lilacrespo
後輩
- 6 Apr 2007
- 1
- 0
- 11
Hi all,
I just registered to this forum although I've been browsing its posts for a while. Seems like a nice community -yoroshiku!
I'm currently teaching English and Spanish to Japanese people, but intend to get a full-time job in the near future. I can speak Japanese fairly well, including business lingo, and just got my 2-kyu.
The other day I had a phone interview with a Japanese guy (sounded like middle-aged man). I clarify that I went to a "Hello Work" Agency and the phone conversation was arranged by an officer there. Everything went more or less okay, like a normal interview in Japanese, but I was shocked when the man asked me the following:
Do you intend to stay in Japan permanently, and have family?
I simply refused to answer that, and politely said "excuse me, but what does my personal life has to do with my skills for the job?" He was said that he needed someone long-term, not like many foreigners who stay 1 or 2 years and then fly out. Then I told the Hello Work officer that I didn't want to go on with that company.
Now, it occured to me to ask other job-seekers in this community:
- What's the strangest or most surprising question that an interviewer in Japan asked you?
- How did you answer it?
I'm also curious to hear other people's experiences in terms of "culture shock" as a job applicant.
Thanks in advance for reading my long post.
I just registered to this forum although I've been browsing its posts for a while. Seems like a nice community -yoroshiku!
I'm currently teaching English and Spanish to Japanese people, but intend to get a full-time job in the near future. I can speak Japanese fairly well, including business lingo, and just got my 2-kyu.
The other day I had a phone interview with a Japanese guy (sounded like middle-aged man). I clarify that I went to a "Hello Work" Agency and the phone conversation was arranged by an officer there. Everything went more or less okay, like a normal interview in Japanese, but I was shocked when the man asked me the following:
Do you intend to stay in Japan permanently, and have family?
I simply refused to answer that, and politely said "excuse me, but what does my personal life has to do with my skills for the job?" He was said that he needed someone long-term, not like many foreigners who stay 1 or 2 years and then fly out. Then I told the Hello Work officer that I didn't want to go on with that company.
Now, it occured to me to ask other job-seekers in this community:
- What's the strangest or most surprising question that an interviewer in Japan asked you?
- How did you answer it?
I'm also curious to hear other people's experiences in terms of "culture shock" as a job applicant.
Thanks in advance for reading my long post.