Defining Fake Auditions
George asked in a comment what a fake audition was. Finally, I’m ready to discuss this. (Sorry for the delay, George.)
A fake audition is when the audition is incongruous with the situation. In the situation described in A Second Chance Audition, the candidate cared about the outcome of the first audition, but the audience did not. The interviewer was not balancing his needs to see the candidate with the candidate’s need to work in a real situation. Although the candidate felt as if this was a real work situation, the audience did not. That kind of unevenness, a lack of congruence is what makes a fake audition.
George’s comment explains how the audition is fake for everyone, which is congruent. I’m curious to know how well the audition is working over time. I’m not fond of role-plays as auditions, but if everyone is playing a role, that works better than when one person is doing some work for real and the others are role-playing.
When you create auditions, make them congruent. That is, make the situation real or fake, but be consistent. Don’t make it real for the candidate and fake for everyone else. That’s capitalizing on the interviewer’s power in the interview and many candidates’ perception of the lack of their power. It’s not respectful and it doesn’t help the candidate show their skills.
2 comments December 22nd, 2008