This month has had many ups and downs….
I have had many interviews some good and some not so good. I will get into details about these interviews in a moment.
I have applied for 36 jobs in total. Some are strictly summer contracts some are further into the future. Until I specifically have a job I will not be naming the companies that I interview with but I will go into detail about my interview experiences.
I have had a total of 16 interviews. Don’t worry I am not going to summarize every single one. I am just going to talk about the standouts… whether it be because they stood out for a good reason or a bad reason…
To give a brief overview of the interviews, some didn’t go well because the job posting differed from what they actually wanted for the job, or they would imply it was paid and then tell me in the interview it wasn’t. Others our personalities didn’t mesh very well. I am a pretty bubbly person which doesn’t mesh with everyone! However, I am a person who enjoys what I do and I like to enjoy the place I work so this can be a deal breaker for me.
My first interview was with a small regional theatre company. I was interviewed by two men. One was the Technical Director of the theatre and the other was the sound designer and audio engineer. I was interviewing for an A1 or A2 position. I immediately knew within minutes of being on zoom with them, that this was a place I would want to work. They were so inviting and it just felt more personal than generic interview questions. We even had a mutual connection through a director which also allowed us to connect! Although this interview went extremely well, and I did in fact get the offer, I had already agreed to mix another show and the dates conflicted. I can genuinely say though, because of this interview I will keep this theatre on my radar for future possibilities.
What I learned from this interview process was that even if you can’t accept the offer currently, interviewing with a company allows you to know if you would EVER want to work with them not just in the present. They also have all my contact information now so if they ever need someone I have told them to reach out!
The next interview I would like to talk about is one that did not go very well. I interviewed with a larger more well-known repertory theatre. I interviewed with one man and he was the technical director. I was interviewing for a sound assistant position. Immediately when I got on the zoom call I could tell he wasn’t taking the interview seriously. He asked me extremely generic questions and little about my actual experience, and when he did ask about my experience the answer was on my resume. He then asked when I was graduating college and scoffed when I told him it was this May. Next, he asked me how much supervision I would need in this position after explaining the duties of the job. I replied saying that I didn’t think I would need any because everything he explained I had experience in. He again scoffed and told me “oh I’m sure you would need some supervision.”
Overall, after this interview, I was completely uninterested. Even if he didn’t mean his comments in a malicious way I am unwilling to work under a supervisor who speaks the way he did. In the end, I did get the offer and I declined it. I chose to not work in a place where I felt I wouldn’t be valued. Saying no was extremely difficult especially with it being a more well-known theatre. However, I know I made the right decision and I don’t regret it at all.
The last interview I will debrief was one of the best interviews that I have had. When I applied to this company it wasn’t high up on my list of places to work. This immediately changed as soon as I got on the interview. I was interviewed by one woman for this position and she was the production manager for the company. As soon as we started we clicked. It didn’t feel like an interview it just felt like two colleagues talking about their experiences in theatre. We talked about this very blog and she told me how she loves that I am sharing my experiences and advocating for women in sound. We shared a passion for this art and empowering women within the technical aspects of theatre.
After this interview, a company I barely considered working for became one of my top choices. And even better I got the offer. I am currently in the process of making sure the dates work with my other commitments and if they do I will undergo a background check and hopefully sign a contract!
So, let’s talk about the point of this month’s blog… The point of this blog post is that I believe the right job will come. There were other interviews in between these and none of them were the right fit, but when the right and more importantly unexpected right job came along I knew it was the right fit. So, don’t settle on a job you don’t feel is right no matter how new you are in the industry, the right fit will come along!
This next month I have more interviews set up including one that I am flying to a different state for! I can’t wait to share this next month’s journey with you! Talk to you in March!