The Puzzle: Blog

Conference season is well underway at CS&A. If you’re one of the hundreds of candidates attending these regional and national events, you probably have interviews on the brain. You already know how to reach out to schools to request interviews using our online Conference Module, so here are three quick reminders for perfecting your conference interview.

1. Be Punctual

When it comes to any interview, punctuality is a no-brainer. You should always err on the side of the early-bird when you’re interviewing: stand at the ready when anticipating a phone or Zoom interview, and show up a little early to an on-campus interview.

At a hiring conference, though, timeliness is doubly important. Schools’ schedules will be jam-packed — they will want to make every minute count. And you should too!

So make sure to mark your availability accurately and allot plenty of time to get to the conference center and from one interview to the next. Showing up just five minutes late could be an annoyance to a school hiring contact. Put your best foot forward — be on time.

2. Keep an Open Mind                  

If you don’t land an interview with that one dream school, don’t worry. Try to keep an open mind and interview with as many schools as possible. You might find that a school you’d never considered will become incredibly appealing for any number of reasons. If you limit yourself early — by considering schools only in one narrow geographic location, for example, or discounting a position in a boarding school — you might miss out on a really good fit.

3. Leave the Interview with Clear Next Steps

You would never end a phone or on-campus interview without asking for clear next steps. You might be wondering what you should expect from a conference interview. Is the protocol the same?

The answer is, resoundingly, yes! Though your conference interview is limited to 30 minutes and might feel a bit like a speed-dating event, it is still very much a real interview. When it ends, you should make sure to ask about next steps, including when you should expect to hear from a hiring contact or plans for a follow-up interview.

If you haven’t registered for a CS&A conference yet, it’s not too late! Check out the schedule here and register in CandidateConnect.

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