The Interviewing Process
The Interviewing Process is an applied exercise in which participants practice the dynamics of job interviews from both sides, using improvisational techniques to develop genuine presence, spontaneous response, and the ability to communicate under evaluation. The exercise treats the interview as a mutual scene with stakes for both parties.
Structure
The Setup
Participants pair up: one plays the interviewer, one the candidate. The facilitator provides a job role and a brief context, but neither participant receives scripted questions or prepared answers.
The Interview
The interviewer conducts a genuine interview using curiosity rather than a checklist. The candidate responds spontaneously, using whatever comes to mind, committing to their answers fully.
Role Reversal
After several minutes, participants switch roles. The former interviewer becomes the candidate for a different role.
Debrief
The group discusses what made certain responses land well, what presence looked and felt like from both sides, and how improvisation principles informed the quality of the exchange.
How to Teach It
Objectives
The Interviewing Process trains participants in the specific applied improv skills most useful in interview contexts: listening fully before responding, committing to answers without over-preparation, and maintaining genuine presence under evaluation.
Facilitation Notes
Encourage interviewers to follow curiosity rather than procedure. The best interviews in the exercise are conversations, not interrogations. Coach interviewers to build on what candidates offer.
Common Pitfalls
Candidates often perform rather than respond, retreating into rehearsed-sounding answers even without preparation. Remind them that the exercise asks for authentic reaction, not optimal presentation.
In Applied Settings
Career Development Workshops
The Interviewing Process is used in professional development programs to build interview confidence through low-stakes practice. Participants discover that authentic responses are more compelling than polished ones.
HR and Talent Training
Interviewers practice active listening and genuine curiosity rather than checklist compliance, developing the relational skills that identify the best candidates.
Communication and Presence Coaching
Facilitators use the exercise to demonstrate that presence, the quality of attention brought to the room, is trainable and that improvisation principles develop it directly.
Skills Developed
Worth Reading
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The Improv Mindset
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Spontaneous Performance
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Related Exercises
Diversity
Diversity is a category of applied improvisation activities that build awareness and appreciation of diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and communication styles through direct improvisational interaction. The activities use role-play, perspective-taking, and collaborative exercises to give participants embodied experience of different viewpoints and communication norms, making diversity concepts concrete and personally felt rather than abstract.
Maintain the Improv Culture
Maintain the Improv Culture is an applied improv exercise in which participants practice identifying and responding to moments when the core principles of improv culture -- agreement, support, mutual listening, and collaborative generosity -- are drifting in a group setting. The exercise trains organizational facilitators and team leaders to recognize when a group's collaborative norms are eroding and to intervene or remodel the desired culture through action rather than declaration.
Adaptability
Exercises specifically designed to practice adapting to rapidly changing circumstances and unexpected developments.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). The Interviewing Process. Retrieved March 18, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/the-interviewing-process
The Improv Archive. "The Interviewing Process." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/the-interviewing-process.
The Improv Archive. "The Interviewing Process." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/the-interviewing-process. Accessed March 18, 2026.
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