First of all, congrats on getting to the stage of your career where you are being invited to academic interviews! The academic interview circuit can require you to prepare for a number of different situations during the interview process: a phone or Skype call, individual meetings, a research talk, a chalk-talk, and teaching a course. I’ll briefly outline a general strategy for each of these situations.

At all stages of the interview process, your three goals should be to: (1) promote your exciting work, (2) present yourself as a great potential colleague, and (3) make sure this is a place where you’d want to work. The people interviewing you are looking for someone doing exciting work, a great colleague (fun to talk to, creative, rigorous thinker, broad interests, respectful of students and staff), and someone who brings complementary expertise to their department. You, on the other hand, need to make sure they provide the necessary resources for you to succeed, have good opportunities for collaboration, have happy and brilliant students, good teaching opportunities, and ideally, programs in place to promote your work-life balance. Interviews go both ways; don’t forget that during this process.

For a Skype interview, find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted. Make sure there is nothing behind where you are sitting. Practice looking at the camera directly, not at your computer screen. Eye contact is important! If you can, find some friends to do a practice Skype session. For both the Skype interview and any on-site individual meetings you have, almost all interviews start out with “tell me about yourself.” Have a two-to-three minute description of who you are and what you do down pat. Poise is very important at all phases in the interview, but you especially want to start off looking polished. After that, be prepared to answer and ask questions about science, teaching philosophy, the department, the school, etc. Before you interview, look up the school’s mission statement and any information you can find about the department so that you can talk about how you would fit into the department and help fulfill the mission statement of the school. For individual meetings with faculty, make sure that you know their work in advance. Look at their website or read a paper so that you have a talking point.

Before an in-person interview, call your host and ask questions about the visit. What is the department colloquium environment like? Do you have a chalk-talk? What is the format for the chalk-talk? What are potential pitfalls? Based upon my application, are you aware of any concerns that I should address during the interview? Remember that almost everyone is “on your side” during an interview — they are looking for someone to succeed.

The research talk or colloquium is probably the most important part of the interview. You cannot practice your research talk too many times. Your talk must focus not only on what you’ve done, but also on where you are going. Spend the last 5–10 minutes of your talk on your future plans. Have clean, clear slides and tell a good story. The Q&A time after your talk is equally as important as the talk itself, so don’t let down your guard. Always repeat the question back to the questioner, to make sure you understand the question. You can also rephrase the question to something you do know the answer to, if you are stumped. Finally, be liberal with your acknowledgements, always project a happy and confident demeanor, and don’t forget to smile!

If you are asked to give a chalk talk, the goal is to talk informally about your long-term goals. Try to have three long-term aims. It is worth working on your chalk (or dry-erase) board handwriting prior to interviewing. Be prepared to answer questions about funding and where you see yourself in 5 to 10 years. Make sure that you keep control of the board, and if you get stuck on one topic, switch to one of your other aims. For more on chalk talks, read my column in the October 2017 issue of the Newsletter.

Finally, after you leave the interview, send thank you notes (email is fine in this day and age). Some will respond, others will not — but everyone notices the gesture. And don’t forget the administrative staff who put your visit together!