The Pokémon Company International Journalist Interview Questions
& Process

The communication was really good and the recruitment team called to prep me before each stage, which was super helpful. The actual interview was okay, but having two back-to-back with two different teams felt pretty intense all at once.

I applied online and heard back about a week later for a recruiter call. We talked about my background and why I wanted the job for about 15-20 minutes. A few days after that, I was asked to do a test. The recruiter mentioned that only about 15% of people pass this test and that it's known to be hard. The test involved correcting and translating different kinds of material, like press releases and game text, into my target language. I was given one document to complete in 4 hours and another to send back within 24 hours, with all the documents sent together. I didn't find the actual task too difficult based on my previous work, but the 4-hour limit felt a bit tight to really review everything properly without knowing the company's specific practices. A few days later, the recruiter let me know I didn't pass the test and couldn't explain why. I was bummed it wasn't the hiring team and that there was no feedback, especially since I had to block out 24 hours to do it. I asked the recruiter if he had any more info on where I went wrong, but he said he couldn't give a personalized answer. He did explain that candidates are rated individually on their work and mistakes, and I guess I didn't score high enough. He couldn't tell me my exact score but mentioned experience typically makes a big difference. It was frustrating to get such little feedback after investing my own time. Since I already have localization and language review experience, I'm not sure what I could improve to get a job like this at Pokémon or elsewhere. I feel like the time would have been better spent if I'd gotten some useful info, but I didn't, so my experience is mixed. On the plus side, the recruiter was super responsive and helpful, the recruiting team was polite, and things moved quickly, so I wasn't stressed waiting for updates.

The localization manager wasted over two hours of my time because she didn't answer my key questions that I had sent beforehand. I asked many other questions, and when I asked my main questions, she said she couldn't answer them, even though that was the whole point of the meeting. I wish I could have charged them, but I know they wouldn't have paid. TPCi wanted me to work for free for over 4 hours (half a workday) and also wouldn't tell me the pay or contract terms. They should either pay for such a long test or tell me the conditions. It was unreasonable for me to lose so much potential money by sacrificing half a workday for free with no commitment from them. Another company in Japan, described negatively on Glassdoor, offered to pay a flat rate for a much shorter test, so I was shocked they offered nothing. I was also surprised this employee worked during her vacation, which I thought only 'black companies' did. It also put me in a really uncomfortable spot. Given the tough market for freelancers, with colleagues experiencing stress and even suicide attempts, the pressure to work for free without company assurance is high because freelancers are in a weak position. I find it abusive to not even offer a flat rate for such a long test or suggest a shorter one, especially considering the market. Some people can't say no. A colleague with a child tried to kill herself. I expected more corporate social responsibility from a big company like this. Their manager even said all internal staff had done the test, implying they had enough money for internal staff but not freelancers. I heard major Japanese companies train their employees for these situations, but TPCi apparently doesn't.