How long do companies keep you waiting?

[Anonymous]

I went for an interview with a company 3 weeks ago and everything went pretty well. The guy who interviewed my said he'd get back to me within a week so I thought " Ok fine I can wait a week" I was confident that things went pretty well so I decided not to apply for anything more for a week. but you know what's coming...........

A week went buy and no response, After that I emailed them a few times and they wrote back to me once and said they were still deciding, but gave me no idication of when they would make up their mind which left me hanging not knowing what to do.

Finally today I get a letter in the mail saying I didn't get the position which is disappointing but I'm more disappointed in the way some people will treat you.

Anyone else had any similar experiences?

[Anonymous]

Was it your first interview in Japan? If it was then I can understand. The exact same thing happened to me as well. .
I think you need to be a little more aggresive in your appoach. I mean, you can't really rely on the word of people. Try getting interviews with at least 5 different schools, and don't be shy about letting them all know. I believe that most interviewers have made their mind up after the interview anyway. So be aggresive, push for concrete answers, starting dates etc
Good luck next time round

[trip_hop]

Steve said "company", not "schools". This is typical for a Japanese company, and if the company is hiring a foreigner, it will take a long time as it has to go through a circulation approval system, with the interviewer championing his choice. If you read between the lines, and as Gordo half guessed, they probably decided against you early on, and were wondering how to break the news! If you had been successful, they would have tried harder to make sure you took the job.
Email to the interviewer was probably not a wonderful idea. You should have considered the nature of the country where you are. A personal phone call would have at least generated a dialogue, and if there were any issues unsettled, they may have been handled over the phone.
At least you got a letter from them, which is more than many get.

TH

[Anonymous]

Woops , sorry I mistakenly thought it was as English company.

[Jay]

I'm going through a similar experience right now. I had an interview 5 weeks ago and I thought everything looked good. They not only told me about one job but also another one which the interviewer thought I would be great at. I sent them my documents about 4 weeks ago, I received a reply and a note that said they would get back to me in about a week. It's been 3 weeks since then and I haven't heard back from them.

Should I be more aggresive (as Gordo suggests) or just continue to wait? Any thoughts?

Thanks!

--Just in case, I'm still in the process of looking. I just want to make sure I don't pin all my hopes on this one job

[trip_hop]

Use the telephone, call them up and ask if they need anything else. Don't send email. It is impersonal.

MIght also be like in the above case, they are wondering how to tell you that you don't have the job!

Trip Hop

[Jay]

Thanks. I'll try that.

[Anonymous]

Jay,

Also it is near the end of the fiscal year in Japan, so things slow down as they focus on getting ready for the new fiscal year. This includes HR. If you were applying for an entry level position which is usually for fresh graduates you would be expected to start in April so you should have heard or should hear from them soon. If not, don't be surprised by the delay, which should take longer because of the above.

A bit of a warning however. Be wary of companies who interview people for a position applied for and then mention another during the interview. Often that is one of two things; a way to suck someone in to a job that is less desirable with the hope of getting the other one eventually (often never); it will expand your job description (generally there are none in Japanese companys) and you may end doing both jobs. But this may not be so in your case.

[Anonymous]

I went to an interview in January, they said they were satisfied with my qualifications, they seemed eager to hire me, they told me they would answer me in less than a week and... still no answer from them. After I received no call from that company, I called them several times, they are still deciding is always the answer. I was sure I would get the job because they made me feel that way and now I see that that was the usual Japanese behaviour. Eeeeeh.

[Anonymous]

yes that sounds typical. Read "getting along with the japanese" series. They really have a hard time delivering bad news. They are considering YOUR face. Not possible to tell you the truth. It is brutal trying to find out what is really going on.
Hang in there
Gordy

[Anonymous]

Yes, the end of the year may have something to do with it as well. They are probably right in the thick of making plans for next year, including plans for how many people to hire/fire, so you may have to wait much longer than usual for a reply.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all your feedback In answer to Gordo's question. It wasn't my first interview in Japan. I've worked here for a while and responses from companies (or the people who hire to be more precise) varies from a response the next day to nothing at all so yeah I realise I was lucky to get a letter but It still annoyed me how they kept me hanging. My wife (Japanese who also does some hiring) said that in her experience if companies are doing a lot of interviews companies tend to keep the 'good candidates' until last and then make a decision. I both agree and disagree though, I think it really depends on who you're dealing with.

This company was a 'gaishikei'. The position was looking after IT for the Asia pacific region. The HR lady was Japanese but the person who would have been my manager was from Singapore and he made the final decision. I was contacted by him directly so I got good vibes about it going well.


A question to Trip Hop> Could you further elaborate on "You should have considered the nature of the country where you are". I can sort of see your point here but all conversation up until now was done by email, although better to call I can't see any harm in re-emailing.

I agree that emails are pretty much impersonable anywhere. They're just a way for people to escape real dialogue with people.

Steven.