The Puzzle: Blog

Teaching candidates: you’ve heard the news. Just after the noisy hum of the holidays, we’ll be moving swiftly into conference season. It’s a busy time for us, filled with recruiting events in different cities nationwide. And it’s kind of an extended holiday season for you—where the ultimate gift just might be a new job!

The CS&A Conferences are designed to facilitate face-to-face interviews among candidates and schools in an efficient, cost-effective way. We’re here to help you navigate the process, which can appear overwhelming.

So how do you choose which conferences to attend? That depends on a few things.

1.  Know Your Options

First thing’s first: know where and when our conferences are taking place. We hold regional and national conferences in locations across the country. You can find more detailed information—including discounted room rates at our conference hotels—on our website.

2.  Where are You Willing to Go?

We always encourage candidates to be as flexible as possible in their job searches. If you can avoid placing limitations on yourself—by being willing to teach in a boarding or day school, for example, or considering the possibility of coaching—you can markedly affect your success rate.

That said: when it comes to conferences, only plan to attend events in areas you’re actually serious about. If you want to teach anywhere in California, great! Sign up for FORUM/LA and FORUM/San Francisco – but FORUM/Atlanta probably isn’t the best choice for you, no matter how many great schools are attending.

3.  Consider National Conferences

If you’re fairly flexible geographically and you want to get a feel for a variety of schools in different areas of the country, consider attending a national conference (or supplementing your home-base conference with a national one). Two of our events are national in scope: FORUM/Boston and the LINK@NAIS. Our other conferences tend to attract more regional schools.

4.  Have a Discussion with Your Placement Team

It may sound counter-intuitive, but attending a conference might not always benefit your job search. Before you buy your plane tickets and book your hotel room, schedule a chat with your Placement Team. The variety of positions represented at each conference varies from year to year, and some conferences might not end up proving as helpful to certain candidates. If your Placement Associate recommends that you not attend a conference, don’t take it personally—that decision is definitely not a reflection on your status as a candidate, your ability to get hired, or the number of opportunities we have available for you.

5.  Set Your Budget

Although the events themselves are free for candidates, attending the conferences can become expensive if you’re paying for airfare and accommodations. Before you decide how many conferences to attend, set a budget for yourself. Check out discount airline websites for travel deals (we like Expedia, Priceline, and Travelocity, among others) and be sure to book our special room rate if you choose to stay in a conference hotel.

If you want to attend a conference, you must be an active candidate with us. Don’t hesitate—apply online now. If you’re an active candidate and you’re ready to register for a conference, you can do so here.

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