I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at Keyence (London, England) in May 2016
Interview
Mechanical Test - Basic physics questions. Takes approx. 10 mins
Assessment Day - Through a recruitment company called Pareto. This consisted of 2 group tasks and a 3 minute presentation. The day itself is pretty straight forward - there's a focus on your personality as opposed to your qualifications, so just be natural - if the jobs right for you you'll get through this stage easily. It's important not to be too aggressive also - as a Japanese company they frown upon this greatly
Final Interview - At the companies London office. This was (speaking loosely) doodoo. The interview is pretty standard; why do you want to work for us, what do you feel you can bring to the table etc etc. The part that was ridiculous was where you are asked to convince one of the interviewers they want to go on a ski holiday, as opposed to a beach holiday. Personally, I have never been on a ski holiday, therefore do not know the benefits of a ski holiday, putting me in a handicapped position. What's more, I later found out from another candidate that the company was only hiring those with engineering degrees, despite bringing 3 of us who did not match that criteria into the final interviews
I applied online. I interviewed at Keyence (Newcastle upon Tyne, England) in Nov 2015
Interview
Keyence started by sending me a video interview complete, this is just an initial sifting phase to assess candidates personalities and how they present themselves, they aren't too fussed about the content of your answers. I found this stage rather straightforward, however engaging with an application such as a laptop/iPad rather than having human interaction does feel quite odd. Once I had been told that I had successfully passed this stage I was invited to a face to face interview at the Hilton hotel next to Newcastle airport. There were 2 employees who greeted me, one from the logistics department, the other was an employee from HR. As I entered the room I was invited to sit behind a laptop and prompted to follow the instructions on screen, the 2 Interviewers then told me I had 20 minutes to complete a test. The test was a mechanical/basic physics test, however the content was stuff that I hadnt studied in a long time, so I would suggest you brush up on your basic mechanics and physics before going for the interview. After that it was time for the face to face interview. The questions were the sort of things you would expect when applying for a position such as Graduate Sales engineer. I.e tell me about yourself? why do you want to work for Keyence? why sales engineer rather than just a sales executive? what do you know about Keyence? then questions asking about my previous employment experience and my degree.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why do you want to be a sales engineer, rather than a sales executive?