There were 4 steps overall:
1. I applied online through their Fast Retailing website, and approx. 1 week later I received an email asking to upload a Youtube video answering a few standard interview questions. After 1 week, I received an email inviting me to a 1 hour Skype interview...
2. The group Skype interview was with 3 other candidates. The interviewer began with a broad explanation about the program. We were asked standard questions, including: "Tell me about a time when you had to start a difficult conversation in the workplace" and a math question which I have detailed below. She was unable to answer my question about when the actual start-date was.
A word to the wise: the interviewer WILL NOT accept the fact that you know how to avoid/de-escalate difficult conversations in the workplace. So think of something difficult, and how you handled it. After another week, I received an email inviting me to NY for a group case study. UNIQLO pays for the flight and transporation...
3. Firstly, the time had to be pushed back to 10:30am, because I flew into JFK at 9:30am and the interview was originally at 10am.
There were 2 interviewers. We were sat at 2 tables and there were about 10 people in total. We introduced ourselves and presented a VERY simple case study: The Chicago store is having problems and you have to work together to solve them. Brainstorm ideas, how much they cost, and their impact. Then you have to tell the other group, who pretends to be a board of directors. Another tip: mention cleaning up the store immediately. I also suggest smiling and taking notes during this interview.
The interviewers could, once again, not answer any of the questions I asked. They basically replied "Be flexible". About 2 weeks later, I received yet another invitation to NY for the final interview and a phone call. The call was for final interview preparation only...
4. Most candidates I met in step 3 were invited back to NY for the final. Some declined. Be early, because in Japan early = on time. On time = you're late. I met with one of the interviewers from Step 3 and a high-level Japanese exec. A asked the other candidates, and all our questions were different. For example, one candidate was asked what her strengths and weaknesses were, and I was not. I was not asked a math question this time.
I thought this went well because I was prepared for it by speaking with current UNIQLO managers before the interview. About 2 weeks I (and the other candidates I met) got uninformative rejection emails.
I emailed the interviewer to please provide some feedback (because I felt it went well), and was blown off with a one sentence reply.
I wish I could give better advice for the final step, but we were rejected for unknown reasons.
Overall, this experience was negative. This was an unnecessarily long process for ultimately below-average pay or no job offer at all. Travel times were stressful. The interviewers could not answer my questions about essential aspects on the program, like the actual starting dates. When I asked for feedback, I was stonewalled.
You can meet some cool people and travel was paid, though. Hope this was helpful.