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What Skills Do Employers Actually Look For?


natejasper

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After reading the posts about degrees, I started to wonder what skills employers actually do look for? I know this is a bit vague, so let's say it's for a receiving theatre looking for a new technician. What do you look for on a CV? I'm coming at this more from the point of view of people starting out in his industry trying to get their foot I'm the door. What skills can they learn and put on their CV that will make you more likely to hire them? How can they stand out when the majority of other applicants may have more years' experience than them?
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I can't speak for any particular employer, but if it was me, it's all about life experience and attitude ... if you've done volunteering for your local amateur dramatics group, that would tick some boxes for me as it shows you've got some interest in theatre and have made an effort to go get stuck in.

Any type of practical volunteering, not necessarily theatre, like gardening for the elderly or something - would show a practical attitude. Maybe you're into car maintenance or something, shows you know one end of a spanner from the other. That's the sort of thing that I would be interested in, more than having 20 certificates saying you've completed this that and the other training course.

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Probably a significant positive point would be some understanding of how theatre works in practice. Membership of an am dram and a list of shows you've worked on, membership of a uni or college drama/stage/ents committee with real practical experience. Some evidence that Monday is the new Sunday, Sunday often being a turnround day when one show goes out and one show comes in. An understanding that you will do several 18+ hour days with few breaks and no fag breaks, and the ability to get yourself home after the last bus/train/cab has gone.

 

Attitude(positive!) you go to work with, skills they can usually teach you.

 

Once you name yourself a trade or function, then you have to live up to the description.

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A proper interview is just chatting with the applicant and leading then into technical subjects to see how they respond.

I'd want someone who enthusiastically talked about a technical subject and showed a good knowledge in it.

 

As far as qualifications go I'd really just want them to be literate and capable of simple arithmetic.

 

It's also worth mentioning that the truly technical people are the ones who will under-sell themselves, so a chat is the best way to really test their knowledge.

 

I'm always wary of the loud experts. Empty barrels do make a lot of noise.

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We have sprung this task on applicants for technical positions, and a surprising amount have failed, some in dismal fashion.

 

Some years ago, when I worked in a venue, we managed to employ a lighting tech who was afraid of heights... No one thought to ask during the interview process. Subsequently, we introduced a pre interview tour which included walking across some of the bridges to get an idea of how comfortable people were in that sort of environment.

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A proper interview is just chatting with the applicant and leading then into technical subjects to see how they respond.

 

Sadly not so much these days. Especially with local authority employers (such as the one that I spent quite a long time working for until about 18 months ago), it's now very much 'the thing' to be seen to be treating all interviewees absolutely equally, and without being perceived to put any one of them at any advantage or disadvantage by asking them something that you didn't ask all of the others (or vice versa).

 

The upshot of this is that interviews have now become merely a list of questions which must be asked in exactly the same way to each and every candidate, with very little opportunity to respond to the answers given and to let the conversation take its own direction. Ask the question exactly as written, listen to the answer, make some notes, and move on to the next one. Robotic, impersonal, an exercise in box-ticking, and they tend to favour the applicants who can reel off a load of what the panel (which probably includes at least one member from the HR department with absolutely no knowledge of theatre whatsoever) want to hear. The opportunity to chat about the job, the company and the candidate in a less formal way, which used to be the way that interviews went when I first started applying for theatre jobs, seems to have vanished.

 

I know people who aren't at their best in a formal interview situation, and who come across much better in a less formal conversational environment - and I really think that the current trend of interviews becoming a tightly-scripted exercise, with hardly any opportunity to deviate from the framework and just have a good old-fashioned chat, is actually counter-productive and turns them into an environment which often prevents people from giving their best and just piles on the pressure. Those who have the 'gift of the gab' and a bucket-load of confidence, but are in other ways not necessarily the right person for the job, find themselves at a huge advantage.

 

To answer the original question ... skills are always useful, but it's not just about that. A lot of it is to do with attitude, interpersonal skills, and so on. Given a choice between someone who 'talks the talk' when it comes to apparent technical knowledge, is very full of themselves because they've got certificates in everything and therefore think that they're God's gift to theatre but comes across as an insufferable arsehole, or someone whose technical skills may not be quite as well-honed but who is a genuinely pleasant person to be around, who knows how to fit in as part of a team and who shows a willingness to learn and improve ... well, I know who I'd pick!

 

Oh, and one more very important point - don't stink! It might sound obvious, but as a theatre technician you're going to be spending some time in close proximity to your colleagues - on the fly floor, rigging moving lights in fairly tight FOH positions, loading and unloading trucks, travelling in the front of a van, or even just having a pint in the pub after work. If you smell so bad that you make those around you want to retch, it's really not on.

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Some years ago, when I worked in a venue, we managed to employ a lighting tech who was afraid of heights... No one thought to ask during the interview process. Subsequently, we introduced a pre interview tour which included walking across some of the bridges to get an idea of how comfortable people were in that sort of environment.

 

Northern Light employed a salesman who didn't have a driving licence. They just took it for granted that anyone applying for a job like that would be able to drive.

 

Oh, and one more very important point - don't stink! It might sound obvious, but as a theatre technician you're going to be spending some time in close proximity to your colleagues - on the fly floor, rigging moving lights in fairly tight FOH positions, loading and unloading trucks, travelling in the front of a van, or even just having a pint in the pub after work. If you smell so bad that you make those around you want to retch, it's really not on.

 

In those instances you have to be brutally honest and advise people on personal hygiene practices. They literally can't smell themselves in the same way others can. :unsure:

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Oh, and one more very important point - don't stink! It might sound obvious, but as a theatre technician you're going to be spending some time in close proximity to your colleagues - on the fly floor, rigging moving lights in fairly tight FOH positions, loading and unloading trucks, travelling in the front of a van, or even just having a pint in the pub after work. If you smell so bad that you make those around you want to retch, it's really not on.

 

Couldn't agree with this more

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On a CV I want to see breadth of experience. For amateur / training experience 25 different shows but with the same group/school/society doesn't tell me anything other than that you fit in well with one specific group or that they don't have anyone else who wants to do that job. 8 different shows with 4 different groups/schools/societies tells me that you can adjust to different working practices and that you weren't so terrible they vowed never to use you again therefore you are more likely to be suitable for real world situations. For pro shows/experience I want to see you working for different companies (the nature of the industry means one show per company is common) but I want to see the same name cropping up as production manager/HoD/producer on your credits so that I can see someone liked working with you enough to want to work with you again.

 

Things I don't want to see is obvious BS on your profile. Claiming to have worked on the Olympics / Brit Awards / BBC Children in Need when in reality you volunteered as a runner/lacky like 1000's of other people do tells me you like to exaggerate and I can't trust what you say. Claiming/implying am-dram productions as pro events (I'm amazed how many people's CVs suggest they worked on pro shows when actually they did the village hall version when they were 10) and boasting about the amazing contacts you have with big name production/hire companies is pointless; everyone gets special rates and service from hire companies so you're really not that special & as a producers/employers we would be getting much better discounts and services from the big name companies than you do because we spend 100 times as much as you ever could.

 

In an interview I want to be reassured that I'm going to be actually able to live and work with you - if you're a fussy eater, noisy drinker, have BO or an annoying accent then I'm going to be less keen to spend 15 hours per day in your company on tour. I want you to be happy and upbeat - don't spend the interview telling me how crap another show/event/boss was and how you could do much better because 1) you can't 2) I know this is how you'll talk about me to your next employer & 3) at the end of a long shift when everyone is tired I don't want someone bitching and bringing the mood down even further

Above all I need to trust you; more often than not I've employed people with lower technical skills / experience but who I was confident wanted to work with me and strive to put on a great show than people who were clearly in it for the money. You can be taught the technical skills if needed; you can't be taught how to be a cool team player.

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Some good points above, to which I would add, the ability to answer some basic technical questions about electricity, nothing too involved as you are not applying to be an electrician, but basic things like

 

What is the generally accepted current rating of 1.5mm flex

 

What does TRS stand for

 

What is the purpose of an MCB

 

What is the purpose of an RCD.

 

What does the designation 835 on a fluorescent lamp mean.

 

Roughly how many 60 watt lamps can be connected to a 13 amp plug. Justify your answer.

 

How many 1KW lanterns may be used on a 10 amp dimmer channel

 

Give a reason why 13 amp plugs and sockets are little used for theatre lighting.

 

Colour codes for conductors in electrical installations changed some years ago. What are the OLD colours for single phase and three phase circuits. What are the NEW colours for such circuits.

 

If I was a potential employer I would expect a potential employee to get most of the above right, the exact "pass mark" would depend on the job.

 

 

 

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What does TRS stand for

A bit ambiguous, perhaps ... could be one of two things!

 

 

What does the designation 835 on a fluorescent lamp mean.

In all fairness, I wouldn't expect someone interviewing for a post at an 'assistant electrician' level to necessarily know that.

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The important thing to look for from an advertisment is the level at which they hope to recruit. A raw recruit to theatre will not be expected to have lots of detailed knowledge, BUT will need some knowledge and some reason why they want the job. A role specific advertisment means the applicant must have detailed skills in one particular field, and some ability in like tasks.

 

It's likely that the questions that get you the interview, and the questions at interview will reflect the employing company and the position on offer.

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What does TRS stand for

A bit ambiguous, perhaps ... could be one of two things!

 

Then the applicant can give two answers :-)

 

I'd suggest a First Aid at Work certificate is always useful.

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What does TRS stand for

A bit ambiguous, perhaps ... could be one of two things!

 

 

What does the designation 835 on a fluorescent lamp mean.

In all fairness, I wouldn't expect someone interviewing for a post at an 'assistant electrician' level to necessarily know that.

 

 

Neither would I expect every applicant to know what 835 on a fluorescent lamps means, but if they do know then that is a good sign. And if they DONT know, the answer that they give is still perhaps informative. "Sorry, I don't know" is far preferable to nonsense like "835 watts" or "it cost £8.35"

 

 

 

 

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