Maezawa from the Business Planning Office here as well.
> I’ll try contacting the branch, but should I assume I wasn’t accepted?
I think you should assume you weren’t accepted. However, when I checked the records of a woman who had made a similar inquiry through the official website’s chat yesterday or the day before, and was told that the branch would contact her, her status was marked “accepted.”
It had already been more than a week since her interview, but she still hadn’t been registered. I didn’t follow up to find out what happened afterward, but this kind of situation—someone being accepted but not registered—has happened recently, so while the chances are low, they aren’t zero. Please contact the branch just in case.
By the way, when a woman comes in for an interview, she should be told, “If you’re accepted, we’ll contact you within a week.”
(If she wasn’t told that, then there’s a problem with the staff.)
In other words, if you don’t hear from them within a week, it means you weren’t accepted.
However, within the company, the policy has apparently become something like:
“We’d like staff to tell women when they haven’t been accepted whenever possible.”
“But that’s difficult to say.”
“Right. In that case, make sure to explain clearly that if they don’t hear from us within a week, they should understand that they weren’t accepted.”
But at our company, that somehow got distorted and remained as a rule. Before we knew it, there were staff members who seemed to think they weren’t allowed to tell women they hadn’t been accepted.
(I believe I mentioned this here before.)
That sometimes leads to conversations like:
“Oh, is that not the case? I can tell them they weren’t accepted, so if it’s okay to say that, I will.”
I also think the reason it’s difficult to tell someone they weren’t accepted is that it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with her as a person—it simply means she isn’t a good fit for a dating club. Saying “you weren’t accepted” can feel as though you’re rejecting her personally, which makes staff hesitant.
P.S. Based on the answers from Marika and Rin, President Kida looked into the current situation. I found that parts of my understanding were incorrect, so I’m correcting them here.
It seems that the procedures differ depending on the branch.
At the location I was familiar with—Tokyo—the policy was that if you didn’t hear from them within a week, you should assume you weren’t accepted. However, even within Tokyo, it appears that if you interview at the Shibuya or Shinjuku branches, you’re considered unsuccessful if you haven’t heard from them by 8 p.m. (or 10 p.m.) that same day.
So in Tokyo, you apparently know by the end of the day if you interview at Shibuya or Shinjuku.
There are also five branches where you find out the same day, one where you find out by 8 p.m. the following day, one where you find out within three days, and one outside Tokyo where you find out within a week.
There were also three branches that said they generally notify applicants when they haven’t been accepted.
Some branches still haven’t responded, but I’m starting to wonder which branch actually uses the “within a week” policy.
Could it be that the questions we receive through the Q&A box or the official website’s chat saying, “It’s been a week…” are from people who interviewed at those two branches?
Anyway, I don’t know yet exactly how this can be improved, but this is a quick update to say that we’re trying to do something about it.
I’m a male club member, Paper Airplane.
Since this is a world where women can potentially earn exceptionally generous compensation simply by entering the club, I think it’s only natural that the screening process is so ruthless.
I’ve interviewed women for jobs involving male clients before, and I would decide whether they passed or failed within 1.2 seconds of meeting them.
It’s probably the same when a club’s interviewer is male.
The outcome is essentially decided from the moment the interview starts. Everything up to the photo shoot is just a process of confirming that judgment. They may hope that they can somehow turn things around, but that almost never happens.
For women who come in fully prepared and expecting to pass, it’s difficult to contact them in a way that keeps their hopes up by saying something like “we’ll let you know by such-and-such a date.” Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to contact them only after they’ve given up, thinking it probably wasn’t going to happen?
I imagine it’s harder to get in touch than in the hostess and adult-entertainment industries, where there are more establishments than you could ever count.
I’m Rin, a female member.
Marika, thank you for speaking up about something that’s difficult to say.
The person going in for the interview is in the weaker position. You work up the courage to get in touch, muster the nerve to open the door, and do your best to answer some pretty embarrassing questions—then all you can do is wait.
At the very least, I wish they would set a clear timeframe, like “we’ll let you know within a few days.” If you pass, they sometimes contact you the same day, so being lax about the deadline only when it’s a rejection comes across as painfully obvious.
I’m Marika, a female member.
Honestly, this is something so many women have had unpleasant experiences with, time and time again.
Every time I hear about it, it makes me angry.
Of course, not at the person asking the question, but at the club staff.
Is it really that much trouble to create and send a rejection template? It’s frustrating.
I wish they would think about how women feel while anxiously waiting to find out whether they’ve been accepted or rejected.
It’s not simply a matter of it being difficult to say.
Maezawa-san, it’s not enough to say, “Please contact the branch, since there may have been a mistake and you may have been registered without being notified.”
I think I’ve written this before, too.
If, as a company, you think it’s fine to just leave rejected women hanging because they won’t bring in any money anyway, that attitude may end up costing you somewhere down the line.
P.S.
Mr. Maezawa,
Thank you for looking into various things this time. I’m also honored that President Kida seems to have taken an interest.
I think one of Universe’s strengths is that it isn’t overly rigid—different branches may have different rules, and staff members may interpret them differently.
Wouldn’t it be better to ask women whether they would like to be notified if they’re rejected, and then have a system where staff can simply click a button to send those who say yes a template message like, “Unfortunately, on this occasion…”?
That would spare women the frustration of being left wondering, while also greatly reducing the staff’s workload and the awkwardness of having to say it.
