Article and photo (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London) by Adrianne Harris.
Actors tend to get in their own way a lot, as you will find in your life. A lot of times you will do things that will screw up your auditioning process. I loved auditioning but I was very bad at it for a long period of time. And part of it was because every time I went into an audition, I thought “God, I hope these guys like me” or “God, I hope I don’t screw this up”. And the truth is, having now sat on the other side of that couch, the producers and the director and the writers, they all go “God, I hope this person is the saviour, I hope this person does it right!” (George Clooney, Audition Advice)
Actors tend to prepare well for any audition they are going to, they memorise pieces to recite, they reflect on their stage presence and they consider the impact they will make. A job interview is a performance of sorts, an audition to see if you would be suitable to take a full time starring role in their company, or if you are perhaps suited better for a different role with another agency. You are in the spotlight and the interviewers want to hear what you have to say and how you will say it. They are keen to see you perform professionally and well. They expect you will have thought about the interview, practiced a bit and be ready to show yourself off when your name is called. Not really that different to preparing for and attending an acting or singing audition. A manager is a director of sorts and they want to see that they can work with you to bring out your best performance.
Wade Bradford shared some tips for preparing for an audition in a recent blog:
- Read the audition notice carefully
- Be professional
- Dress appropriately
- Perfect your monologue
- Get to know the play
- Don’t apologise
Looking at these points it’s easy to translate them into tips for preparing for an interview:
- Read your interview notice carefully – does it contain the address, time, names of the interviewers, what other details (like assessments to be done as part of the interview process) are contained within the note? Now go back and read the job ad, the position description and your application documents. Familiarise yourself again with the role. Get yourself into the shoes of the character you will be playing and begin to see yourself in the job.
- Be professional – always speak in the positive, don’t whinge, use formal language and act like you have the job.
- Dress appropriately – dress as if you have the job, but if the people in the job wear jeans and t-shirts, or a uniform, then dress up a little, but you don’t need to go the full suit and tie. Match your performance in the interview with the image the company projects to the world.
- Perfect your opening and closing statements. You should have a nicely prepared 1 – 3 minute monologue summarising your skills and experience and why you are the best person for the job. Use this monologue on response to the question “why should we employ you” or “do you have anything else to add”? Practice, practice and practice some more. Use a voice coach or an interview coach to practice with until you are confident in it’s delivery.
- Get to know the organisation – review your documents again, read the company website, do some research about the role, the organisation, it’s history, vision, anything you can find to learn about the job, the company and where it is positioned.
- Don’t apologise – if you don’t have the experience asked for in an interview, or you don’t know the answer – stay in the positive, turn the question around to one you can answer, focus on your transferable skills and how you would use those to fill in any knowledge or skills gap.
As you can see, the tips that an aspiring actor would use to prepare for an interview are the same as those that a job seeker would use. However, it is suprising the number of people I talk to that have never considered this approach.
Don’t forget though, that once you pass the audition (the interview) you’ve got the job and will need to be ready to perform from day one, opening day nerves are the same for new employees as they are for actors – it’s a nerve wracking experience for all.
Contact Adrianne Harris to discuss your interview (or audition) strategy.