How do you juggle listening to your subjects and taking direction from directors?

It is often difficult in the control room to juggle the responsibilities of running audio while there are so many people speaking orders as well. A good audio engineer is able to do their job while also listening to directors telling them to switch microphones, open and close certain ones, and bring up external audio as well. The candidate must prove to be someone who can juggle multiple responsibilities at once, even in high stress situations, and still work flawlessly.