I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Rakuten (Singapore) in Oct 2019
Interview
After screening, there was a Codility test with two questions; one easy & one medium difficulty. Then, I was called by a recruiter to choose a slot for the interview on the weekend. Then, the interview was conducted at their Singapore headquarters.
The long processing time is a major set back to us fresh grads since we have to arrange our schedules along the way. Taking more than 1.5 months to even score a personal interview was ridiculous. (In the rejection letter, they mentioned "did not make it to the next stage"- meaning the process might be even longer.)
The recruiters were genuinely nice - prompt emails, very amicable in general. However, the interviewers, on the other hand, shocked me. I am aware that this is a Japanese company but come on communication in English was so awkward during the interview. (I can't say for those who managed to interview with interviewers from a different country though.)
The technical component was easy if you managed to pass the Codility test and I am pretty confident the interviewer was a good engineer.
The major concern I have come across during the interview was that the interviewers, in general, do not answer questions. Whenever I asked about the team cultures or how the teams work, they go "Ughh" .. "Umm" almost as if this is some sensitive information. Besides, all other major tech companies that I was interviewing with were more than happy to discuss technical questions (some would even provide detailed feedback on my coding assessment). When I asked for feedback on my Codility performance (partly just wanted to understand why I did not score a perfect one), the response was "You did well enough to get here." and I was so disappointed. At this point, I did not even want to sit for the remaining duration of the interview. Honestly, I am not sure if I want to join a company where my questions are not answered.