Top 5 interview questions for Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the fastest-growing automation technology in the world. According to Gartner, the global RPA market revenue is projected to reach USD 2 billion in 2021, an increase of 19.5% from 2020. It is also forecasted to grow at double-digit rates through 2024 despite economic pressures from COVID-19.

 

RPA in Japan

According to Statista, the RPA market in Japan was forecasted to grow steadily and reach a market size of over ¥150 billion by 2023.

Japan’s RPA's market size is predicted to rapidly increase by 2023 for several reasons:

• Improvements to the work-life balance of employees, who are known to work long office hours and overtime
• Support from the Japanese government with increased robotic automation’s R&D budget to ¥351 million with the intention of making it the leading robotics innovation hub in the world
• Ease of implications in Japan's rapidly aging demographic

The prevalence of RPA can be seen across most industries that require tedious operational and manual tasks. This is especially so for an essential pillar of Japan’s economy, the automotive industry.

 

RPA in the Automotive Industry

Automotive companies are turning to RPA to streamline operations and reduce costs by automating tedious tasks. This allows employees to focus on higher-value work especially in automotive engineering, and automotive manufacturing.

These sectors involve several operational processes that help process the raw material, produce as well as control the output. Although several bigger automotive manufacturing firms have begun adopting RPA within their existing processes, a lot of them are either slow at adopting them or reluctant in doing so, owing to the years of excessive reliance or trust on the manually operated processes.

 

Sample Interview questions for RPA

Most RPA interviews in Japan consist of two technical rounds and a culture fit round. Below are some of the interview questions you can expect across all types of industries, including automotive:

 

Interview Question 1: In your past working experience, how have you applied the various phases of the RPA lifecycle?

This question allows the hiring manager to identify your thought processes and ability to strategize whilst being on an RPA project. You will need to think of examples from your past job experience to showcase:

1. Discovery Phase

2. Solution Design Phase

3. Development Phase

4. User Acceptance Test (UAT)

5. Deployment and Maintenance Phase

6. Bots Execution

 

Interview Question 2: How do you see Artificial Intelligence (AI) converging with RPA?

There has been a lot of talk around the convergence of RPA and AI which can open doors for new possibilities. This will help to reach new levels of productivity and hiring managers would like to get your insight on how you feel this could value add your company and learning.

This would involve you applying AI skills in workflows, teaching robots to perform thinking tasks, and how it could improve data accuracy by using both human validation and built-in retraining for improving robot and model performance.

 

Interview Question 3: Name some of the tools you used

This is a common interview question to get as hiring managers would like to understand the tools you have experience in, and if you would require additional support in picking up new tools.

For example, BluePrism is an RPA tool used for creating business objects and is managed in the control center, providing operational scalability. This is used for the automation of Desktop, Web, and Citrix. In this, the RPA bots are only used for back-office automation at high execution speed.

Further, there are three types of certifications including delivery provider, capability provider and service provider. You could also share a specific trait of the tool you are using. For instance, explain how BluePrism could provide the option to write codes or use them without any knowledge of programming or coding.

 

Interview Question 4: Differentiate some of the RPA tools to achieve a project goal

Apart from naming the tools, hiring managers or interviewers would also like to know if you could understand how to use different tools to apply to different purposes of the project at hand. For example, Automation Anywhere is best for basic developers in achieving efficiency as RPA bots are used for both front-office and back-office automation.

You could mention that such a tool contains Recorders that provides access to record and modify your actions with supporting features like a smart record, web record, and screen record. Additionally, no coding skills are required. UiPath on the flipside is a visual design tool that is used for providing a faster implementation. This is used for BPO automation and Citrix automation.

 

Interview Question 5: What are the factors to be considered in the planning phase of automation?

Hiring managers would like a potential candidate that is inquisitive and quick enough to think about the dependent variables and factors that will impact the planning of automation projects. One would first need to show that you are able to select the right and appropriate RPA tool, choose a framework to work with and be able to tie this to the deliverables expected of the project.

 

There are four Robotic Process Automation stages:

1. Planning – In this stage, the processes which have to be automated are specified. This includes identifying test objects, finalising the implementation approach, and defining a pathway for RPA implementation.

2. Designing and development – In this stage, you begin developing the automation workflows as per the plan.

3. Deployment and testing – This covers the bot’s execution. Any failure can be handled in this part. It can also provide accurate functioning, and bots are tested for eros.

4. Support and maintenance – This stage offers constant support for helping to identify and correct errors.

 

Types of RPA jobs within the automotive industry in Japan

• Sales & Marketing
• Field Service Engineer
• Software Engineer
• Electrical & Mechanical Engineer
• Project Manager
• Consulting
• Construction Management

 

Click here for top RPA jobs in Japan 

Click here for top automotive engineering jobs in Japan

Click here for top automotive manufacturing jobs in Japan

 

RPA in Japan over the next few years

There are many benefits that RPA can bring to organisations, and this will translate to a persisting demand for talent. Automotive engineering and automotive manufacturing units are labor-intensive, and therefore, employing a large chunk of a workforce for something which could be easily and inexpensively automated. This is one important concern that would surface in the long run.

Ultimately, RPA professionals value-add to an organisation’s operational efficiency, leading to higher production, and support organisations in becoming labor effective as well.

If you are an RPA professional who wishes to explore what career options and career progression you can have in Japan, feel free to contact us with the form below and one of our experienced consultants will get in touch. Alternatively, you may also click on the different links above to get to our job portal on the list of available openings.