First off, the phone interview is so hard, so hard in fact, I am TERRIFIED of that being the method of hiring. Seriously, I am trying to make a decision about a manager who I am going to work with for 10-12 hours a day, for 6-10 weeks, based on a 45-60 minute phone call? It’s like trying to audition actors over the phone.
That having been said, interviews can become like an actor’s audition piece, well rehearsed, and meaningless.
I feel the goal of the interview is as follows:
Get the basic information FROM the candidate.
Learn about the candidates’ style, humor and management technique.
Figure out HOW the two of us are going to work together.
I also think that a huge part of the interview needs to allow for the candidate to get the information they need about the project, learn about your style, humor and management technique and learn how they two of you are going to work together. Because not only do I need to make the decision that I want to work with this ASM, but I need to sell this ASM, that they want to work with me on this project.
I like asking all the basic questions.
Why theatre? Why stage management? Tell me about your last show?
I ask these questions while I am looking over the candidate’s resume and start taking notes. But, what I am really getting out of all of this is learning how they candidate thinks about the job and the business. You also get to learn a bit about the personality.
What do you like about stage management? What do you think your job as an assistant stage manager is? How do you work as a team? What type of Stage Manager do you like assisting for? What type do you not like assisting for?
I need for the candidate to sort of lay it out - but I am hoping I beginning to dig in a little deeper, but also beginning to learn about what their management style and techniques are, but also learning if we are going to be able to work together. What I like about this, is that is should be non-leading . . . so they should be giving out a bunch of information. I press them for specifics, so they just don’t lay out generic answers trying to be “politic”.
Then, I like to talk - surprise. I spend a couple of minutes talking about the show, the productions, the producer, my role in the project. I talk a bit about how I like to put together a team, and how I like a team to work. (I like to take note to see if anything they said in the above answers conflicts with mine, how they react.)
At this point, I tell them, I have a couple more questions, but want them to ask any questions they may have. (You will learn a lot about what type of questions they ask . . . I mean, you learn a lot . . . I could make hiring decisions based solely on questions candidates ask.)
Then I like to throw some curve balls. Whats your favorite drink? The infamous lederhosen question. Then I like to ask a question, where 99% of the time I get an answer I disagree with, and I correct them - and I like to see how the candidate reacts to the correction. Do they get flustered, do they backtrack, do they role with it, do they learn and move forward?
Then I end with a couple of “easy questions”, ones where more rehearsed answers can pop out. I then ask about availability, dates, salary and other issues.
I am also very keen on a second interview, where you can tend to have a more conversational tone - when the candidate is in the second round, they may be more relaxed - and quite frankly, for a second SM interview, there are less rehearsed answers.
