to no avail...yet.

[GomiGirl]

The worst thing you can say to a gaming company is that you are an avid gamer.. they think (quite rightly) that you will be playing all day rather than developing/working.

Say that you are a strategy developer or animator..

I would never hire a gamer.

[kamome]

If the job offer is to work for a Japanese boss in Japan, do NOT take it. You're better off in the US, even if it means giving up the expat package. You know why the expat package is so lucrative? Because they are compensating you for ruining your career.

That being said, it may be different for programmers than for other professions. If it's just a contract deal for a defined project (like 6 months in Japan, then paid relocation costs back to the US), it might be worth checking out. But if this is an open-ended arrangement where you don't know how long they will need you, look elsewhere.

[Crispy]

The worst thing you can say to a gaming company is that you are an avid gamer.. they think (quite rightly) that you will be playing all day rather than developing/working.

Say that you are a strategy developer or animator..

I would never hire a gamer.

Actually, the first question the recruiter asked me on the phone is if I considered myself a hardcore gamer. I said yes. Then he asked me how many hours I play. I said these days, about 1-2 hours a day. He was surprised, because most people who say "hardcore" answer 8 hours a day. I guess I am weak sauce in that department...

[American Oyaji]

I would probably say I'm more of a gaming hobbyist.

I analyze games and I think of what would have made a game better. I am VERY critical while playing games.

[Crispy]

Yeah, that's what I said about myself too, but the difference in terminology for hobbyist vs. hardcore gamer escapes me. Anyway, this is an entry level position as a bug and proofreading tester, the job by itself is pretty mundane, except for the fact that I will have to do it entirely in Japanese.