面会
めんかい · menkai · JLPT N1 · noun
interview
🎤 面 (face) + 会 (meeting) = meeting face to face, which is what an interview is
面 is the face and 会 is a meeting, so 面会 is a meeting where people face each other. A job interview is exactly that, and the 会 in it is the same meeting character you know from 会議.
面 — enclosure 囗 + 自 (nose/face inside)
Originally a pictograph showing a face framed by an outline, with 自 (nose) inside representing the central feature of the face. The early meaning was 'face,' which extended to 'surface,' 'side,' and 'aspect.' In simplified Chinese, 面 also absorbed 麵, adding the meaning 'flour/noodles.'
会 — 人 person on top + 云 cloud/say below (simplified from 會)
The traditional form 會 showed a lid over a vessel with contents stacked inside, depicting things coming together — hence 'meet, gather, assemble.' From 'gathering' it extended to 'meeting,' then 'understand' (minds meeting) and 'be able to.' The simplified 会 keeps only a schematic top and bottom.