"Thank you for your time"

[fudatsu]

I remember a lesson that mentioned a polite way to thank someone for their time, but I can't find it! heealp! I have a meeting with a Japanese staffing company tomorrow, and need some phrases like that to raise their eyebrows. Can anyone recommend a lesson, or have any phrase suggestions for interviews?

yoroshiku!

[Psy]

I don't know for the specific situation, but oisogashii tokoro is a really polite way to start it. oisogashii tokoro, o-koshi itadakimashite doumo arigatou gozaimasu "I'm very grateful that you could take the time to be here despite your busy schedule." For time, I -think- (but I'm not sure) that you can replace o-koshi with o-jikan wo making oisogashii tokoro, o-jikan wo itadakimashite doumo arigatou gozaimasu. It's a good starting point if nothing else.

[fudatsu]

Psy, thanks! That looks really familiar. I'll be sure to memorize it so I won't forget it again!

[Javizy]

Honjitsu, o-jikan o saite itadaite hontou ni arigatou gozaimasu.

I remember that line from the Tokyo Travel Blog series. They said it was kind of like a set phrase for interviews. It was also used in a lesson when the character was meeting with a lawyer.

[Psy]

Cool, from the verb saku meaning, among other things, "to cut up; to divide; to spare time." Another extremely fundamental expression that I hadn't known. It's also possible to replace itadaite with itadakimashite and hontou ni with makoto ni. The meaning remains the same so it's almost entirely a stylistic choice:

honjitsu, o jikan wo saite itadakimashite, makoto ni arigatou gozaimasu.

Still, having some variation I think enables a more comfortable understanding of the material, so it feels less like brute memorization.

[fudatsu]

I really have to stop forgetting that 'honjitsu' means 'today'..

Well I used a variation of it at the interview, and I got a nice reaction from it. Used the -mashite form of itadaku, figured theres no such thing as being too polite there! I need to start learning more stuff like this.

[Psy]

I really have to stop forgetting that 'honjitsu' means 'today'..

Well I used a variation of it at the interview, and I got a nice reaction from it. Used the -mashite form of itadaku, figured theres no such thing as being too polite there! I need to start learning more stuff like this.

Yeah, so many students think it's cool to throw off slang and vulgarisms... but the way to really surprise people is knowing your super-polite expressions... a topic which can be difficult even to the Japanese.

At any rate, honjitsu is such a formal word it's better to think of it as "on this day." For a little bean-knowledge (豆知識), it's also what you get if you spell Japan backwards.