Interview questions

[lamps galore]

Hello all, I'm new to this (ie forums) (and blue-room) so not sure if I've posted this in the right place....

Basically, my employers have finally agreed that I do need an assistant/deputy technician and have agreed to advertise said position. :) <_<

Interviews are a couple of weeks away, and apart from the obvious questions that I can think of to ask (why do you want to do it, what's your strong point), can anyone give me some pointers on the issue?

All help gratefully accepted!

Cheers, Ricky

[Jivemaster]

Determine a job specification and a person specification. See how applicants fit the criterion. If it's relevant ask them to wire a plug just to see how much they are blagging and how much of the CV is really true.

 

Especially in a small team the most important thing is that new starters fit into the existing team.

 

There may be applicants on this forum if you wish to post an ad or a link to a public advertisment

[Just Some Bloke]

Example questions are always good ones.

 

As in: "can you give us an example of a time when you [fill in the blanks]?"

 

Blanks could be:

 

"... contributed to a show that went really well; and say why"

"... supervised casuals to get something ready quickly and safely"

"... came up with a good way of achieving an effect the director has asked for"

"... knew when to ask for help"

 

etc.

[bruce]

Following on from JSB - another useful question is to see how they dealt with a "negative" situation. Something like "Can you give us an example of when something you were working on could have gone badly wrong, and how you recovered the situation."

 

But my all-time favourite interview question: I've sat on loads of interview panels (albeit in a different technical arena), and we generally ask technician and operational questions, such as the ones above. There's generally someone there from the Personnel/HR department, to see "fair play" and to handle the recruitment bureaucracy. But the questions that they slip in at the end of the interview can be the most telling.

 

At one interview, we were all very impressed by the abilities of one candidate. It was their response to this last question that convinced us that we were basically interviewing a nutter...

 

The question: "What makes you angry?"

[Bobbsy]

I like to try to use questions that force the applicant to discuss a technical issue (thereby showing how much they actually understand the topic) rather than just parrot some kind of answer.

 

If I was looking to test somebody's audio knowledge, I might ask something like "how is a balanced line different from an unbalanced one and why do you consider one better than the other?".

 

I also like to ask things that show their ability to think. In a theatre setting, it might be something like "If I asked you to write a health and safety policy for the theatre, what things would you consider?". There's no set right or wrong, but it would quickly be obvious both if they know their stuff and also if they can take "book learning" and use it practically.

 

Bob

[Brian]

In my working life I've interviewed hundreds of people. My favorite two questions are "What is your favorite colour and why?" or "Who is your favorite cartoon character and why?".

 

There are no right answers but I want to know if people can think on their feet and justify decisions they make.

[PDD]

You might like to look at this link. Nothing particularly rocket-science, but useful to me at a recent job interview (as interviewee rather than interviewer but still relevent).

 

Personally I don't think interviews alone are sufficient - a practical exercise can be more telling. At same recent interview I had to go back on a second occassion for a half-day practical session where I was given a list of typical tasks to complete during the afternoon. The test was not only to make sure I could do the tasks (which included fault finding, set construction, rigging and crew management), but also that I could manage the time available.

 

I suppose the other important thing is that you're not trying to 'catch-out' the applicant, but find the best employee and, in this case, someone you can work with.

[Bobbsy]

** laughs out loud **...Brian reminds me (and I'm showing my age here) I used to make some kind of Monty Python reference at the end of the interview, and if the applicant could come back with the appropriate Pythonesque response there was a good chance he was warped enough to fit in with the weirdos I worked with!

 

Bob

[zonino]

The question: "What makes you angry?"

 

hr departments? :)

 

but to echo, in a small team a good relationship vital, it can get very tense when that relationship isn't there, trust me on this!

[lamps galore]

thanks all, looks like I've got a bit more to do than a quick chat...

 

R

[Glyn Edwards]

Depending on what you do, it's always an idea to discuss working methods with you potential victim (sorry, employee). For all the interviews I've conducted, I've taken a lighting plan along and asked the candidate where they'd start with rigging, plugging etc. Do they recognise the symbols on it, can they distinguish the set plans from the Lx etc.

 

My other suggestion is a trick I learnt from my production manager, close the interview with "if we offered you the job, would you take it?" The answers to that can be very revealing.

 

HTH

 

Glyn

[paulears]

Once we got down to a sensible number of final people, my favourite trick was to make sure the room we did the interviews in had loads of kit lying about. They would invariably make a throw away comment about something that I'd be able to test. I'd say "you ok with DMX?" When they nodded or said how expert they were, I'd point to a pile of dimmer packs and cables and ask them to link them up and set the address. They'd either quickly pick out the 5 pin XLRs from the 3 pins, daisy chain them up and then ask what address they should start at. I'd stop them then, no actual need to do any more. Quite often the DMX experts were actually hopeless. Another good one is 'discovering' the lantern doesn't have a lamp, and asking them to put one in. Really simple stuff - but a damn good filter of mouth Vs skill!

[mac.calder]

"If you were invited to a wedding of a close family member, and there was a show on the same time, which would you attempt to back out of?"

 

Some questions like that usually help to evaluate moral fibre and whether they are telling you the truth.

 

Think up a few dangerous situations or situations that require two people to do safely. I usually would ask one question along the lines of "Would you be comfortable doing ...", another along the lines of "If I were to leave you to do ..... would you be okay with that task". Obviously if they were to answer that they were comfortable doing it, you need to poke and prod to see whether they are being "Yes men", extreamly stupid, have no care for their own personal being or just don't know better. They are all negative points, but obviously some are worse than others.

 

Paulears practical demonstration is a great one, however often you don't have the 'things' on hand, if you have a pencil and paper, get them to describe a basic DMX network, and sketch it as a block diagram if they can.

[GUSTie]

we tend, after an initial interview to take them out for a half day. one of the tricks is to ask them to do something stupidly unsafe, like "can you just walk backwards with the camera over that duel carriageway while zooming in to keep shot." if they say OK and prepare to do it then, tell them to stop explain there mistake, if they tell you to ****** off then they are sensible people.

 

just do not let them actually do it.

 

Matt

[Suzette]

I usually start the interview with a tour around the venue - you can often find out a great deal as you are walking around showing them the theatre and generally chatting. The ones who usually succeed in the final interview are those who have shown some knowledge and intelligence whilst looking round the venue.

As others have said, in a small team it is important to employ someone who you can work well with.

 

I presume you have a HR department who will be supporting you with the paperwork side of the interviews - checking immigration status, references, contracts, probation periods etc.

 

The one thing I would say is make sure you look to the future - ensure the new employee knows there have a probation period and that you carry out monthly probation meetings. Make sure any problems with the employees work are discussed and you have written notes of the meetings.

If you should find that you employ the wrong person then you are able to ask to person to leave without masses of hassle, and find yourself someone else.

Obviously I hope that you don't have to do this and you get the right person first time but do think about this. Mistakes can happen and if you are able to correct them fairly quickly then it is all a bit easier.