Before applying

Preparing a job application with attention to detail can dramatically increase your chances to get an interview.

The most important points are the CV, social media accounts, code examples, and relevant websites that showcase your skills. The cover letter is optional. Use it only if you need to explain something in more detail about your work experience or application.

Make sure your skills match at least 75% of the skills required in the job description. The closer you are to 100%, the more chances to get the job. This is the single most critical factor when selecting candidates.

Please only apply using our official careers portal. Avoid sending duplicate applications or contacting HR/the hiring manager directly to ask for a meeting.

The CV and cover letter

• The CV and any letter or email should be written in English

• Put the latest work experience at the top

• All the items in the work experience section should have links to the companies/projects and state the location

• All the items in the education section should have a link to the university/college and state the location

• Make sure to tailor your CV for the job. If the job is for front-end but the CV highlights back-end experience, that's not going to help you. The more aligned it is with the job description, the better

• Make sure the grammar and spelling in all your documents and messages are as good as possible. We recommend using Grammarly

• Always use a PDF. Avoid Microsoft Word or any other formats. Some ATS and recruitment tools can read PDFs, which saves time for the recruitment team as they don't need to download the file

• The formatting, text alignment, and general style of the CV must be correct. Avoid cluttering it with too much content and use white space to make it more readable

• Showing some design taste and creativity in your CV goes a long way. If you need inspiration, we recommend Canva

• Avoid including basic project examples, like a "todo list app" or landing pages that are copies of real brands/companies

Code examples

• Make sure your pinned Github repositories show your best work and the readme files are detailed and updated

• Having a comprehensive Github profile (or similar) and a rich coding footprint on the Internet is always a good sign

• Make sure your repositories include code with the tech stack required in the job description

Social Media accounts

• If you decide to use a picture in your LinkedIn profile or CV, try to choose one that looks professional or somehow creative

• If you use Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or any other channel to express your coding or artistic creativity, make sure to include them in your application

Relevant websites

• Having a portfolio website can increase your profile as a candidate especially if it's a creative and well-crafted one

• Using a custom domain name is always preferred if you have a portfolio or personal website. Using subdomains from Wix, Vercel, Netlify, and similar platforms don't project a serious and professional image

• If you write technical blog posts about coding or anything related to IT, make sure to include them in your application

Preparing for the first interview

• This will be a 30~60 minutes online video call with the hiring manager to discuss the role requirements, and the candidate's experience

• When communicating your availability for this or future interviews, use the timezone of the TableCheck office for which you are applying. Usually Japan (JST)

• Make sure to be punctual, have a stable Internet connection with good video quality, and be in a quiet and well-lit environment

• If you can't attend for any reason, make sure to send an email before the interview is due

• Be prepared to share your projects on the screen if required

• Days before having the interview, reflect on why you want to work at TableCheck and how you envision your career going forward. Also, try to refresh your memory about your past work experiences, your accomplishments, and the things you would have done differently

• Review your coding knowledge regarding the technologies required for the job to which you are applying

• Prepare your computer for the online interview and any potential code challenge or take-home assignment

During the interviews

• Be calm, honest, and keep a curious and positive attitude

• Be yourself, but keep a professional tone

• Focus on the questions. If you don't understand precisely what the interviewer meant, then ask for more information

• Keep your answers relatively short. You can always let the interviewer know that you can provide more details if they want. Remember that it is a conversation, not a monologue

• Avoid answering questions by reading prepared answers. You should be able to remember your past work experiences and share your ideas and beliefs

The team interview and coding test

Once you pass the interview with the hiring manager, you might be asked to do a coding test and an interview with some engineers in the team.

Given the particular characteristics of the applicant, their preferences, current situation, work experience, and the skill level required in the job description, we will decide which coding test is more suitable. The difficulty level will be based on seniority and job responsibilities.

Take-home assignment

• This is the most popular choice since it allows the candidate to do it at their own pace and using their preferred processes and tools

• The test will usually involve using the tech mentioned in the job description

• Be creative, organized, detailed, and document your assignment well

• Make sure it works when publishing it online

• After submitting the assignment, our team will review it. If it passes the Tablecheck standards, we will send you an invite for another meeting

Review together one of your public projects

• If you have an open-source project, we'd be glad to discuss it with you

• The project would have to be complex enough and use a substantial amount of the tech mentioned in the job description

• You should be able to run it locally on your machine and share your screen during the review

The live-coding exercise

• In this test, we will give you a problem to solve in real-time during the interview process with the team

• We will usually do it using Codesandbox, Codepen, or a similar platform

Final interviews

If you pass the coding test and the interview with the team, there are still two more interviews that you need to pass before getting an offer. The first one will be with the CTO and the second with HR.

Finally, if you get an offer and you accept it, we will do a reference check and if all goes well you will be a new TableCheck employee 🎉

If for whatever reason you don't get an offer, don't feel bad about it. Remember that you are competing against many other candidates. We recommend you to keep learning and improving yourself and then try again in the future.

If you are really interested to work at TableCheck, it's also a good idea to ask for feedback. This could give you valuable information to accomplish your objective when you apply again in the future.

The onboarding process

The onboarding process consists of different layers. First, you will have to follow some HR and admin processes to set up your user accounts and get your laptop. If you are interested in coming to Japan and require visa sponsorship, then you will also be required to prepare some paperwork.

Once you are clear from your initial administrative tasks, your hiring manager will assign you a buddy. Usually, it will be another engineer from your team who is knowledgeable about the company processes. At the same time, you will also join one of the squads in the IT department and start working on a product with other engineers, PMs, and designers.

The first weeks will be intense but fun, as you will have to learn and read about many new things, meet a lot of people, and get used to how things are done at TableCheck. But don't worry, your buddy will be with you at all times!

If you have any other questions regarding the hiring or onboarding process, please don't hesitate to contact us.