Audition for Your Next Job

Observations on Resumes, Interviewing, Networking, and More Based on the Performing Arts

In Act One, I’ll start by asking a fundamental question that every job seeker needs to answer:  Who am I?  Sparked by outstanding insight from a Broadway actor and a personal experience, I’ll tackle the importance of seriously contemplating an answer to this question as a key first step.  Act One will also tackle some of the realities of job market including some attitudes held by job seekers that hinder your success in almost every phase of the search.

In Act Two, I am going to present the latest of the connections that I see between a career search and the performing arts – the Audition.  In traditional hiring processes, job seekers respond to ads, or job postings, or launch themselves into the networking world of LinkedIn.  They prepare resumes and hope for that phone, video, or in-person interview.  Then they wait for the letter, or the phone call, or the e-mail to receive a job offer – or experience the heightened frustration of never hearing anything.  The audition process is completely different, from the “cattle call,” to the audition itself, where a performer is asked to perform in front of key casting individuals, to the notifications of instant rejections to “call backs.”  It is a process that is strikingly different from the traditional job hunt – but with significant opportunities for powerful learning.

In Act Three, the resume will be examined from several viewpoints.  Starting from the perspective that performers have resumes that are very different from the “traditional” resume of most job seekers, this act will examine some of the trends in resumes.  Most importantly, it will provide techniques for bringing more life, more of you, into your resume.  This act will also include the results of research that overwhelmingly prove that the format of your resume makes a big difference in its chances for success.  Moreover, there’s a lesson about how some of the smallest mistakes can make a big difference.

Act Four will turn to a topic that is a major emphasis of every performer’s life – and an overwhelmingly underemphasized element for most job seekers.  It is “Practice – Practice – Practice” and it applies to preparing your resume, working on your LinkedIn profile, and definitely to your interviewing preparation.  This act will discuss more than just “practice” because practice is not just repetition or memorizing answers to possible questions.  Practice has become a more complicated element because of some of the latest research on its value.  Because practice is so common in both the performing arts and sports, this act will include some examples from the world of sports.

Act Five provides the bookend to your resume, “practice – practice – practice,” and the always critical interview.   While it seems like here is where the strongest connection would be between the audition for the performer and the interview for the job seeker, nothing could be farther from the truth.  However, it is also where there are the opportunities for the greatest improvements to your job hunting strategies.  The good news is that many organizations are now making use of simulations, work samples, and programming tasks to better assess candidates.  Here’s the information that will make your responses during an interview much more representative of your actual “performance.”

Act Six presents some insights into the importance of networking.  Networking has always been considered an important component of a successful career search.  In the last decade, it has been elevated to an even more important component.  For many job seekers, that means LinkedIn where profiles, following companies, and online networking have taken command.  However, performers do not network the way most job seekers network.  They network personally because they share performances in a different way; they share auditions in a very different way.  My business colleagues have hundreds of LinkedIn connections; my performer contacts have few, if any, LinkedIn connections.  There are some valuable lessons here for job seekers.

Act Seven discusses the role of feedback in your job search.  Job seekers consistently complain about the lack of feedback in most interactions with companies, “I never hear back when I send in a resume,” “I never hear anything after an interview.”  Then there is the importance of soliciting feedback on your resume and interviewing style.  In the performance world, feedback is usually immediate and constant during performances, from the audience, but more importantly (YES!) the director, coaches, and fellow cast members.  I’ll delve more deeply into the power of both positive and negative feedback and how you can effectively solicit feedback to improve the various elements of your career search.

Act Eight is based on the broader elements of “Lessons in Leadership and Management from the Performing Arts,” the original, much broader scope of The Performance Project.  From those observations, I’ve found some very good lessons on communications, team building, and leadership that can directly benefit job seekers.  Considering that communication skills and teamwork are considered two of the most important elements required for today’s workforce, a better understanding of these factors can be a direct help.

Act Nine is the “encore.”  It was sparked not as much by the work I’ve done with performers – but from a single scene in a Broadway musical.  It also has a more universal application because it applies before you start your career search, during the search, and throughout your career.  It is about the future.  Moreover, it is about the importance of what futurist Joel Barker says: “You can and should shape your own future: because if you don’t somebody else sure will.”  That is certainly an important message for anyone’s career search.