Rachel Hartland, stage manager, Northcott Theatre, Exeter says:

In my experience of job interviews they are question-based, hopefully with a tour of the building beforehand.

To give you an idea of the sort of quest...

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Rachel Hartland, stage manager, Northcott Theatre, Exeter says:

In my experience of job interviews they are question-based, hopefully with a tour of the building beforehand.

To give you an idea of the sort of questions you may be asked I have included the questions that we would ask DSM applicants. For ASMs we would generally take out some of the book-related questions and add some more about propping, For SMs we would take out the book questions and add more about propping and managing a team, budget, acting company etc.

Questions may include:

(1) Why do you want to work at the “Theatre Name”?

(2) Why is there a stage management department and what does it do?

(3) What are the most important duties of the person on the book in rehearsal?

(4) What should be the relationship between the person on the book and the others in rehearsal?

(5) Who is ‘in charge’ during the technical and dress rehearsals?

(6) How do you handle chatter on cans?

(7) How would you handle an LX op wanting to change the next state during a performance?

(8) How would you handle a director trying to give notes to actors during an interval?

(9) Do you have any experience of working on outdoor shows?

(10) Which aspects of stage management do you enjoy most and least?

(11) What are your best skills or attributes?

(12) What are you not so good at?

(13) What has been your most interesting or challenging job/production and why?

(14) Do you have experience of driving vans/large vehicles?

(15) Do you have any experience or training in First Aid or Health and Safety?

(16) How computer literate are you?

(17) Do you have time for any hobbies or interests?

(18) Do you have any questions for us?

Barbara Eifler from Stage Management Association says:

Dear Chrissie,

I thought I’d ask our members at the SMA as the greatest experts on this one–and the delay in replying to you has been caused by the overwhelming quantit...

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Barbara Eifler from Stage Management Association says:

Dear Chrissie,

I thought I’d ask our members at the SMA as the greatest experts on this one–and the delay in replying to you has been caused by the overwhelming quantity of responses which I will now attempt to summarise!

For full details of the responses–see the next edition of our magazine, Cueline, and a separate booklet on interviews–attending them and running them–which we will publish alongside that.

See stagemanagementassociation.co.uk to join the SMA or get further details.

So–stage management interviews for jobs!

Firstly, with no professional experience, the advice is that you should go for ASM jobs in the first instance, or at that level.

The short answer to the specific question is that very rarely do you get asked to perform a practical task as part of a stage management interview.

If you do, the number one is a score-reading test if going for an opera or ballet job. This would entail following a score from CD and saying where you were in the score when the CD is stopped; or you’d be asked to cue a sequence from a score.

Reading ground plans or marking up from them is another one.

In most interviews, if they take place in a theatre, you’ll be taken on a tour of the building and interviewers take account of your behaviour or reactions during the tour towards building their image of you.

If not practical, what does a stage management interview consist of?

–usually, you’ll meet the Production Manager and/or Company Manager and /or General Manager who will tell you a bit about the show;

–you’ll probably talk about a recent job or experience;

–formal questions would be along the lines of ‘Give an example of a difficult moment in a rehearsal room and how you dealt with it’; ‘Why do you want to work for us?’; ‘Tell us about a time or situation that you could have handled better’; ‘What makes you the best person for this job?’; ‘What do you see as your strengths/weaknesses?’; ‘Where do you see your career in five years’ time?‘; ’what can you bring to this company?’

–you are more likely to encounter more formal interviews at large companies (e.g. National) which have a HR department

–less formal, more typical ‘stage management’ questions might be: do you enjoy propping, which part of the rehearsal or tech process do you enjoy most, do you enjoy going out for a drink with the company, have you worked with any difficult directors, have you worked with any difficult actors, what do you like about your job, as an ASM how would you support your DSM/SM throughout the rehearsal period and show period, what would you do if we had a show stop, how would you keep 80 chorus members quiet in the wing.

–the interviewers will be working with you very closely so they need to know they can get on with you as a person–be yourself and don’t try too hard to impress! Their main aim is to suss out your personality, let them see it.

–very often it’s more of a ‘chat’ than an interview, and you aren’t actually asked any questions; so prepare by finding out as much as you can about the type of people you’ll be working with, the show etc. and then make sure you manage to ‘sell’ those qualities of yours appropriate to the job.

–the interviewer will probably have decided from your letter & CV whether you are technically capable of doing the job–the interview is more about assessing your personality and seeing how you will fit in with the existing department/team members.

–about 45 minutes in length

Tips for interviews:

–they will always ask at the end of the interview: ‘Do you have any questions?’ So it’s good to come prepared with a few (not too many!) as thinking on the spot can sometimes prove difficult, and asking nothing might come across as disinterest

–consider any casual or voluntary work in theatre, in fact any theatre jobs at all, as extended interviews: most people’s jobs come out of drama school placements and personal connections.

–do think beforehand about answer to questions about the hardest props/the most difficult situation/how do you deal with stress etc.

–keep smiling, look interested and don’t take yourself too seriously!

–be open and honest

–don’t exaggerate, you’ll always be found out and it’ll always haunt you (it’s a small world)

–never lose sight of the fact that you will be working as part of a team, so make sure you come across as someone that it will be enjoyable to work alongside, day in day out.

–make some effort with appearance, but don’t dress too smart (if you wear a suit, you don’t really know what the job entails!)

Best wishes

Barbara Eifler

Jill Robertshaw works at Nottingham Playhouse and is a stage manager turned administrator. She also lectures part time in stage management at Lincoln University and says:

Hi Chrissie

Thank you for your question.

The answer is tha...

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Jill Robertshaw works at Nottingham Playhouse and is a stage manager turned administrator. She also lectures part time in stage management at Lincoln University and says:

Hi Chrissie

Thank you for your question.

The answer is that SM interviews are usually question based with questions such as ‘how do you deal with difficult actors?’ or ‘What has been the best show you have worked on and why?’ etc.

I have once had to do a practical, which was setting up a sound system, as the DSM was meant to operate sound as well as cue. I was NOT warned in advance which I though was most unfair. (I didn’t get the job)

I also once had to say where I would source props from, from a list supplied.

The criteria for short listing candidates for interview is based on the application form or CV. So, if you have lots of hands on experience and/or professional experience, you stand a better chance of an interview.

I hope this answers your question.

Thanks and good luck!