I applied through a recruiter. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Rakuten (Tokyo) in June 2021
Interview
Applied via a recruiter who contacted me.
Interviews were all around 30-45 minutues, no HR screen. Interviews were either 1-1, or with a manager/TL and a (mostly silent) HR rep.
In my final (3rd) interview the manager didn't seem to know why I was there and asked who else I'd interviewed with, which was a quite distracting.
Following this the recruiter told me about a week later I'd be getting an offer letter, but when I followed up a week later after hearing nothing, the recruiter said he'd check back with Rakuten, and then told me the application had been rejected.
Disappointing, but it seems they're hiring for so many positions as they're growing but also retention is an issue so the recruitment process seems disorganised.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Very general around describing successful projects, and mistakes I'd made.
The whole recruitment process was straightforward and fast, there were level of interviews. First was HR interview, then a user interview, and finally the final interview. The whole interview process took about 1 month from scheduling, but was about 2 months from application.
Referred by Rakuten employee and got up to 3 positions to apply. After HR checked your resume and fit, totally 3 interviews came: hiring manager, team leader & senior manager.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What kind of project have you ever led? Scale and responsibility ?
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Rakuten (Tokyo) in Dec 2025
Interview
One interview with 2 members of the team. The questions were related to the job scope and background to understand if both my background and personality could be a good fit for the role
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What was a difficult time you had to face in your current role and how did you react to it