What is a “casual meeting” in Japan?

Are you familiar with the Japanese-style “casual meeting” (カジュアル面談, kajuaru mendan)? It may be casual, but it’s not a meeting, or an interview, in the conventional sense. It is, however, a fantastic way to find out whether you’re suited for a particular company—and, equally importantly, whether that company is a good fit for you.

What is a casual meeting?

The Japanese casual meeting is an informal interview with a company before the formal application. The practice emerged due to difficulties in hiring in Japan. Previously, posting a job had been enough to attract candidates, but candidates have become more selective and are not always ready to apply immediately.

In response to this, companies have begun using casual meetings as a way to spark candidates’ interest before an application. This is particularly common in Japanese startups, but it is gradually being adopted by other, larger Japanese companies as well.

The casual meeting is widely considered a “win-win” scenario; companies can become acquainted with more candidates, thus widening their search pool, but candidates can also learn more about a company before they spend time and effort on a full, formal application.

What makes a Japanese casual meeting different?

First, it’s important to distinguish between the Japanese practice of casual meetings, and casual interviews more generally.

Usually, a casual interview happens after_ _the application. It’s typically a short screening interview that’s intended to make sure the candidate is qualified for the position. Often, as Eugene Yaroslavtsev advocates, the casual interview is a great chance to ensure everyone’s expectations are aligned on the job description, the salary, and how the candidate feels about the role.

In Japan, the casual meeting happens before_ _the application, with the aim of convincing you to apply. It does not usually replace the traditional screening interview you’ll undergo later, if you decide to follow through with an application.

The emphasis is also on “casual”: unlike most Japanese interviews, there’s no set format for this meeting. You most likely won’t need to prepare any paperwork (resume, etc.) in advance. And there isn’t a formal dress code—business casual is fine! The point of this laid-back meeting is simply to exchange information between the company and the candidate.

The flow of a casual meeting

The casual meeting can take several forms. For example, it may be a company presentation plus a short Q&A to a small group of potential applicants. Or, in other cases, it could be an informal meal with one or several representatives from the company.

In general, the usual process of a casual meeting looks something like this:

• The company presents itself. This is typically a light greeting followed by a more detailed introduction of the organization.
• You’re asked questions by the company. Primarily, companies at this stage want to know what your motivation for switching jobs might be, although they won’t ask this directly. You could also get questions on:
  • Your career aspirations
  • Future goals in general
  • Your past experiences at work
• You can then ask the company questions. You should have at least 2-3 questions prepped, and more would probably be welcome. The interviewer may not ask much about you, and being unable to ask questions of your own when prompted could lead to a less productive meeting, and leave a negative impression on the company’s side.

What questions to ask at a casual meeting

A casual meeting is a rare chance to honestly assess if a business suits you, _before _you fill out a long application. Therefore it’s smart to invest time in considering what, exactly, you want to know about the company, and what questions will help you uncover those facts.

For example, you may be someone who prioritizes team atmosphere and connection. If that’s the case, you can try asking questions centred on communication procedures and workplace culture, such as:

• How many people are on each team?
• Is there an opportunity to form new teams, or switch teams?
• Is the workplace in-person, hybrid, or remote-first? If hybrid, how many people go into the office and how often?
• How does the team usually communicate? In group meetings? One-on-ones? Asynchronously? What tools does the team use to communicate?
• Are there any employee clubs or activities?
• How often does the team meet after work, and what do they usually do?
• What is the turnover rate at your company?
• How often do coworkers clock out at the scheduled time (定時, teiji)?
• Is there an on-call shift for weekends or nights? If so, how is this scheduled?

If the development process and organizational structure are important to you, you could ask:

• Does the company have a set process for choosing languages/frameworks/etc., or is it left up to the team?
• What methodologies do you use? How strict is the company about following process ceremony?
• How is tasking prioritized and assigned? What tools are used to manage tasking?
• What is the development lifecycle for new products or features?
• How does the company dogfood its product?
• What steps do you take to reduce technical debt?
• What’s the culture like around documentation and ownership?
• How often do team members communicate with their managers?
• Does the company use a sprint structure? If so, how long is a sprint? If not, how long does the average task or feature take from starting development until it’s in production?
• What is the ratio of engineers to product managers? How have engineers given input on the development process in the past?
• What are some previous frustrations engineers have had with the development process, and how have you improved them?

Finally, if you want to know more about career progression, try asking:

• How does the company mentor and promote people internally?
• Do you have an example of someone who grew into a leadership role within the company?
• What industry conferences or events have engineers attended in the past?
• What metrics are engineers judged by in performance reviews, and how are reviews used to grow engineers?
• What opportunities are there to receive additional training?
• What types of employees tend to succeed here?
• How often do senior roles become available?

It’s also critical to clarify what the company expects from the applicant. If you understand the position’s requirements well, you can highlight your suitability for the job in subsequent interviews, increasing your chances of progressing through the selection process. Of course you should tailor your questions to the opening itself, but here are a few additional ones that would apply to any job:

• What is your onboarding process like?
• Why are you recruiting for this position?
• What responsibilities are part of this role?
• What challenges would someone in this role usually encounter?
• What does a typical day look like for someone in this role? A typical week?
• What do you expect your new hire to accomplish in a month? In three months? In a year?
• What’s the difference between someone who does “okay” in this job, and someone who really excels?

Of course, the exact questions should be modified according to your interviewer. If you’re speaking with another engineer then technical questions are appropriate, whereas if you’re talking with HR, you’re better off making general inquiries about the company.

Is there anything you should avoid asking in a casual meeting? Generally speaking, the answer is no. This is considered an informal meeting and not much is out of bounds. That said, companies are investing their time, so maintaining a basically respectful attitude would be best. Focusing solely on salary or benefits, without showing any interest in the company itself, could also create a poor impression.

Is there a downside to the casual meeting?

Developers commonly have two complaints regarding casual meetings.

The most frequent complaint is that they didn’t get the information they really wanted to know from the company. When speaking with engineers, the majority of them express the desire to learn more about engineering topics, organizational structure, and technical challenges. However, this is often difficult if the interviewer is not an engineer. If the interview is with HR, the company representative might focus instead on presenting slides about the company and giving a superficial explanation of its products.

To counteract this issue, try to prepare both technical and general questions. Ideally you will be able to ask more about the engineering work, but if the interviewer is unable to answer those, you will at least be able to ask about workplace policies and culture.

The second complaint is that some casual meetings feel more like formal interviews. Companies may still ask detailed questions about the applicants’ experience and technical skills, despite the fact that this is widely considered inappropriate.

Conversely, there will be some interviewers who take the “casual” part of casual meeting too literally. Some developers even mentioned that the interviewer lost interest halfway through and responded inappropriately! In this case, consider it a bullet dodged: now you know you don’t want to apply for that position after all.

If all goes well

If you leave the casual meeting feeling positive about the company (and hoping the company feels good about you too!), the next step is the formal application. Usually this will entail expressing your interest along with your resume, or applying through the designated website. After that, at most companies you’ll proceed through rounds of much more formal interviews.

If you’ve asked the right questions during the casual meeting, though, you can tailor your answers to both the general company culture and the specific role you’ve applied for. Hopefully these tips will help you get a leg up on the competition, by exploiting your casual meeting to the fullest.

If you’re interested in comparing notes on casual meetings, join the TokyoDev Discord for further discussion on that, and more about job-hunting in Japan.

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