I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Rakuten (Bengaluru) in Oct 2019
Interview
Got a call from reference. Gave 4 rounds of interview/case study. Got rejected after 4th round reason is still unknown. :)
Below is the process:
1. Recruiter did basic screening and asked to visit or Zoom, I preferred F2F.
2. Gave a case study - "company commuter app/web" and multiple question based on that
3. Gave a case study to do in home, Case study was related to their ecommorece where the product return rate was increase by 20% and a product manager you need to define/design strategy to reduce it. - Did a detailed document which was included - A. Why it is happening and difference scenario against that. B. How we can reduce it - multiple solutions. C. Prioritization matrix in order to pick the solution. D. Risk against each of the solution. I spent around 12-15 hrs to complete this case study.
E. Product redesign - Product Home page only. F. Matrix after solution is live.
4. Case study round was clear called for next round. Product director took interview it went for approx 1 hr. Asked multiple question related to different products and case study.
Overall it was a very good experience learnt a lot from 1st round till 4th. Not sure why they rejected(they told me they kept me on hold but in real life its only to please the candidate)
Suggestion to Recruiter/Hiring Manager: As you are taking feedback for your eCommerce product in order to improve Vendor and Rakuten. In the same way start giving feedback to candidates, it will help them to grow up in their career. If you will take interview and not give feedback it will be a waste of the candidate and your time.
Also, it won't give good impression on recruitment process or the organization.
Note: Overall experience I have given negative(option in glassdoor) because I did not received feedback post interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
1. How is your day to day life as a Product Manager/PO.
2. Case study on commuter app, where as a organization we would like to build a solution through which company employee will be able to book the cafe for their office/home. I have done this using different actors eg: Employee, Company Admin, Vendor Admin, Super Admin and Cab Driver etc. Build a solution while keeping different scenario in mind.
3.If you have multiple solution how you will pick it up.
4. Facebook related question - again this was to check the solution's part. - If as a FB, I will start getting less likes/comment on the post what strategy I will apply.
5. 3 Good and Bad features of Whatsapp.
6. Once the payment is reached to the Rakuten how they will release payments to the vendors/sellers.
7. Why adoption of Watsapp is more, more than any other competitor ?
8. What is the issue in gmail/FB - chat system over whatpsapp?
The whole recruitment process was straightforward and fast, there were level of interviews. First was HR interview, then a user interview, and finally the final interview. The whole interview process took about 1 month from scheduling, but was about 2 months from application.
Referred by Rakuten employee and got up to 3 positions to apply. After HR checked your resume and fit, totally 3 interviews came: hiring manager, team leader & senior manager.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What kind of project have you ever led? Scale and responsibility ?
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Rakuten (Tokyo) in Dec 2025
Interview
One interview with 2 members of the team. The questions were related to the job scope and background to understand if both my background and personality could be a good fit for the role
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What was a difficult time you had to face in your current role and how did you react to it