Education Fair and Interview Day
Welcome to the Warm Up Room!
Advance Planning and Tips for Success at Education Fair and Interview Day
A good impression is not made by chance. Use the tips on this page to deliberately plan and prepare for success.
How to Work the Open Fair
During the Open Fair some districts fill remaining slots for interviews.
Review the list of schools with open slots.
Prioritize them according to your interest.
Review the map to determine where they are in the room.
Plan to visit your first choice district first.
Lines may be long. If you do not get through the line soon enough to get an interview slot on this day, introduce yourself, present your résumé, and express your interest in interviewing at their office on a later date.
If you do not get beyond your first choice line and the Open Fair ends, directly contact your other choice districts later in the week and express an interest in interviewing at their office.
Practice Your General Presentation Skills
Professional dress is expected at Education Fair and Interview Day. Review tips for appropriate professional dress, in the Job Search Readiness portion of our Web site.
Excess jewelry must be removed for the interviewing situation, including multiple ear piercings.
Hair should be well-groomed and conservatively styled.
Practice a firm handshake, but not so firm that it crushes.
Practice your smile. A comfortable smile conveys confidence and approachability.
Mentally prepare a 20 second introduction for yourself: who you are, your license, and your interest in the district and particular teaching position.
Prepare to maintain your own eye contact during discussions with recruiters and interviews.
At the event, introduce yourself and present your résumé (districts will have a copy of your Wright Search résumé during the prearranged interviews; you can offer a copy if you have since updated).
District representatives will probably ask you a few questions about your résumé, your experience, and your interest. Don't be surprised or offended if they break eye contact and begin making notes on the back of your résumé - this is normal!
Interview Skills
There are some standard questions you can expect to be asked.
In addition, you may be asked general questions designed to reveal your past behavioral patterns. This is called behavioral interviewing. Learn more about behavioral interviewing.
You can effectively answer behavioral interviewing questions by following a model referred to as P - A - R: Problem - Action - Results. In the P - A - R model, you first describe the Problem or situation; then relate the Action you took; and, finally, the Results. Specific examples with salient details are best.
If you have legitimate questions about the work environment that have not been answered in your pre-fair research or in the interview, take time to ask them at the end of the interview.
However, it is not appropriate to ask questions to which you should have already found out the answer, such as: "Tell me about your district."
It is also not appropriate to introduce salary and compensation issues in this interview. These items are discussed in a later negotiation.
Always thank your interviewer and shake hands upon goodbye.
Collect a business card.
Always send a thank you letter to your interviewer(s).
Offers, Contracts, and Dates
It is unusual to be offered a job on the spot at Education Fair and Interview Day. Still, some candidates may be offered jobs due to the hiring needs and their particular portfolio; and a few school districts with large needs may extend offers.
You are under no obligation to immediately respond to an offer made to you during Education Fair and Interview Day. You are encouraged to take time to consider an offer, gather information, determine the employer's need-to-know timeline, and respond accordingly. There may be other opportunities you wish to pursue.
Signing a letter of intent is a legally binding agreement. You will be obligated to follow through on any teaching assignment for which you sign a letter of intent. After you sign a letter of intent, your job search should stop and you should inform any inquiring school district that you have signed a letter of intent with another district.
Signing a contract is a legally binding agreement for employment. Your job search should stop and you should inform any inquiring school district that you have signed a contract with another district.
If you sign either a letter of intent or a contract, deactivate your name on The Wright Search.
The Wright State University Career Services Education Fair and Interview Day is an excellent way to connect with teaching opportunities, but it is not the only way. Stay active on The Wright Search: teaching opportunities are posted every month, often through October. Upload your résumé every 30 days until you sign a contract.
Some important dates to know in the teaching opportunity timeline: Continuing contracts are typically offered in February and March, with districts having a better idea of their remaining needs in April. As of July 10 teachers must notify districts of their intention not to return.
©2004 - 2007 Wright State University
This page was last updated Monday, 29-Oct-2007 16:06:27 EDT.
Questions or comments?
Email career_services@wright.edu