Tonight’s VP debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin might just offer some relevant ideas for jobseekers. No matter what your party affliation or current leanings, you can still learn something about how to interview for a job as you watch the debate.

1. Put yourself in either of their shoes. Don’t just watch it as a debate but as a job interview that you get to observe. Imagine yourself up there, answering questions. Notice how little things are magnified and subtle nuances come through loud and clear. JobSeeker Learning: Informational interviews can help you because they get you comfortable with having to answer questions about your skills, experience and attitudes.

2. Skills and experience presentation. Watch how each candidate summarizes their own experiences and skills as being relevant to the job they are seeking. Do they make their presentation of both relevant and adaptable to the current position? JobSeeker Learning: Jobseekers must be able to concisely present how their experience and skills can be used in the company’s behalf.

3. Likeability. Many companies have a rule that roughly sounds like this: How would you like to fly across country with this candidate? If you can be Switzerland for tonight, see what each candidate does specifically that makes you like them a bit more. JobSeeker Learning: Even though your job interview is a stressful event, and one that you do not do every day, you are still being judged on little things, how you handle pressure, are you courteous, do you smile, are you easy to be around, and so forth. Show your personality.

4. Audience factor. Unlike your own job interview, the person asking the questions tonight, Gwen Ifil, is not doing the hiring. Each candidate, er, jobseeker, has to answer the questions for the audience, because the audience is doing the ‘hiring.’ JobSeeker Learning: Your audience is as varied as the candidate’s. Sarah’s audience might be only those independent voters, not the voters who will vote her way or the other way, no matter what. Joe’s audience might be the same voters, but they might be looking for different things from him. The point is that in each job interview you must know what your true audience is expecting or needing from you. If you are being screened by a Gwen Ifil, then your “story” or elevator pitch must be even more compelling because she will take your message to the hiring person. This is why your story has to be simple, repeatable and convincing so she (the HR person) can properly present you.

5. Tough Jams. Chances are good that one or both of the candidates will face a tough question. You may see a puzzled facial expression or two, always priceless when 80 million people are watching you. Watch their initial reaction to the tough question, or even later, during their answer try to see if you can tell when their internal voice (picture a character perched on their shoulder talking in their ear) is saying “whoa, Sarah-Joe, this is making zero-frickin sense.” How do they recover? JobSeeker Learning: If you have an employment gap or something else you HOPE they don’t ask you about, instead figure out a good answer for it because chances are good you will be asked. How you handle the jam questions will set you apart from the ill-prepared job seeker.