A Practical Guide to Starting a Career in Technical Theatre: Section 5

The Job Search Toolkit

Once you begin the job search, it can feel like a never-ending treadmill. And, like much of your professional life, everything overlaps. You may be in the middle of one, two, or even three projects and suddenly find yourself interviewing for a fourth potential contract.

The Job Search Toolkit actually combines the elements of the Marketing Toolkit, the Base of Operations Toolkit, and the Infrastructure Toolkit. Used collectively, they help you stay focused on the central goal: Getting work.

In general, acquiring a job involves four broad steps:

• Search: Identify positions that align with your interests and criteria.
• Establish contact: Reach out to a representative and express interest.
• Exchange information: Share relevant materials from your Marketing Toolkit and receive details about the job: Title, responsibilities, pay rate, working conditions, and contract length.
• Interview: Meet with company representatives to determine whether you and the position are a good fit.

You: "So when would the contract start?"
Them: "How fast can you get here?"

Four Types of Interviews

For the purposes of this book, interviews fall into four categories, each within its own environment and preparation strategy.

• Phone interview: Cost-effective, time-efficient, and flexible for both parties. They allow companies to screen multiple candidates quickly and reduce travel and scheduling demands. From both participant’s perspective, phone interviews eliminate visual cues or any ability to read body language, shifting the focus to audio quality, clarity of speech, and the ability to communicate effectively without background distractions.
• Online interview: Like phone interviews, virtual meetings are efficient and can include multiple team members. Their main drawback is their reliance on stable technology and a solid internet connection. Without those two vital elements, frozen screens, pixilation, and choppy audio can quickly derail an otherwise productive conversation.
• In-person off-site interview: Face-to-face meetings allow for handshakes, document exchanges, and deeper rapport-building. They provide both parties the opportunity to read nonverbal cues and gain a fuller understanding of one another. The interviewer assesses the candidate’s suitability, while the candidate evaluates the organization’s culture, stability, and interest. In-person interviews can be deeply satisfying — or intensely stressful. This chapter aims to break down the process and suggest tactics that help reduce anxiety and improve outcomes.
• In-person on-site visit: This can be an exciting opportunity to observe professionals – and especially someone who may become an employer or mentor – while they are at work. Although presented as a separate chapter before the other types of interviews, an on-site visit is often your first introduction to many professionals in your field, with opportunities to make connections and, in some cases, share your portfolio. Like it or not, it is also an interview.

After the Interview

Once the interview concludes, standard protocol includes sending thank-you notes, reviewing your performance, and making any necessary updates to elements of your Marketing Toolkit.

Equally important is completing any task you agreed to perform during the interview, and providing proof of completion to yourself. (For emails with attachments, this means cc'ing the email back to your inbox.)

Follow-through matters. Do everything you said you would do. Actions speak louder than words.

After that is the aftermath – Section six.

Shelley’s Soapbox: The Job Search

The job search may begin after you've arrived and settled into your new base of operations – or even before you start packing. Once you put out feelers, the need to present yourself as ready for work can arise at any moment.

Staying organized may feel like an extension of the multitasking you learned in school or outside of school, or it may feel like an entirely new game. Either way, assume that an interview could happen at any time, and let that possibility drive the constant updating of your calendar, contact sheets, diary, correspondence, and financial records.

A significant part of the process is preparing for interviews and portfolio reviews – ideally many of them. Alongside that preparation comes the ongoing work of revising résumés and portfolios, incorporating feedback, and reprinting materials before presenting them again.

It may feel overwhelming. It may feel chaotic. Take it one step at a time, and maintain your focus.