Most Common Japanese Interview Questions for Software Engineers

WHAT ARE
The Most Common Japanese Interview Questions?

After prepping hundreds of Software Engineers for their Japanese interviews, I’ve made a small comprehensive list of questions I most often see from interviewers.

These questions are also generally applicable to interviews done in English as well.

Let’s take a look and determine how to go about answering them.

First, the Japanese.

・転職理由を教えてください。
・失敗したプロジェクトとそこで得た学びについて教えてください。
・建設的なフィードバックを頂いた経験はいす、どんな内容でしたか。詳しく教えてください。
・同僚/マネージャーと意見の違いがあったときのお話を一つ教えてください。どのように解決しましたか？
・ビジネスのインパクトの最大化のために行った経験について教えてください。
・一番やりがいのあったプロジェクト。どのようなプロジェクトでどのように解決しましたか？
・一番難しかったプロジェクト 。どのようなプロジェクトで、なにが難しくてどのように解決しましたか？
・自分の強み・弱みについて教えてください。
・一番手応えを感じた案件とその内容
・逆質問

When helping software engineers prepare for these interviews, this is the list I always end up going through.

Now, the English.

• What were your reasons for changing jobs?

• Please tell us about your failed projects and what you learned from them.

• Have you received constructive feedback, and if so, what was it? Please describe in detail.

• Tell us about a time when you had a difference of opinion with a colleague/manager. How did you resolve it?

• Tell us about an experience you had in maximizing business impact.

• What are your strengths and weaknesses?

• What was your most challenging project and how did you solve it?

• Reverse Questions (Your turn to ask them questions)

How should I go about answering these?

I always recommend using the STAR method when answering interviews questions.

The STAR method is a technique used in interviews to help you format your answers. It stands for Situation, Task, Action and Result.

• Situation: Set the scene, give details about your example.

• Task: What was your responsibility?

• Action: Explain each step in detail.

• Result: Share the outcome.

Using this format, it is much easier to give a clear and direct answer. This is especially true for broad questions like “Tell me about a project where you failed and what you learned”.

I consistently recommend and coach Software Engineers on using this format to answer their questions and it is helpful every single time.

Extra Prep

Finally, be sure to always answer interviews questions in a positive and optimistic manner.

I know it is tempting to say “My company is doing X bad thing, which is why I applied to Y company”, but that will only hurt your chances of getting an offer.

They start to wonder “If they are talking bad about their previous company, will they also do the same with us a year from now?”

Generally, when the question “Why did you apply to our company” comes up, it is important to bring something up about the role, their technology or something you find interesting about the company.

Instead of talking about your reasonings for leaving your current company, focus on your future at this new company, as well as all of the other great reasons that led you to apply.

At every point try your hardest to add a positive spin to your answers and focus on present or future events.

Hopefully these questions will help you prepare for future interviews.

If you are ever interested in working with me to help prepare you for your interviews, I would be more than happy to help! Just take a look at my LinkedIn and message me there for details.