The hiring process at EARTHBRAIN takes an average of 21 days when considering 1 user submitted interviews across all job titles. Candidates applying for AI Development Project Manager had the quickest hiring process (on average 21 days), whereas AI Development Project Manager roles had the slowest hiring process (on average 21 days).
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at EARTHBRAIN (Tokyo) in Mar 2025
Interview
1.) Resume screening
2.) Interview with both Japanese speaking stakeholders and English speaking development team
3.) Interview with Executives (similar format to first round interview)
4.) Interview with CTO/HR team
This interview was fairly confrontational and it felt like I was stuck in between two groups in the company who were infighting. The job description specified that I would need to mediate between the Japanese stakeholders and the foreign software developers (for reference, Earthbrain is a joint venture between Japanese firms but is mostly staffed by foreign developers, and it seems like there is a lot of friction between the two groups). There was one neutral Japanese person on the call, one foreign developer who looked worn down by the ordeal and didn't speak much, and one older Japanese man who gave off the impression that he didn't want to hire a foreigner for this role and just had to go through the motions of the interview process. He seemed intent on failing me.
The role asked for at least JLPT N2 levels of Japanese, which I exceed, but it seemed like he wanted a native Japanese speaker. After the interview was over, I received an insultingly arrogant rejection letter from Earthbrain.
I came away thinking they have serious internal problems and are looking for a unicorn to magically solve this for them, while offering not much in the way of compensation.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Asked about past projects, AI experience, how I would work together to solve challenges between Japanese & English teams.
Great interview, with a detailed discussion about overall AI tech and applications. The interviewer had vast expertise, making the questions truly challenging and interesting. I had the impression that they were looking for a candidate with great knowledge domain rather than coding skills.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe your latest reviewed paper and detail its current applications to [specific topic depending on your experience]
I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at EARTHBRAIN (Tokyo) in Feb 2024
Interview
Interviewers didn't introduce who they are or what their company does. Even without greeting me the moment I joined the zoom call one of them asked me to describe myself. Was asking me questions about projects I worked on a decade ago. When I asked what kind of projects they have. Their answers were too vague showing they don't have a direction as a startup.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why did you apply here?
What do you know about our company?