Interview Tomorrow.. in Japanese!

Hey everyone,

Well guys, tomorrow is a big day for me, I'm interviewing for a summer internship program with works with HS American/Japanese students film the various aspects of Japan. The competition over this new program is fierce, and over 50 people have applied for only 4 spots, so the heat is on!
Because the people interviewing us are stationed in Japan, they have decided to use a popular web-program called "Skype", a program that seems to be an internet phone (never used it before). I think it also lets people use video communication, so I think it really is a good medium for an interview.
Anyway, sofar, I have scheduled an appointment with the leader of the program, and plan to be up and bright eyed for my big interview . And although there's more to it, part of my interview will be in Japanese.
Don't get me wrong, it's not as if I've never spoken a word of Japanese in my life before, but if anyone else can relate, I think we all know the feeling we have when actually practicing our language skills in class and talking with our friends vs the extremely importatnt events like this one. In this case, I've never actually used Keigo before, and will try my best to use it well, but the last minute shakes are really getting me now. Oh boy, I'm getting nervous as I'm typing this already....

I came to ask for some last minute suggestions and the power of Jref mainly concerning my keigo for the interview. If there's any advice or experiences someone would like to share involving being interviewed by a Japanese in Japanese, please feel free to share (I think I'll feel better just reviewing some stuff that other people post)!
In the mean time, I've been writing/practiced saying somethings that may hopefully impress the judge and make me sound like less of an idiot. Please feel free to comment and criticize:

1) Keigo-- Introduce with 窶堙ｭ窶堋ｽ窶堋ｭ窶堋ｵﾂ ﾂ（don't forget 窶堋ｭ窶堋ｵ)窶堙債 ﾂ"窶堙遺?堙懌?堋ｦﾂ"窶堙?申窶堋ｵ窶堙懌?堋ｷﾂ。窶堙ｦ窶堙ｫ窶堋ｵ窶堋ｭ窶堋ｨ窶堙銀?堋ｪ窶堋｢窶堋｢窶堋ｽ窶堋ｵ窶堙懌?堋ｷ

Basic Keigo
---
-Use 窶堋｢窶堙≫?堙ｧ窶堋ｵ窶堙｡窶堙ｩﾂ・窶堋ｨ窶堙ｩ
-窶堙??堋ｷﾂ?≫?堙??堋ｲ窶堋ｴ窶堋｢窶堙懌?堋ｷ
-End everything with 窶堙懌?堋ｷﾂ・窶堙??堋ｷ
-Do NOT use plain form
-concentrate on using 窶堙ｭ窶堋ｽ窶堋ｵﾂ (I have been trying not to forget this... I have a bad feeling I'll slip up on this vs 窶堙壺?堋ｭ)
- Try not to say 窶堋ｦ窶堙?、but 窶堋ｻ窶堙??堋ｷ窶堙 (This is incase I'm trying to buy thinking time).

2) The Interview
---
- Make sure (if video used) to bow in and out of the interview
- I've never actually participated in an interview before, is there anything custom to Japanese style interviews I should be aware of (besides bow)?

--

In advance, thanks for the help everyone, I'll be checking the forums till around midnight mytime.
Thanks

How about あのう さ～ is that considered rude?

Is it? I've heard it before, but not in a formal business setting.

Forget keigo. Just use the normal polite forms and you'll be fine. Japanese people don't expect foreigners to know Japanese anyway, so anything you say will be a pleasant surprise. The main point is COMMUNICATION. Plan what you are going to say, not how.

Forget bowing, I doubt they'll do it. They don't expect foreigners to bow anyway.

Figure on one key question: Why Japan?

Use watakushi and you'll sound stupid. Don't use degozaimas! Use watashi if you want, boku is fine (and closer to being natural). Eeto, anou, etc are natural, soudesune sounds like you are agreeing to something. Just don't say "un".


Keigo is over the top unless you have good Japanese, just use polite forms.

I've had a few interviews *only* in Japanese, and I'll be having more soon as I'm looking for a new job Good luck!

Glenski said:

Forget keigo. Just use the normal polite forms and you'll be fine. Japanese people don't expect foreigners to know Japanese anyway, so anything you say will be a pleasant surprise. The main point is COMMUNICATION. Plan what you are going to say, not how.
Forget bowing, I doubt they'll do it. They don't expect foreigners to bow anyway.
Figure on one key question: Why Japan?

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I agree with everything except the normal polite forms ARE a part of keigo. I've never seen humble forms used in interviews outside of ﾂ申窶堋ｵ窶堙懌?堋ｷﾂ。If you've never spoken this way before, even using 窶堙ｭ窶堋ｽ窶堋ｵﾂ、as Glenski sai, it's pretty common sense to forget trying it out in an job interview.

I can certainly understand your anxiety. Face-to-face Japanese is one thing; doing it on a phone is another kettle of fish entirely. In my line of work I very often have to do things by phone. Sometimes I go for several days (up to a week, even) without seeing my boss, doing everything by phone. I can remember very well the anxiety I felt back when I first found making phone calls in Japanese inescapable. With my bosses and coworkers it's not so bad, but having to call up customers I've never met and who aren't expecting a call from a foreigner can be nerve-wracking. And I've done my fair share of job interviews in Japanese too. You have my sympathy and by best wishes for a good outcome. Be brave.

Gentleman10 said:

Hey everyone,
Well guys, tomorrow is a big day for me, I'm interviewing for a summer internship program with works with HS American/Japanese students film the various aspects of Japan. The competition over this new program is fierce, and over 50 people have applied for only 4 spots, so the heat is on!

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I hope everything goes well for you. But I wouldn't call 50 people for 4 slots bad. I am waiting to hear about a job in Tokyo...350 people and only 1 slot...wonder if my phone will ring?

CC1 said:

I hope everything goes well for you. But I wouldn't call 50 people for 4 slots bad. I am waiting to hear about a job in Tokyo...350 people and only 1 slot...wonder if my phone will ring?

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Wear the most outrageous tie you own - it seriously helps!

Elizabeth wrote:

I agree with everything except the normal polite forms ARE a part of keigo.

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I just meant not to use the type of overly polite forms that go beyond the "desu" and "masu" forms.

Elizabeth said:

I agree with everything except the normal polite forms ARE a part of keigo. I've never seen humble forms used in interviews outside of ﾂ申窶堋ｵ窶堙懌?堋ｷﾂ。If you've never spoken this way before, even using 窶堙ｭ窶堋ｽ窶堋ｵﾂ、as Glenski sai, it's pretty common sense to forget trying it out in an job interview.

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Most of the time you're expected to formal words. You don't necessarily have to be too honorific (unless you are really good at it). It's always a good idea to use "watakushi" instead of "watashi" in formal situations. Also, humble words like "itadaku" are used very often as well.

The tone of your self introduction will dictate how the interview will go. Probably you have already had your interview already. If you think you can't stick with using high level keigo, just don't use too much at the beginning. I think the people are more concerned at what your responses are than how much keigo you can speak. Afterall this is not a customer service position.

nhk9 said:

The tone of your self introduction will dictate how the interview will go. Probably you have already had your interview already. If you think you can't stick with using high level keigo, just don't use too much at the beginning. I think the people are more concerned at what your responses are than how much keigo you can speak. Afterall this is not a customer service position.

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I absolutely agree with nhk9 about how to go about with the interview. If you are overly conscious with keigo, you might fail to get your argument/opinion across. Since you live in the US, I think the Japanese interviwer will understand any slip-ups you may commit. After all, your Japanese can get rusty (even native speakers do after a long overseas stay), and you don't live in Japan at this point in time.

Considering all that, forget "watakushi" or "gozaimasu." Just make sure you finish your sentences with -desu or -masu.

Just be comfortable with yourself!

nhk9 said:

Most of the time you're expected to formal words. You don't necessarily have to be too honorific (unless you are really good at it). It's always a good idea to use "watakushi" instead of "watashi" in formal situations. Also, humble words like "itadaku" are used very often as well.

Click to expand...

Yes, I meant dont worry about it at an interview at this level -- the position is talking to HS students and for a foreigner who is still from fluent I seriously doubt they are going to except to have any keigo skills much less strong enough to carry through an entire interview (or was it only a point of introduction ?). So like everyone has said relax and concentrate fully on what the interview is interested in, your qualifications for this particular position. It isn't like you're trying to become an elevator lady or clerk at Daiwa or anything

But if you wanted to talk like you would normally to a superior, 窶堋｢窶堙ｧ窶堙≫?堋ｵ窶堙｡窶堙ｩ etc are alright although I wouldn't mix it randomly with fancy ways of talking to customers (窶堋ｨ窶堙ｩﾂ、窶堙??堋ｲ窶堋ｴ窶堋｢窶堙懌?堋ｷﾂ。ﾂ。ﾂ。ﾂ）ﾂ。unless you know exactly what you are doing and can be very, very cool under the pressure...

I had my interview this morning, but before I go into detail I want to say thank you very much for your advice and thoughts everyone, I really appreciate it.

I suppose I should say how I did. Fortunately the entire interview wasn't in Japanese, but it was half English/half Jp, so that relieved alot of stress I had to begin with going in. I was expecting it to more be a test of my language abilities, but it seems they were looking for more than just that. I think personality and how we deal with our peers/others was what they were really looking for as opposed to just being able to blurt out a sentence (the position is called "Team Leader" so go figure).
Anyway, the English part went just fine. It turns out the interview was strictly over the phone, so although I was completely decked out in my nice shirt and pants, it didn't matter. What's funny though is I think I felt more in an "interview mode" b/c I was so dressed up with my teeth brushed and everything (confidence boost maybe..?). I think I had a strong presentation, and apparently my teacher wrote me a really good recomendation (now I hope I can meet everyone's expectations ＿|￣｜Ｏ).
The Japanese part was shaky I will admit, and it was a pull back to reality that I still am only a student in learning the language. It really made me reflect that although I'm considered to be in an "Advanced Conversation" class in college, I'm still on the borderline 3/4th grade communication level as far as everyone else in Japan is concerned. There were definitely a few awkward moments in which my silence/あのーs communicated "I'm sorry, I don't understand", but she seemed to be more telling me more stuff rather than I was answering questions... I think. On a good note I introduced myself perfectly and stuck to ます form all the way, so I was proud of myself once I fnished knowing that I did at least something right.
But now the ball is in their court, and who knows what will happen. I gave it a shot, and so did 50 other undergraduates, so I guess all I can do now is wait for a 'yes' or a 'no' .................. *phew*

Thanks for posting/reading everyone.

Gooooood luck!

I learn a lot with your post and all the replies.

Don't forget to tell us about the final answer