The do's and don'ts of video conferencing with Japan
Discussion
Not a funny video or story I'm afraid!!
I've no idea what section this belongs in now, but I'd really appreciate some advice from the better travelled of you:
I have a video interview with a Japanese gentleman in Tokyo tomorrow morning, and I'm aware that there are certain protocols that one should follow when dealing with the Japanese - has anyone had any experience of doing this via video?
What is the accepted way of greeting someone - I imagine I'll be sat down behind a desk, so bowing may end up in mild concussion?
How should I address him - I'm assuming his second given name followed by "San"?
Any other tips - should I avoid any particular gestures for example?
A bit leftfield I know, but PH users tend to be an ecelctic bunch
Thanks in advance!
(ps, the job is not Tokyo based)
I've no idea what section this belongs in now, but I'd really appreciate some advice from the better travelled of you:
I have a video interview with a Japanese gentleman in Tokyo tomorrow morning, and I'm aware that there are certain protocols that one should follow when dealing with the Japanese - has anyone had any experience of doing this via video?
What is the accepted way of greeting someone - I imagine I'll be sat down behind a desk, so bowing may end up in mild concussion?
How should I address him - I'm assuming his second given name followed by "San"?
Any other tips - should I avoid any particular gestures for example?
A bit leftfield I know, but PH users tend to be an ecelctic bunch
Thanks in advance!
(ps, the job is not Tokyo based)
I work for a Japanese firm, have done for a number of years.......in my experience, I'd try to do the following -
1)Speak very clearly - although you'll be able to judge what his english skills are like fairly quickly.
2)As you said - greet him by calling him his second name followed by san, mostly they may say "call me xxx" and they've generally given themselves an abbreviated or western name.
3)Either smile & nod to greet them on the Video (or give a small wave) never the best method of meeting someone, so I always (rightly or wrongly) think a more pronounced greeting is better.
4)Be yourself!
I've always found my Japanese colleges to be friendly and helpful - sometimes multiple explanations may be required hence why I said make sure you speak clearly! But obviously this will depend on his english skill level. You could always throw in a Japanese greeting or when you say goodbye - say it in Japanese, at least it would show you've made an effort.....other than that, treat it as a normal interview....and try to have a little fun, sure he won't bite!
If you haven't had much experience with video conferencing, get on Skype & have a little practice with someone!
Probably not much help! Best of luck with it - what's the firm?
If you have any specifics, please feel free to PM me......
Neil
1)Speak very clearly - although you'll be able to judge what his english skills are like fairly quickly.
2)As you said - greet him by calling him his second name followed by san, mostly they may say "call me xxx" and they've generally given themselves an abbreviated or western name.
3)Either smile & nod to greet them on the Video (or give a small wave) never the best method of meeting someone, so I always (rightly or wrongly) think a more pronounced greeting is better.
4)Be yourself!
I've always found my Japanese colleges to be friendly and helpful - sometimes multiple explanations may be required hence why I said make sure you speak clearly! But obviously this will depend on his english skill level. You could always throw in a Japanese greeting or when you say goodbye - say it in Japanese, at least it would show you've made an effort.....other than that, treat it as a normal interview....and try to have a little fun, sure he won't bite!
If you haven't had much experience with video conferencing, get on Skype & have a little practice with someone!
Probably not much help! Best of luck with it - what's the firm?
If you have any specifics, please feel free to PM me......
Neil
GTIR said:
Compliment him on his resemblance to Takanohana.
Find out who the senior guy is and address him first.
I think I may give that a miss unless he is truly huge Find out who the senior guy is and address him first.
Hopefully it's only the one interviewer, but good tip in case they bring in an extra body
Marf said:
<name> - sama would be more appropriate in this situation IMO.
God bless PH!Oops I deleted my post in order to revise it. Nevermind
sama is the way I'd go anyway.
A Japanese greeting might be a good way to go as neejah says, something like kon-ich-iwa ha-ji-meh-mash-ite go-zai-e-mas.
Which is a formal way of saying hello, nice to meet you. The go-zai-e-mas denotes respect.
sama is the way I'd go anyway.
A Japanese greeting might be a good way to go as neejah says, something like kon-ich-iwa ha-ji-meh-mash-ite go-zai-e-mas.
Which is a formal way of saying hello, nice to meet you. The go-zai-e-mas denotes respect.
Edited by Marf on Sunday 31st January 14:55
Marf said:
Oops I deleted my post in order to revise it. Nevermind
sama is the way I'd go anyway.
A Japanese greeting might be a good way to go as neejah says, something like kon-ich-iwa ha-ji-meh-mash-ite go-zai-e-mas.
Which is a formal way of saying hello, nice to meet you. The go-zai-e-mas denotes respect.
Hmm, kon-ich-iwa I can manage, I can see me cocking up the rest of that!! Would "kon-ich-iwa <name>-sama" be acceptable? sama is the way I'd go anyway.
A Japanese greeting might be a good way to go as neejah says, something like kon-ich-iwa ha-ji-meh-mash-ite go-zai-e-mas.
Which is a formal way of saying hello, nice to meet you. The go-zai-e-mas denotes respect.
Edited by Marf on Sunday 31st January 14:55
I've been practising on Skype with the missus in Singapore this weekend, so I've got used to webcams anyway!
neejah said:
Lots of useful stuff
Best of luck with it - what's the firm?
If you have any specifics, please feel free to PM me......
Neil
Cheers mate - it's a banking/IT role in Singapore.Best of luck with it - what's the firm?
If you have any specifics, please feel free to PM me......
Neil
Bing o said:
Marf said:
Oops I deleted my post in order to revise it. Nevermind
sama is the way I'd go anyway.
A Japanese greeting might be a good way to go as neejah says, something like kon-ich-iwa ha-ji-meh-mash-ite go-zai-e-mas.
Which is a formal way of saying hello, nice to meet you. The go-zai-e-mas denotes respect.
Hmm, kon-ich-iwa I can manage, I can see me cocking up the rest of that!! Would "kon-ich-iwa <name>-sama" be acceptable? sama is the way I'd go anyway.
A Japanese greeting might be a good way to go as neejah says, something like kon-ich-iwa ha-ji-meh-mash-ite go-zai-e-mas.
Which is a formal way of saying hello, nice to meet you. The go-zai-e-mas denotes respect.
Edited by Marf on Sunday 31st January 14:55
I've been practising on Skype with the missus in Singapore this weekend, so I've got used to webcams anyway!
neejah said:
Lots of useful stuff
Best of luck with it - what's the firm?
If you have any specifics, please feel free to PM me......
Neil
Cheers mate - it's a banking/IT role in Singapore.Best of luck with it - what's the firm?
If you have any specifics, please feel free to PM me......
Neil
I'd nod in a slightly exaggerated way, say hello xxx-san, but other than thato treat it like any other meeting.
BTW - they will agree with everything you say, but they are just being polite, so don't take that too seriously...
loafer123 said:
BTW - they will agree with everything you say, but they are just being polite, so don't take that too seriously...
+1 they are also very hierarchical so him nodding agreeing etc doesn't mean you are a shoe in till his boss, his bosses boss etc have agreed or given him the authority to act.loafer123 said:
I've never heard the -sama ending - only "loafer-san" or
http://virtualmekton.tripod.com/ate-iii-iv.html -san: Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss.; The suffix denoting that the person being spoken to is of equal or nearly equal social status. It is not used for people you know well.
-sama: (formal) Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss. Infromal use before m b p is sam- or san-.; Very high respect. Not normally used with other people's names, but it can be. Usually used with a title.
Edited by Marf on Sunday 31st January 17:41
Engineer1 said:
loafer123 said:
BTW - they will agree with everything you say, but they are just being polite, so don't take that too seriously...
+1 they are also very hierarchical so him nodding agreeing etc doesn't mean you are a shoe in till his boss, his bosses boss etc have agreed or given him the authority to act.Marf said:
loafer123 said:
I've never heard the -sama ending - only "loafer-san" or
http://virtualmekton.tripod.com/ate-iii-iv.html -san: Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss.; The suffix denoting that the person being spoken to is of equal or nearly equal social status. It is not used for people you know well.
-sama: (formal) Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss. Infromal use before m b p is sam- or san-.; Very high respect. Not normally used with other people's names, but it can be. Usually used with a title.
Edited by Marf on Sunday 31st January 17:41
"sama" is little bit too much. You can use "sama" to customer in shop or hotel if you work for there, but normally "san" is fine for normal business scene. In general they'll be understanding, even Japanese people (especially these days) have difficulty with respect levels (Son-kei-go).
Greetings;
Konichiwa - Hello
Hajimemas
te - (not sure exactly how to translate this) it's a greeting you use when meeting with someone for the first time.
Yoroshiku onegaitashimasu - (again not sure how to translate this) http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~romisdg/bj/ue.html does a better job than me of this.
Adding san at the end of the name is advisable, sama would probably sound too much like kissing arse as it's usually used for someone far more senior than yourself. As said previously they will probably say, "call me x" x being a western nickname they have.
Speak clearly it'll save lots of hassle, unless you're talking business specific lingo which is universal don't use overly complicated words where it can be avoided, unless they have good English (which some do, but it's hit and miss) it'll only end up in confusion.
If you know the participants beforehand try to find out the seniority, address the most senior first and work down. If you don't know age is generally a good guide.
If you think you'll have problems with the greetings above, just say, "Konichiwa X-san" and do the rest in English.
If you're feeling more confident then, "Konichiwa X-san, hajimemaste (your name)-desu dozo yoroshiku onegaishi-tashimasu/shimasu (tashimasu is more formal)
Other than that the rest of the conference will be no different to any other you would expect to have.
In Japanese buisiness though they might do things slightly differently (From what you've said I gather a job interview);
Don't act any different from other job interviews, they won't expect you to and you may only end up complicating things for yourself.
Not sure I can help you more than that other than to say good luck, if you get the job and it's dealing with Japanese you'll be back here asking questions about that the way they do business is very different.
Greetings;
Konichiwa - Hello
Hajimemas
te - (not sure exactly how to translate this) it's a greeting you use when meeting with someone for the first time.Yoroshiku onegaitashimasu - (again not sure how to translate this) http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~romisdg/bj/ue.html does a better job than me of this.
Adding san at the end of the name is advisable, sama would probably sound too much like kissing arse as it's usually used for someone far more senior than yourself. As said previously they will probably say, "call me x" x being a western nickname they have.
Speak clearly it'll save lots of hassle, unless you're talking business specific lingo which is universal don't use overly complicated words where it can be avoided, unless they have good English (which some do, but it's hit and miss) it'll only end up in confusion.
If you know the participants beforehand try to find out the seniority, address the most senior first and work down. If you don't know age is generally a good guide.
If you think you'll have problems with the greetings above, just say, "Konichiwa X-san" and do the rest in English.
If you're feeling more confident then, "Konichiwa X-san, hajimemas
te (your name)-desu dozo yoroshiku onegaishi-tashimasu/shimasu (tashimasu is more formal)Other than that the rest of the conference will be no different to any other you would expect to have.
In Japanese buisiness though they might do things slightly differently (From what you've said I gather a job interview);
Don't act any different from other job interviews, they won't expect you to and you may only end up complicating things for yourself.
Not sure I can help you more than that other than to say good luck, if you get the job and it's dealing with Japanese you'll be back here asking questions about that
the way they do business is very different.Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff