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How Job Interviews Are Like Theater Auditons: A Short Play

How Job Interviews Are Like Theater Auditons: A Short Play

Last updated on: January 24, 2014 at 11:58 pm by Monique Ocampo

How Job Interviews Are Like Theater Auditons: A Short Play 2014-01-24T23:58:26-05:00 Monique Ocampo

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The names in this screenplay have been changed to preserve the confidentiality of the involved parties. Not based on actual events.

ACT 1

Scene 1

At rise:

It is a gray, rainy afternoon. A young woman, MARIA, enters S.L. dressed in a long black trenchcoat and black ankle boots. She runs quickly to the building’s entrance and greets the front desk receptionist, JOANNA, a slightly older woman.

MARIA

Hi. I’m here for the job interview.

JOANNA

Might I ask who you talked to?

MARA

The manager? I forgot her name.

The office manager, DONNA (late 20s, early 30s), stands up from behind her desk.

DONNA

That would be me.

Donna leads Maria up to a conference room that looks more like an empty stage. Maria stands center stage and takes off her trenchcoat, revealing a silvery grey blazer over a green pinstripe shirt and black trousers.

DONNA

So you’re here to interview for the assistant position of our children’s department. Please explain to me why you think you’d be good for this job.

MARIA

It’s been a while since my last interview. To be honest, I want this job because I’m saving for grad school and I want to keep working here even after I get in. I’ve been making the most of my time by volunteering with children at the local community center. I work as a tutor, helping them out with their literature, math, and even foreign language. I’ve been doing that for the past few months. I love working with children. The best thing about working with kids is seeing the passion they have for learning anything. People think that kids are stupid and they hate learning. I think they just hate the way things are taught. Keep them engaged and immersed in activities and they learn as they go. I actually directed a couple of skits as part of my job. It was chaotic and the kids weren’t exactly Oscar-winners, but I loved them anyway. All the world is a stage, you know. In fact, this whole interview is a lot like an audition for a play. I read over the things you require me to play in this role and do my best to show that I can play this part. I have to be flexible, on my feet, ready to improvise at a moment’s notice. I have to take orders from the director, or in this case manager. I have to deal with a hectic schedule and whatever I get paid, I’ll take. Only instead of memorizing monologues, I have to monologue on the spot with answers that will hopefully cater to whatever you’re looking for. Funny thing is that after every interview I go to, I listen to A Chorus Line’s “I Hope I Get It.” And unfortunately, I end up not making the auditions. But you know what they say, fall seven times, get up eight. The show must go on. Thank you.

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