I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Rakuten (Tokyo) in Jan 2014
Interview
Interview process last for a little longer than 2 months. It started with online programming test; followed by online video interview. After passing the two rounds of machine tests, there was a meetup with the team member of 3 persons, with questions on technical knowledge, mathematics, and some scenario analysis. The last interview was done by the team manager and the department head with questions on career motivation, on case study and etc.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How you could contribute to the team with quantitative modelling? Present the answer with details.
this interview process had 5 rounds
2 was a tech test
３ were conversational in nature
with various managers from direct and indirect to the department manager mostly in Japan but also outside Japan.
1st Interview was simple leetcode task and some questions about Kubernetes. 2nd interview - classical ML and DL questions, Final interview is mostly informal, but there may appear some questions about specific experience and problem solving
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is the difference between random forest and boosting?
Initial LeetCode coding test, hiring manager interview for profile and role fit, multiple technical rounds covering statistics, machine learning, SQL, Python, and case studies, concluding with behavioral interviews evaluating teamwork, communication, and cultural alignment.
