Hey guys, how is it going today? Welcome to another awesome lesson from Bondlingo. This time around we are going to be talking all about Job Interviews in Japanese, along with the vocabulary and phrases you will need to really ace an interview in Japan. If you are planning to get a job in Japan in the future, then this is going to be a really interesting and useful Japanese lesson for you.
Today we are going to be breaking down our lesson into the following section.
- Interview Etiquette in Japan, the do’s and don’ts
- 10 helpful phrases to help you get started with your interview and journey into the working world of Japan.
We are really excited to share this lesson with you guys today so let’s get right into it and land that dream job together!
| Japanese Questions | English |
| 自己紹介をお願いします jiko shōkai o o negaishimasu | Please intoroduce yourself. |
| 応募動機を教えて下さい ōbo dōki o oshiete kudasai | Why did you apply for this job? |
| あなたの長所・短所を教えて下さい anata no chōsho. tansho o oshiete kudasai | What is your strengths/weaknesses? |
| あなたの強み・経験をどう活かしますか？ anata no tsuyomi, keiken o dō ikasemasu ka？ | How do you think your skills/experience match the position? |
| 今までの仕事内容/経験を教えてください ima made no shigoto naiyō/ keiken o oshiete kudasai | Tell us about your experience in your work. |
| なぜ今の仕事を辞めるのですか？ naze ima no shigoto o yameru no desu ka？ | Why do you want to leave your current job? |
| 将来は何がしたいですか？ shōrai wa nan ga shitaidesu ka？ | What do you want to do(be) in your future ? |
| 弊社の事で知っていることは何ですか？ heisha no koto de shitte iru koto wa nan desu ka？ | What do you know about my company ? |
| 趣味は何ですか shumi wa nan desu ka | What is your hobby? |
| 給料はいくらくらい欲しいですか？ kyūryō wa ikura kurai hoshī desu ka？ | How much salary do you want ? |
Contents
Interview Etiquette in Japan, the do’s and don’ts
You must ensure that you are always punctual to your interview. If you turn up late, you may as well forget about getting that job. Try and aim for being around 10 – 15 minutes early. When you arrive ensure that you take off your coat too.
When you enter the interview room you must knock three times then say “失礼しつれいします “excuse me” and wait for the interviewer to give you the permission to enter the room. They will usually say “どうぞ”.
Bowing is an essential before starting the interview so make sure that you DO NOT forget this step.
Before sitting down be sure to introduce yourself briefly too and speak clearly and confidently.
Lastly, posture is also a key role in portraying your personality so be sure that you are sat starting with a good confident posture.
Now that we have the do’s and don’ts all’s finished off let’s now move onto 10 helpful phrases that you can use in your very own Japanese interview.
10 helpful phrases to help you get started with your interview and journey into the working world of Japan.
We are now going to look at 10 really useful phrases that will be really practical for you to use in your Job interview in Japan. We suggest that you make notes of these phrases and refer back to them as often as you can.
This is one of the first phrases that you might hear in your interview. The interview will most likely ask you to introduce yourself.
自己紹介をお願いします
jiko shōkai o o negaishimasu
Please intoroduce yourself.
This is another classic interview question that you are going to hear so make sure that you prepare well for this one.
応募動機を教えて下さい
ōbo dōki o oshiete kudasai
Why did you apply for this job?
When coming up against this next question you are going to want to prepare a list of some of your strengths and weaknesses.
あなたの長所・短所を教えて下さい
anata no chōsho. tansho o oshiete kudasai
What is your strengths/weaknesses?
This is a great question to watch out for as you are going to want to think about how your skills and experience are relevant to the job.
あなたの強み・経験をどう活かしますか？
anata no tsuyomi, keiken o dō ikasemasu ka？
How do you think your skills/experience match the position?
Try and practice a little speech about your previous work experience too as this will help you deal with the following question:
今までの仕事内容/経験を教えてください
ima made no shigoto naiyō/ keiken o oshiete kudasai
Tell us about your experience in your work.
You should not try and downplay or speak ill of your current / previous job as this will only shine a bad light onto yourself. Be respectful and talk about some positives of it too. This will make the employers want you more when they as you the following question:
なぜ今の仕事を辞めるのですか？
naze ima no shigoto o yameru no desu ka？
Why do you want to leave your current job
Now you can talk about your future dream in response to the following question. Ensure that it falls inline with the job that you are applying for too.
将来は何がしたいですか？
shōrai wa nan ga shitaidesu ka？
What do you want to do(be) in your future ?
This is where you really need to do your research to ensure you are not caught out with the following question:
弊社の事で知っていることは何ですか？
heisha no koto de shitte iru koto wa nan desu ka？
What do you know about my company ?
Employers also like to know that you have other interests and skills outside of work that will reflect on your qualities as a person. Get ready for that when it comes to this question:
趣味は何ですか
shumi wa nan desu ka
What is your hobby?
Lastly you need to be very careful with this question. Don’t overreach, but don’t also sell yourself short. Think about what you need to survive and then add on what you deem worth of your time and effort spent in the role.
給料はいくらくらい欲しいですか？
kyūryō wa ikura kurai hoshī desu ka？
How much salary do you want ?
Try and create scenarios with your friends and pretend you are taking a job interview. This will give you a great opportunity to try out these phrases and perfect them. We would recommend that you try them for your first time in an interview, you will need to get comfortable with them first and build up your confidence.
Ok guys, that is it for today’s amazing online Japanese lesson from Bondlingo. We hope that you are now slightly more prepared for your job interview, and that this has helped you take that next step on your career journey.
As always, we love hearing any questions and/ or suggestions you have for upcoming content and we hope to see you in the next online Japanese lesson. またね.
Prepare to answer typical Japanese interview questions
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