You’ve dedicated hundreds of hours reading Shakespeare’s entire works and you’re familiar with every artistic director in the UK. Finally this knowledge has paid off as you’ve only gone and scored yourself that much coveted job interview at your all time favourite theatre company.
Before you celebrate by reading ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ for the 50th time, you realise that if you want to rub shoulders with the likes of Rufus Norris and Matthew Warchus, you actually need to put the ground work in and ace this job interview.
But how do you make sure you effectively convey your passion for theatre as well as selling yourself and convincing them that you’ll be a sparkling addition to the team? Well, sit tight and read some of our top tips on how to prepare for a theatre job interview.
Equip yourself with knowledge of the company and the industry. You wouldn’t set out for a walk in the desert without packing plenty of water, so why go for a job interview without researching the company first? It’s all well and good saying that you live and breath theatre but you need to make sure that you effectively demonstrate this knowledge in your interview. So load up on research and show them that you know your Les Blancs from your Les Misérables.
If this is the industry you want to work in you need to know if inside out. Here are some good questions to think about:
- Can you name their recent plays and artistic directors?
- What do you like or dislike about their plays?
- Which emerging talent (screenwriters, producers etc) are you the most excited about and why?
- What do you consider to be the biggest threat to the theatre industry at the moment?
- Why do you want to work for their theatre company over all the others?
- Do you have a good understanding of the different roles within theatre?
- What is the most recent production you saw and what did you think of it?
- What is production that has had the most impact on you?
Think about what you love the most about theatre and why you want to work in the industry. If you’re an aspiring actor or actress and think you’ll just take any job in theatre until you score your big acting break then perhaps now is the time to reconsider your motives. Yes you do need to start somewhere, but convincing your interviewer that you will be perfect for the role behind the scenes when really your heart lies at the centre stage is bound to rub them up the wrong way. Your first passion really should be for the role you’re going for.
We hope these tips will help you ace your interview. If you’re still waiting to secure an interview and need some help with your CV, be sure to sign up for one of our CV Clinic sessions.