A secret weapon for your job interview
When it comes to trade shows (stay with me for a minute), if you want to come up with a new idea for your booth – one that’s not been seen before in your industry and would stand out at a show – one of the classic recommendations is to go out to shows in other industries, see what they’re doing, and get inspiration.
You can do the same thing with the business of changing careers. For example, I was thinking about the topic of interviewing recently, and all the folks who talk about preparation, the standard questions you may or may not get asked, the different types of interviews, and so forth.
And yes, I’m one of those folks, so I went looking for a new idea. I found one in the world of improvisational comedy. Personally, I think improv comedians are geniuses. Making people laugh without a script or a net, making scenes, situations, and comedy on the fly, in front of an audience? That takes some serious talent.
And there’s a strong parallel with interviewing. For all the preparing you do, can you ever really know what’s going to happen on the other side of the interview door? Of course not – so it would pay to have a couple of tools in your belt to help you react to the unexpected with skill and panache, I’d say.
With that in mind, here are “The Three Fundamentals” from The Improv Wiki. Substitute “professional” for “funny,” and suddenly it’s job seeking advice:
Yes And. Take whatever has been given in the scene so far and build on it. Just build the reality. Don’t consciously try to be funny. Cooperate with your scene partners, don’t fight them (even though your characters might fight).
Listen. Pay hyper-close attention to everything that happens on stage. What you hear is the fuel you pour into Your Personal Search Engine (your brain).
Commit. Sell It. Put your line out there, make your choice, and let whatever happens happen. Never say a line tentatively, like you need audience approval. Let the audience decide what’s funny, let the scene go where it goes.
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If only more people looked for an alternative method of interviewing. I’m searching for a job at the moment and of the 5 interviews i’ve been to so far none of them have strayed away from the standard path. Shame, I’m sure they’d get a better idea of what i’m about if they tried something a bit different