Help preparing for an interview for Production Coordinator

June 10, 2015 2:04 PM

Looking for as much information/anecdotes as possible

I have an interview for to be a Production Coordinator in a film and tv company.
I haven't worked in this position before but have worked as an executive assistant as well as having done an internship in a documentary film company. I want to work in documentary film so this job seems kind of perfect. What kind of questions are they likely to ask me? How can I best prepare for the interview? If anyone has worked in this type of job before and has any anecdotes of how it is ( I am oscillating between feeling excited and wondering if this is too good to be true).

posted by winterportage to Work & Money (3 answers total)

Best answer: I hire production types all the time, albeit not for film and TV. Beyond the very standard interview questions, I always ask, "What was the worst day of your work life, and what did you do about it?" I have several goals for this question.

* I want to know what they consider to be a "bad day." Was something really on fire, or did they just get their feelings hurt over some slight?
* I want to know how they think on their feet and get out of jams.
* I want to know if they view a bad day as a learning opportunity, as in, "After we put out the fire, I made XYZ plan so it wouldn't happen again."
* I want to just hear them tell me a story, so I can gauge how well they can verbally communicate.

This is a roundabout way of suggesting to you that you should be prepared to provide specific examples of how you add value to an organization when times are tough -- don't tell me about how you're on the party planning committee and how much you enjoy the fun times -- and how you deal with chaotic situations without waiting to be told what to do.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:27 PM on June 10, 2015 [4 favorites]

You'll be expected to know Excel, be organized and multi-tasky, handle scheduling (not likely a doc will have Movie Magic, but if you know it, it's a plus), be able to produce call sheets, maps, work with the APs to handle the set-ups for shoots, etc..
If you have examples of how resourceful you have been in a previous pressured situation, I'd think that's a good story to tell.
And boy, do I miss Sara C.
posted by Ideefixe at 3:59 PM on June 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

Huh. Former production worker bee here. Well honestly I'm surprised they'd consider someone with no direct experience as a production coordinator. I could see you as an assistant production coordinator to start, but okay... The most important traits in the best production coordinators I've worked with: an absolutely unflappable sense of calm; a willingness to work very, very long hours; a great sense of humor (seriously, that helps); a hardcore willingness to dig to find answers -- like, it's okay if you don't know the answer but you have to be willing to then find the answer, no matter what; a disinclination to pass the buck; and an almost inhuman level of anal detail-oriented brainpower.
posted by BlahLaLa at 4:06 PM on June 10, 2015 [1 favorite]