Hi, this is D! I am back again. This time, to share with you about the interview process with Gaba.
I have just completed my 2nd and final interview with them today and thought it’d be good to document it down in case any of you intend to apply with them. The information I got off blogs and Glassdoor really helped me to know what to expect for the interviews (albeit the info may be different from different sources and some are really old information) and in a way, helped me to prepare, so I hope this can help you too if you are applying. 🙂 Do note that this is accurate as of 2018 April, so if you are reading this some time in the far future, please take it with a pinch of salt!
First Interview: Day 1, in person at information seminar
As mentioned in the first writing about Gaba, I applied through the information session and my first interview was conducted in person in Singapore. Some others may have gotten their first interview done via Skype if they applied online. In any case, the first interview is probably similar be it Skype or in person. I believe that in this interview, they are more keen to know about you, how you speak, how you carry yourself, your disposition, as well as your personal motivation for wanting to teach with Gaba and to work in Japan. A bulk of the session will be spent managing your expectations and giving you information about working with Gaba.
The most challenging part for most is probably the role play at the end, where you have to act as a teacher to teach a low level beginner student something quoted by the interviewer e.g. interesting vs funny, carry vs hold, close vs near etc. The good thing though, is that this is mainly to give you a taste of what is expected in the 2nd interview if you are selected for one. Feedback will be given at the end for you to prepare for and incorporate into your 2nd interview. The interviewer stressed that this demo will not affect the chance of getting a 2nd interview and though I find it hard to be 100% true, I kinda agree that it does not play a huge part because most inexperienced candidate will probably jump straight into explaining without using Gaba’s methodology and that’d be considered normal. So unless you do an amazing job, which will add brownie points, otherwise it should not foil your chance of a 2nd interview as long as you explained correctly.
Sadly, I am not in contact with the other people I met during the session who went for the interview, so I do not know what’s the success rate of passing the 1st interview. I suspect it is not very difficult, as long as you carry yourself well and speak properly, as skills do not seem to be the major factor at this juncture.
Interview Task: Day 8, Email
After the 1st interview, I received an email from the recruiter to complete an interview task. The purpose of the Interview Task is to give them an idea of your teaching abilities/skills and assessment. In this task, questions include creative writing, where you have to write an essay/composition, as well as answer some scenario-based questions on how you will teach students of different profile. Personal thoughts from me to you: try to incorporate the personality and profile of clients into your teaching. Use their hobbies as examples in your teaching, tweak your vocabulary to fit their English level, as this is what Gaba encourages and advocate as part of their teaching methodology. Ensure clients have lots of chance to speak and it is best if they are the ones who arrive at the answer themselves, such that our role is more of guiding them to find the answer and not feeding them with answers, which is not as effective for knowledge retention and not as fun as well. At the end, they also ask about what adjustments you will need to make to adapt to life in Japan and what is important to you in a workplace etc, which should not be hard to answer.
I was given 4 – 5 days to complete the task (to be precise, 4.5 days). After this task, together with their assessment of your 1st interview, they will contact you if you are selected for a 2nd interview.
Second Interview: Day 25, Skype
My interview was scheduled for 930am and I had to add the Gaba recruiter’s contact before the interview. Do adjust your laptop screen and ensure your Skype is working before the interview starts! This time round, the recruiter is a different person from the 1st interview’s and he is specifically there to assess your teaching skills, which is the main focus for this 2nd interview.
Some sources online stated that you will be interviewed by a blank screen. However, I was lucky because my interviewer did show his face and I could talk to an actual person, hahaa.
As it was my first time being interviewed over Skype, it felt really odd to me. I was literally in formal wear for my upper body and in denim shorts (HAHA) because well, only my top matters, lol. The interviewer, an Englishman I presume by his accent, was really nice though and he made it comfortable by being friendly and easy to speak to. He gave a clear agenda for the interview and dived straight into the main action: assessing my teaching skills.
The first assessment basically involved asking me to re-do my role-play in the 1st interview and of course, I was expected to factor in the feedback from the 1st interview in this role-play. He gave more feedback after the role-play and from there, he jumped to the 2nd role-play.
Now, this is when all hell broke loose for me, lol. I had thought he’d ask me to deliver one of the scenarios I had prepared in the interview assignment but who knew, all he did was pick a profile among the 6 in the assignment, tweak the personality and threw in a completely new scenario for me to role-play with. Basically, I was completely caught off guard. I was given 2 minutes to prepare and that’s it, I had to deliver the lesson.
Come to think about it, of course right, since in actual lesson, there’s no way I can have the luxury of preparing till the cow comes home before I teach the person sitting in front of me.
I was told to teach 2 alternative ways to say “Can I…” to a low-confidence low-level client. I shall not share how, erm, mediocre my performance was because I ended the role-play prematurely. The upside is that I did factor in the feedback given though the lacklustre delivery was a regret.
But man, I tried my best. What really helped was how encouraging the interviewer was. He was not stingy with compliments and feedback and I’d even say the interview was kinda fun and enjoyable while being adequately challenging.
The assessment ended faster than I thought and all I felt was relief after that. He went on to ask about what the first interviewer asked about before, perhaps to tally the information and ensure that all is in place.
The interviewe ended in approximately 40min for me and I was informed that the final outcome will be made known in 10 business days. So now, I wait.
In conclusion…
Factoring in 2 weeks for the results to be out, the whole interview process would have taken 6 weeks. Gaba’s interview process is not exactly easy but I would say it isn’t that hard either. It seems like they are interviewing more for personality and motivation, as well as teachability on top of teaching skills. At this point, I am truly clueless if I stand a chance at getting the job or not because the interviewers were all so nice and encouraging but at the same time, I know my teaching skills are mediocre at best given how inexperienced I am. All in all, I did enjoy the whole interview process and I think Gaba did a great job appointing their recruiters because I have a really good impression of Gaba so far based on my interactions with them.
So now, wish me luck and join me on my waiting game, lol. I’ll update again when the results is out!
Till then,
D.
Edit: I found a podcast where this guy interviewed a Gaba recruiter. Give it a listen if you are interested.
I’m surprised there are no comments here, so – first! :p
Hi D,
First off, congrats on getting the position with Gaba. It definitely doesn’t sound easy and you must have felt your heart drop when the recruiter suddenly changed the topic. I will be having my first interview next week :/
You mentioned that they prefer us to ‘get the student to talk more, and arrive at the answers themselves’. Could you elaborate further on how to do this? Especially since you probably went through their training already.
Let’s say, for example: boring vs bored?
I can’t think of good ways to get the student to talk more. If you have an idea, or even specific sentences to say – that would be much appreciated!
When you were asked to redo your role-play, I presume the topic was the same with the first interview right?
Lastly, if you don’t mind – I would love to check out the interview task file that you completed (can you see my email submitted with this comment?), but do remove any information that may identify you.
If you’re uncomfortable with sending it, I completely understand and no worries. I just want to be fully prepared for it.
Cheers! 🙂
Hi Passerby! Thank you for your comment, let me see how to best help you here.
Basically, be approachable, smiley, friendly, enthusiastic and cheerful. I believe this is one of the key traits they are looking for especially in the first interview.
Boring vs bored is not a good example because it hinges on grammar and Gaba doesn’t stress on explaining grammatical technicalities to clients, so it’s a bit hard to answer based on that, haha. But the key thing to getting the client to talk more includes customising your questions/explanations according to the client’s occupation or hobbies. This is not yet necessary for 1st interview so I wouldn’t be too worried about that for now if I were you. In 2nd interview, they will give you client’s profile before asking you, so you can build your questions based on that. Whenever possible, try to include their hobby or occupation info in your conversation with the client. Then after the explanation, let the client use the word at least once or twice in separate role-plays to confirm their understanding.
And yes, role-play redo in 2nd interview was based on same question. But there are more than just that role-play in the 2nd interview. In any case, we are not trained yet during the interview so don’t worry too much. They shouldn’t be expecting too much.
I will drop you a few screenshot of what I sent over to give you an idea, as the whole task is pretty long and some are not relevant as they hinge on personal plans and aspirations. Hope that helps!
All the best for your interview! 🙂 Do update here along the way! xD
Yup, it does help.
Haha, yeah. Boring vs bored was one of the examples I’ve seen online, so I used it as an example here.
Thanks again!
Hey D,
First off, congrats on getting the position and now working with Gaba. It definitely doesn’t sound scary and I can imagine how you must have felt your heart drop when the recruiter suddenly changed the topic. I will be having my first interview this November 2019.
You mentioned that they prefer us to ‘get the student to talk more, and arrive at the answers themselves’. Could you elaborate further on how best to do this? Especially now that you work with them and probably went through their training already.
Let’s say, for example: looking and seeing?
If you have an idea, or even specific sentences to say – that would be much appreciated!
Lastly, if you don’t mind – I would love to check out the interview task file that you completed and the questions you were asked in the first interview (can you see my email submitted with this comment?), but do remove any information that may identify you. I just want to be fully prepared for it.
Cheers! 🙂
Hi Teg! I will try my best to help you but I do not , have my task file anymore, so pardon me for not being able to send that over to you T_T
As for the question about arriving at answers themselves, taking your example, I’d ask them questions instead of telling them the answer. So for looking vs seeing, I’d tell them “Okay, so you are at Shinjuku station. What do you see?” They will answer some stuff like posters, charging machine, escalator, people etc. So then I’ll add, “So, you SEE a poster about ___ (this could be based on client’s hobby in the profile, e.g. baseball match). You want to know more, so you walk nearer and you…? *gestures to indicate looking, with bigger eyes* LOOK at it, yes!” Then finish it off with an overall explanation like, “So, ‘see’ is general but ‘look’ is with more ‘energy’ (take note to use simple words).” If you want to expand it a bit more, you can add, “so you are interested in the baseball match. Let’s go WATCH it!” so it’ll be see–> look–> watch.
Hope I’m not too late in responding! 🙂
Good luck!
Thanks D, i will be having the interview tomorrow by 3 a.m. GMT+1
Hi! I am going to have my 2nd interview in a couple of days and I want to ask you what do you think was the hardest part about the 2nd interview? and if you could redo it what would you change?
For myself, the hardest part was the on-the-spot improvisation part, where the interviewer gives you a profile on the spot to teach to as well as what you are supposed to teach. I was given 2 min to prepare and it was a challenge thinking of how to teach the client (without straight out explaining the answer) based on the client’s profile.
If I could redo it, I wouldn’t change much but I will definitely throw in at least one more roleplay at the end to ascertain the client’s understanding.
Hope I’m not too late in responding (work started recently!) and all the best for your interview! Keep us updated! 🙂
I just completed my 2nd interview with GABA and like you I was completely thrown when the recruiter picked a student and scenario from the interview task that I absolutely did not prepare for. As someone who likes to prepare things in advance, that wrench in the works really had me panicking and I’m not sure if I was successful with the role-play part of the interview. I wish they’d pick something that we prepared for in the interview task because planning lessons on the fly is just going to lead to disaster. Thanks for your blog though! Nice to read about someone who also went through the process.
Haha! Don’t worry. I’m sure most people face the same problem. All the best~ 😀
Hi there i just had my second interview, I would say it went ok.
I was just wondering how long did they take to get back to you after the second interview? I know they say 10 business days but after how much time should I lose hope?
Hi FA,
Dirty Shoes heard back from them 3 days after the second interview. You can read about it here: http://gaijinhan.com/2018/04/13/im-going-to-teach-english-in-japan/ But don’t lose hope!
All the best!
Hello! I’m also currently an applicant in Gaba and had my first interview today.
The lade was very polite and nice to talk to, but when I got to the part of the teaching role-play I was completely taken aback by the words she asked me to explain:
“merger” and “acquistion”. I’ve probably never even used these words and I completely froze. She then explained to me that it’s because there are some clients interested in Business English, and that these words are actually used describing two companies, which definitely made sense to me immediately. It was just really shocking to hear them without any context.
Then she gave me some feedback, that I after explaining the definitions of the words, I should also encourage the student to use them as well. I think she may also have told me something more, but I was so anxious at that time about totally failing to perform the task that I may have missed it. Do you remember what was the feedback they are giving, regarding the teaching methodology? Another thing I read online is that we should also ask the student if they understood our explanation. Is there anything else, some feedback or advice that you have, that I should pay attention to for the second interview?
Thanks in advance for your reply.
Hi Keyser!
This is D here!
It must be a nerve wrecking period for you then because I’m sure you must be excited to get the job and move to JP since you’re reading this post. 🙂
Let me respond according to each question you asked:
Do you remember what was the feedback they are giving, regarding the teaching methodology?
I really don’t, but according to my experience, this is my advice:
1. Keep your explanations simple. As simple as possible e.g. acquire – buy / merge – join (don’t be too detailed)
2. You can add examples. Again, simple ones. e.g. Facebook bought Instagram. it is an acquisition. Esso and Mobil joined to become one new company, Exxon-Mobil. That’s a merger.
3. Check for understand by asking client to give example (better than just asking ‘do you understand’ cos clients may answer yes to avoid embarrassment) e.g. What about your company or in japan? Did any big company acquire or merge with another company?
there are many other ways but at this stage, if you do the above, you should be fine.
Is there anything else, some feedback or advice that you have, that I should pay attention to for the second interview?
If you have read my posts on Gaba, know that their focus is actually to hire people who are friendly, and people who learn from experience i.e. you should apply the feedback from your first interview in your second interview. Skills really isn’t their main concern at this point in time unless you do really really poorly.
Just try to have fun and prepare for the second interview well by looking at the profiles they included in the interview task. Try to incorporate the client’s profile into your roleplay by giving examples that are relatable to the client e.g. quoting business situations example for business clients or quoting movies/travel examples for housewives etc. Most important part is to have fun! If you are fun to talk to, your recruiter will feel the same and that’s what they want Gaba clients to experience — an enjoyable lesson.
Hope this helps!
D.
Hi D, I just had my first interview with Gaba and it went well, I have been sent an interview task to be completed in 4 days, I am having difficulty in answering some of the questions. 1. Choose one of the clients below. Based on their level, describe the steps involved to teach the following.
Beginner level: Describe how you would teach the difference between THINK and KNOW.
Intermediate level: Please provide a business or a travel idiom. Describe how you would teach this idiom to your client
Any help will be absolutely welcomed
Hi Ski, glad if I can help with that! But first, do read the comments before yours. I think I’ve given quite similar answers before.
Generally, you need to describe what you’ll say, so do include direct quotations
e.g. “What is 1 plus 1? Are you 50% sure it is 2, or are you 100% sure it is 2?”
“100%? So you KNOW it is 2.” (this is a good example esp if your case profile is a student. Another general example for all profile is to ask if it will rain tomorrow.)
Apply the same logic to idiom! The one I chose was “On the same page”. It’ll be nice if you remember to include a chance for the client to use the idiom as well, by setting up a simple roleplay condition.
That’s what I’d do. 🙂
Hi there,
Thank you for your informative post. So I’m almost done with my Interview Task – I only have one question that is unclear to me. Could you please tell me what should I write in the question “Write a detailed timeline of the things you need to do before coming to Japan.” Would you please give me a clear example or explanation about it? Noting that I’m seeking Visa sponsorship. I have to submit the file today so looking forward to your reply! Thanks
Hello, pardon the late reply. Dirty Shoes is unable to access her laptop now so she requested me to reply on her behalf. Below’s her answer, hope it helps! =)
Hi!
This is so useful, I just had my first interview with Gaba. I had to teach the difference between hold and carry.
I will have to re-teach the difference between hold and carry in my second interview, would you be able to give me advice as to how to teach this using the Gaba method/your experience? I really want to nail the role play!!
Thank you so much