Drama and Theatre Technician Interview

[cosmic_kerry]

See post 2. Merging resulted in a less than desirable order.

[cosmic_kerry]

Hi :-)

 

I have an interview on thursday for a drama and theatre technician position. The job is within an upper school.

I have for the last 3 years studied theatre at uni, I spent alot of time paying attention to when it came to lighting and sound. (this wasn't part of the course!)

So albeit with limited experience I went for the job and got an interview....

 

So they want me to complete and lighting and sound test lasting about 20mins .... I am very nervous about this :-/

 

Anyone have any clues as to what they might test me on?

 

Sorry silly as it seems I just want to be prepared!

[Aaron-Hill07]

Welcome to the forum firstly Kerry.

 

First off, don't be too nervous about it; they should know from your application that your main experience isn't with the technical area of theatre so they won't expect you to walk in and know how to do absolutely everything.

 

Thing's I'd expect at an interview such as this are:

 

Lantern types & how to rig, focus and operate them

Basic knowledge of dimming systems etc (patch comes to mind)

A basic knowledge of health and safety practices in a technical environment (taping cables down safely etc. the usual suspects)

How to set-up simple staging systems

How to use the functions of a sound desk (basic routing, EQ, Aux sends etc.)

How to use radio microphone systems

Different types of cable knowledge would be useful (NL4, XLR, DMX, 5-core, BNC) - lots more, but it's completely dependant on the equipment they use.

 

At the end of the day, if you go into an interview and can show basic practical skills in sound, lighting and video you should be fine; main thing is, if they ask you something and you don't know how to do it, ask. Saying you don't know how, or asking how to do it properly is far less embarrasing than trying and failing.

 

If you need any help preparing for your interview, I can help you as much as I can through the internet/phone so feel free to PM me if you still have more questions or would like a more direct approach in helping.

 

Good luck with it,

 

HTH,

Aaron

[paulears]

They'll give you some amps and speakers and maybe a mixer, and a pile of cables and ask you to connect them up and make it work. I'd suggest the same for lighting - give you some lanterns, a pile of cables, safety chains and gels and ask you to wire them up and focus them. Anybody who just steams in and does it will get the green light and move forward, and if you have to ask daft questions, you'll probably get thanked for coming. It's what I did, and I was amazed who didn't remember to check the phantom power switch was on, or the lantern was preset (by me) upside down so the gel frame would fall out! I mixed the odd 13A cable in with the 15s too, and a few 5 pin and 3 pin DMX cables for good measure. You wouldn't believe the people who tried and tried to get 3 pin DMX into a 5 pin socket and needed help, and similar things with the audio. Plugging a CD player into the mixer was a major problem for some, because they had the choice of different cables. You probably won't be familiar with the individual items, so need decent reasoning skills and the ability to read the socket labels!

[Ynot]

Actually I would be a little surprised if the interviewers on a school panel were in any way technically savvy enough to even have much more than a surface appreciation for most of what you've listed there, Aaron.

 

Don't forget that in schools a theatre technician isn't necessarily quite what you'd expect elsewhere in the regular industry - how much knowledge they NEED to do the school's job can also vary immensely with regard to the facilities available (ranging from pretty much nil to all-singing all dancing etc).

 

What you need to do first, Kerry, is look closely at the job advert and job description. If it's possible, post a copy here.

Look at what they're actually ASKING for and apply what you know to that.

 

Also, what do you mean by a lighting & sound test? Are they to give you a questionnaire or some such, or do you have to produce something from scratch then present it? Or even take along some evidence of prior work and talk them through it?

 

If I'm honest, I'd probably expect the interview to NOT be particularly tech based - at least not in the sort of nitty gritty that Aaron suggests. They'll be more interested I suspect in what you've done before, how you've achieved it, how well you've worked with other departments etc etc.

 

Knowing the basics is of course what you need to DO the job, but unless the school are enlisting the support of an external tech (or they already have one that they're adding to) then they probably won't know the difference between DMX, 16 amps and an aux send.

 

EDIT - just read Paul's reply and as for the 'test' then that does sound like a viable assessment, IF they have someone who already knows in the first place.

[cosmic_kerry]

Ok here's the job spec :-)

 

This is the bulk of it

Technical:

To facilitate the smooth and efficient running of the technical aspects of the drama

and media departments.

Maintain facilities including lighting and AV equipment.

Co-ordinate the technical aspects of school productions both extra-curricular

performances and examination performances. This will include designing and

operating sound and lighting – in particular the use of the zero 88 lighting desk.

Setting up digital and still cameras to record performance work. Operating cameras

and editing video.

Resource and equipment planning in liaison with Head of Drama/ Director of

Specialism

Undertake Health and Safety checks in the workplace as directed by Head of Drama

Department

Responsibility for the efficient organisation of the drama resources, props and

costumes

Offer technical support to the Media Department, in particular editing and file

transfer.

Maintain facilities including set, props, costumes and performance spaces.

To assist with the lights and sound for public exam performances.

To keep up to date with new developments in this area and advising the relevant

staff of these new developments. Instructing:

Run a technical theatre club to train students to use the AV equipment and stage

manage.

To create short courses for students wishing to develop their knowledge of AV

equipment-Lighting, Sound and stage management.

Assist with the work of the students in classes as requested by teachers in

performing and visual Arts departments

To advise outside community groups who wish to use the school stage facilities.

Work actively to create an ethos that promotes equality, celebrates cultural and

academic diversity and ensures the inclusion of students of all abilities, including

those with special educational needs

I have been told that they will ask me to complete a technical lighting and sound task taking around 20 mins

[Ynot]

OK - so honestly, how much of that list do you feel comfortable with tackling on a day to day basis, unsupervised?

 

 

[cosmic_kerry]

None of it presents a problem to me, wouldn't have gone for the job if I didn't think I could do it.. ;-) never used a zero 88 product, I've only ever used a strand 300 and ETC Ion...

I've done basic rigging and basic health and safety.

 

My degree was nothing to do with the technical side of theatre so everything I've learned has been through practice...

[paulears]

In which case, you're probably more qualified than many of the other applicants! Good luck.

[cosmic_kerry]

haha I bloomin hope so!! I'm up against 2 others... both of which are men so I'm hoping that doesn't go against me!! Daft to even say but some people still have old fashioned views!!

 

Thank you for all your advise :-)

[ramdram]

Well Kerry, best of luck for the interview.

 

Ref the Zero 88 "issue" have a squint here (and apologies up front if you have done the google thing already) :

 

http://www.zero88.com/

 

At least you can mug up and get some idea of what kit they have before they ask you to re-rig the entire school as part of your board, ** laughs out loud **.

[pumphouse]

Ok here's the job spec :-)

 

This is the bulk of it

Technical:

To facilitate the smooth and efficient running of the technical aspects of the drama

and media departments.

Maintain facilities including lighting and AV equipment.

Co-ordinate the technical aspects of school productions both extra-curricular

performances and examination performances. This will include designing and

operating sound and lighting – in particular the use of the zero 88 lighting desk.

Setting up digital and still cameras to record performance work. Operating cameras

and editing video.

Resource and equipment planning in liaison with Head of Drama/ Director of

Specialism

Undertake Health and Safety checks in the workplace as directed by Head of Drama

Department

Responsibility for the efficient organisation of the drama resources, props and

costumes

Offer technical support to the Media Department, in particular editing and file

transfer.

Maintain facilities including set, props, costumes and performance spaces.

To assist with the lights and sound for public exam performances.

To keep up to date with new developments in this area and advising the relevant

staff of these new developments. Instructing:

Run a technical theatre club to train students to use the AV equipment and stage

manage.

To create short courses for students wishing to develop their knowledge of AV

equipment-Lighting, Sound and stage management.

Assist with the work of the students in classes as requested by teachers in

performing and visual Arts departments

To advise outside community groups who wish to use the school stage facilities.

Work actively to create an ethos that promotes equality, celebrates cultural and

academic diversity and ensures the inclusion of students of all abilities, including

those with special educational needs

I have been told that they will ask me to complete a technical lighting and sound task taking around 20 mins

 

....and all that for probably about £16k a year I'd guess......!

 

Good luck with your interview.

 

I would never be prejudiced against female technical applicants - in many cases they come with better knowledge and much better attitude than some of the male techs I have come across!

[tomo2607]

All the best for the interview. The job spec seems focused more towards AV than to lighting and sound. When I had an interview for a similar post there was also a task. This was more of a problem solving exorcise. The previous (retiring) technician had set up a mock, yet common, fault finding exorcise for various pieces of equipment. This ranged from solving issues such as, no sound via speakers (they were off), no audio via PA system (phantom power not on) and a few more complex things such as plotting simple states using there lighting board, changing a bubble, setting up PA system with one mic and a CD player etc.

 

Nothing complex. More to sort the people in the know from the people who "think" they know...

[cosmic_kerry]

I asked today if heels and a suit would be inappropriate for this interview given the technical test... they said heels and a suit would be absolutely fine. I'm guessing that means nothing too practical?! Can't expect me to go up a ladder in stilettos! Have a feeling it will be more fault finding like you said Tomo than rigging...

[paulears]

It just occurred to me that you need to be prepared for some technical=girl? behind the scenes sexism. If the people who interview you know their stuff they won't care - we all know it matters not one jot - but I remember very well doing some interviews and really having to fight for the girl, because despite being easily the best candidate, there was a feeling that the heavy lifting (and really, there wasn't anything normal people considered heavy) and was VERY technical. This came from the lady senior manager who obviously really did believe technical and girls didn't work. You'd think education beyond such ridiculous ideas, but there are above average numbers of technophobic women, and they assume everyone female would be the same. Not everywhere has this ancient and misguided opinion, but it does still happen. Only last week I saw a great technician moved to an office based job (at extra money) because it was felt inappropriate for her to be doing such strenuous physical activity. As the school wrapped it in more money and pretend promotion, she quietly took the money and moved to a much more cushy job with no evening work!