It's Showtime!

Recently I wrote about the interview process from the perspective of the interviewer in a comment on my blog and in my mind's eye I thought of the process of auditioning.

At Rock and Roll Lessons John O'Leary tells a wonderful story about auditioning for the Ike and Tina Review back in the day and makes a great correlation to the interview process. He calls the Ike and Tina Review "the baddest band I'd ever seen."

As an opera singer since the age of 12 and who did my share of auditions and interviews to support my singing whenever necessary, I understand the correlation between an audition and an interview intimately. I always look at both as a performance.

Both required study, practice, ease, skill, and visionary role-play. I always saw myself on the stage and in the office before arriving. I had a routine of study that I followed meticulously for the stage or interview. I was so prepared that I rarely came up empty handed.

After envisioning myself on stage or at the interview over and over again, it was like I had already been there. In my mind's eye I had already aced the audition or interview many times. As an entrepreneur for many years, I see interviewees slightly different. I look for different things.

As a performer, I usually did rather well, though just before that moment of performance, whether on the stage or in an office, I always felt as if the earth would open up and swallow me up. This lasted for mere seconds; the sinking feeling was, nevertheless, always present. But when the lights hit or after the handshake, all was well -- indeed.

Should we prepare ourselves to perform? In this economy, you never know.