New teachers searching for a district to call their own will have the opportunity to meet with schools from across the country on the annual Teacher Interview Day.

Career Services opened registration Thursday for education majors who will graduate in May or August and alumni. The event will be held March 15 in the Kent State Student Center Ballroom.

Teacher Interview Day is an opportunity for participating school districts across the country to pre-screen possible job candidates. Each interview allows school administrators to preview those who are applying for positions within their school district. Although most local school administrators offer follow-up interviews at their respected school if they are impressed with a candidate, out-of-state schools sometimes offer positions on the spot because of their high demand for teachers.

Participants must register with Career Services’ online recruiting system, FlashForward, which is available via its Web site at http://career.kent.edu. The recruiting system is free to all Kent State students and alumni.

Carla Owens, assistant director of Career Services, said she was pleased with the expected employer turnout.

“The event has been held for about the last 20 years,” Owens said. “I’ve been here coordinating it for 11 years and this year has the largest number of schools involved.”

Close to 70 school systems, both in- and out-of-state, are already registered to attend the event, with updates occurring daily.

Once students register on FlashForward, they submit their resumŠs to the chosen schools that match their area of study. The schools review the resumŠs and select the students they are interested in interviewing.

Career Services sends out e-mails informing students whether they were accepted, declined or chosen as an alternate for each school they applied to. Accepted students can sign up for interview times from Feb. 23 to March 8. Candidates who are selected as alternates can sign up for interview time slots from March 5 to March 8. Interviews are granted on a first-come, first-served basis during the sign-up period. This means students who were offered an interview are not guaranteed a spot if they do not schedule in time.

Career Services offers mock interview appointments, where students receive counseling during a private session. Career Services also offers free interview software called Perfect Interview on its Web site. This software selects one out of thousands of possible interview questions, then allows the user to record him or herself practicing the interview process. The student has the option to review the recording alone or e-mail it to a Career Services counselor who will review and critique it. Owens suggests preparing and learning about the proper interview techniques before attending.

Amy Cornell, who graduated in May 2006, attended last year’s event and was impressed with the benefits it offered.

“This event helped me in many ways,” Cornell said. “First, it gave me an opportunity to interview with many districts in one day. I was also able to network and hear about potential openings that I may not have never known about. I feel the more you can practice interviewing the better, and the Teacher Interview Day is a wonderful opportunity to do that.”

Contact Career Services reporter Samantha Kerns at [email protected].