My interview with a company

Hello,

Today I had an interview with a company I have been trying to enter for the last six months. Due to the earthquake and many companies closing due to this it has been over a month since my first interview with this company. As many might not know that in Japan most companies do not only have one interview like companies in the USA. In Japan many companies have a long and complicated selection process when looking for potential candidates. Similar to America the first step one has to do is send a resume to the company. If the company accepts your resume they will ask you to take a entrance exam. The exam differs from company to company however, the most used exam is the SPI exam. Most of these tests have math, English, or Japanese language components. If you pass this test you will be able to take part in the first interview with is usually a group interview with three to five candidates in the same room. If you pass this interview you might be asked to attend another group interview followed by a group discussion. If you make it to the next step you will be able to have a one on one interview with a manager from HR. If you pass this interview you will attend a final interview with an company executive.

Here are the steps again
1. Entry sheet
2. Test
3. Group interview
4. Group interview 2 " depends on company"
5. One on one Interview
6. Final interview
7. You got the job

Anyhow, back to my story. Today I had an interview with a company, it was my second interview so I was guessing that it would most likely be a group interview with other foreign students. Like always I arrived about 30 minutes early to the interview office in order to get myself situated. However, unlike the previous time the place was crowded with applicatants waiting for an interview. Upon sitting down my name was called along with three other people and we were asked to follow a man to another section of the building. Once we arrived to that section he asked us to take as seat and wait to be called on for an interview. The other two applicants who were seated with me started to chat with each other and I found my self chatting with them as well. After talking to them about the selection process I found out that this interview was our final interview. I was quite shocked to hear this because unlike them I have only had one interview prior to this one, while on the other hand they have had in the range of four to six interviews.

After 10 minutes or so I was called back for an interview. Knowing that I was an American I was given a interviewer who spoke great English. Upon entering the room I was asked to give a 2 minute long introduction about myself.

After the first 15 minutes of the interview he asked if I could do an interview in Japanese. I said it was okay; although I preferred to have the interview in English my mother tongue. The questions were the same as the English interview except for the final question which was " what does life mean to you?"

I was totally at loss for words when he asked me this question... Not only was I supposed to answer in full but I was supposed to answer it in Japanese.

To make a short story short I think I bombed this last question and it might have sabotaged my chances of entering this company but I will keep you guys updated.