Students and clients who are otherwise intelligent and self-possessed tell me that they just don’t #interview well, and worse that the very idea of being interviewed is terrifying.
I am not surprised. Interviews are just another kind of #audition, and as such are very unfamiliar territory to most. We don't generally practice for interviews, and because they are so unfamiliar AND so high-stakes, our heads are buzzing with our nervous energy, our fearful thoughts, and with the unfamiliarity of it all. Thus, most people find it impossible to focus in the room, listen, or answer questions coherently.
But here is the thing:
EVERY successful job application requires “passing “ an interview.
EVERY major college screens countless applicants through interviews..
Every #talentmanager and #agent will interview you before even considering taking you on as a client.
Often #CommercialAuditions are little more than #oncamera #interivews
We all recognize that we have to study for tests, that we need to practice our auditions, and some of us even create talking points to make sure we are prepared for an interview or presentation.
But how many of us have the opportunity to hone our actual interview skills? How many of us even know how? How many of us walk into the room where the stakes are high, with any awareness of how to approach the interviewer, sit down and participate in the conversation as an equal?
As a veteran actor I have spent 25 years walking into #auditions and #interv
iews of all kinds, having to #perform, to stay focused and do the job I entered the room to do. I have met with countless #producers, #managers and #agents, under these stressful circumstances. And I learned that familiarity was my friend.
As a business owner I have been on the other side of that equation, as the #interviewer for potential employees. As a music booker I have been the person screening for new talent for our roster. As a graduate of a major college I have been recruited to interview potential candidates for that school
. And so having both experienced the challenge of trying to operate at my best under the stress of repeated interviews, and having observed those I interview try to be effective and focused under pressure, I have developed a system for teaching and practicing interview skills.
Things always go better when you have a strategy.
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