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Interview Time

 

This month’s blog post is going to be on a quite specific topic but has information that can apply to many varying situations.

I mentioned in my previous post that I was being flown out to interview for a job! I have since undergone this interview and I am basically going to give a play-by-play of what this 36-hour interview looked like. I will again not be naming the specifics of the location or the name of the employer but I will give as much detail as I can.

The job is for a sound designer and audio engineer in academics. I would be sound designing several shows as well as teaching students about sound design and audio engineering.

To start I had a phone interview for this position and instantly I was very interested. They explained to me the parameters of the position and we talked about my experience. I was then informed that I would be contacted with the next steps. Within a day I was contacted saying they wanted to fly me out to the school to do an in-person interview!

I was insanely nervous! I thought who would want to fly someone like me out to a different state for a job interview? It was crazy to me! Luckily, I have a best friend who told me, “why wouldn’t they want to fly you out for the job?! You are incredible and a good fit!” This gave me the confidence I needed to get on a plane to a new place!

They booked a flight and I packed and got ready to go! I went shopping of course! My mom told me it was important I dress nicely even on the plane because someone from the school was picking me up from the airport. I got three outfits that made me feel confident and professional.

When I landed, I was picked up, and driven to the school.  I had butterflies. I knew this was a place I really wanted to work and I didn’t want to mess this up. The person who picked me up from the airport talked to me about the town a little bit! They offered to drive me around the town before dropping me off at the hotel! I also asked them some questions about their own experiences in the town and the students at the school! If you are interviewing for a school I highly recommend asking those kinds of questions to the people you interact with that aren’t responsible for hiring you. This is because if they want you for the position they could hide some aspects of what life is like in the town. However, the people that you meet outside of the hiring committee have no reason to lie to you! I did the same thing with the woman who worked at the front desk of my hotel! I asked her if she had met students from the school and just how life was there because I wasn’t very familiar with the area! She was able to give me some really great unfiltered information about the town that I wouldn’t have received otherwise! Therefore, if you are considering moving to a new place for a job I definitely suggest this!

After I got to my hotel, the man that initially interviewed me, picked me up to take me to dinner. I had dinner with him and three other members of their theatre department faculty. I immediately felt so comfortable with all of them and felt that I was really able to be myself while still being professional. They talked to me about their program and asked me some more general questions that didn’t necessarily pertain to the job, they were just trying to get to know me! It was a nice introduction to the program and the people I could potentially be working with.

The next day was a day packed full of interviews! I was interviewed by several different people some from the theatre department and others on the administrative level and I can honestly say everyone were so genuine and incredible.

My biggest tip for these day-long interviews is to pack snacks and bring a reusable water bottle. This is how I survived. And most importantly gum or mints! I kind of felt like I was saying the same thing in every interview but I had to remember that I was talking to a new person every hour so I had to deliver the same information multiple times!

I met the rest of the theatre department as well over lunch and they were all so kind! I could genuinely see myself working alongside these people and I found that extremely exciting and it only put more pressure on myself to do well during this in-person visit.

Overall, the interviews all went well! They all felt more like a conversation than them just throwing questions at me which made the day way easier to take on.

The day ended with me going to see one of their department performances! I was so thankful that I was able to watch one of their shows and meet some of the students! It was an incredible production and just made me want to work there more!

 

This experience was like no other. I am so thankful for it. My biggest advice for undergoing a multi-day interview similar to this one would be as follows:

  1. Dress to impress and be comfortable. In my opinion I would rather be over dressed than under dressed BUT if I am not comfortable in what I’m wearing, I won’t be able to be confident during my interviews.
  2. Bring snacks and a reusable water bottle. I wasn’t super hungry at meal times because I was nervous during the day so having snacks really helped!
  3. Bring gum or mints. Chewing gum helps calm my nerves which was my main reason for bringing it, but you also don’t know what you’ll be eating so you want to be prepared to fight bad breath!
  4. Prepare questions and do research before you get there. There were so many times someone would be walking me to my next interview or location and I was so thankful I did some research on the school and had some questions ready to fill awkward silence.
  5. Don’t be afraid to be yourself. This might sound dumb because everyone tells you to be yourself. However, when you are doing interviews like this it is crucial to be yourself because you need to know if you feel like you fit in at this new place as much as they want to know if you fit in to them!

 

In conclusion, I was so stressed about this interview for so many reasons, but a big factor was the industry has turned away from in-person interviews since COVID so I wasn’t sure how I would perform in an interview in person! But you will be fine! If I can do it, you can do it! Just remember to breathe and smile through the nerves! Oh, and have a best friend who tells you that you are worthy of the opportunity even when you don’t feel like you are!

Bad Interview Stories: The Five Minute Interview

 

One of my first interviews in LA – and worst interviews – came through an industry job website. I saw an ad for a sound mixer for a “film with an up-and-coming director”. I sent my resume asking if they needed a sound assistant. I was interested in learning production audio but didn’t have any credits or gear. To my surprise, I got a call back a few days later from their production assistant.

“We already started filming and our sound mixer had to leave the project. We need someone immediately. Are you available?”

“Yes,” I said. “But I haven’t worked on a set before.”

“That’s fine,” She replied.

“I also don’t own gear. Are you providing any?” She urgently replied yes, so I asked what they had. She couldn’t remember exactly, so I started naming off some gear.

“Yeah, it’s something like that,” she said, cutting me off. “Why don’t you just come in for a meeting and we can sort it out.”

We arranged to meet at their headquarters (a house in the Hollywood Hills). It was my first time in the Hollywood Hills, so I was prepared for mansions and expensive cars. After an hour in traffic to get to Hollywood, I weaved my way through the hills only to find a lot of run-down houses, overgrown lawns and beat-up cars. I pulled up to an average-looking home with a ton of cars out front.

I was greeted by the woman I spoke with on the phone. She told me to sit at a table (which was oddly placed in the entryway two steps from the front door). She returned with a guy who introduced himself as the production manager. He asked for my resume and looked it over briefly.

“Umm, yeah, it looks like you don’t have production experience,” He said. “Do you have your own equipment?”

“No…” I replied, confused from the phone conversation I had earlier.

“Well, April, we’re looking for someone with equipment. But, we still need production assistants, if you’re interested in doing that.”

“Maybe,” I said. I figured I might as well hear him out since I had driven all the way up there.

“Basically, you would be one of the first ones on the set and the last to leave. You make sure the food is there and set up on tables and that everyone is in the right places. Sometimes it’s running errands and just whatever else we would need. It would be six days a week, 12 hours a day for the next six weeks. We can’t pay you, but if there’s extra time you could probably help out the lighting guys. The sound guy usually doesn’t need help.”

I told them I would consider it and would get back to them. I was in and out in less than five minutes. I didn’t call them back.

Looking at it now…

There were a lot of red flags that I missed because of inexperience. As someone new to town, the idea of working with an “up and coming director” was exciting – but what I didn’t know is that there’s a lot of people who think they are up and coming. Anyone with a camera can call themselves a filmmaker and put up an ad looking for crew. It’s also a common tactic to name-drop to recruit people to work for low or no pay. Sometimes jobs like those can still be a good opportunity, but you have to ask yourself: What else about this opportunity is valuable? How many hours a week am I willing to commit for no pay?

On the phone, I assumed I was speaking to someone in a managerial position like a producer, associate producer, or production manager. The person who called was a production assistant (PA), which is typically an entry-level job – the same job they offered me in that 5-minute interview. If I had that phone call today, I’d ask a lot more questions. I’d try to gauge if it was a professional, semi-pro, or amateur film. Instead of accepting vague answers, I would ask for an email or call back before agreeing to come in for a meeting (so we’re not wasting anyone’s time). It’s ok to ask about the hours, location, job duties, gear, or pay range – especially if they didn’t provide that information. It’s not rude or pretentious to ask: “Could you clarify some things for me? I want to make sure I’m available and can provide what you need.”

Sometimes gig listings (especially online) use the wrong terminology or job title. For example, “sound mixer” is usually the title for production sound or location mixer. In online ads, “sound mixer” can mean anything from location mixer to sound editor, sound designer, music mixer or re-recording mixer. I once had someone contact me to do a mix when they actually needed a composer. There’s a lot to learn from amateur and semi-pro projects, but it’s good to know going in that there could be a learning curve – you may have to teach your client what your job entails (or the proper title for your job).

Sometimes it’s good to do interviews just to gain experience, but commuting over an hour each way for a 5-minute meeting wasn’t worth it. It’s ok to politely turn down an interview if you’ve changed your mind – but it’s also ok to keep the interview if you see value in the experience, relationship, or the potential for a future opportunity.

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