The International Schools Review Forum

Hello,
What's the best way to accept an interview via email? What's the best way to decline one?

Acceptance: Thank them for the opportunity, and ask what their interview schedule is or provide them with a range of times and dates (taking into account any difference in time zones between locations). It is far better to inconvenience yourself with a middle of the night interview then request a recruiter do so.

Decline: Thank them for the invitation, but you are 1) unavailable or 2) pursuing other opportunities.

My advice is to never decline an interview. Basic Jobhunting 101. All interview practice is good and you never know, you might actually be happy you interviewed as you may find that the school is a lot better than you thought.

If you know that you definitely don't want to work at the offering school I would say that it's appropriate not to waste their time accepting an interview anyway. If you're unsure, then by all means, practice your interview skills because you never know. I have had two offers to interview in regions that I am not interested in this time around. I emailed back immediately, thanking them for their interest but declining their interview request. Both schools emailed me back to thank me for my prompt response. It pays to be up front.

If you want to interview for the practice, by all means do so (I still do), but if your not interested in sharpening your interview skills, than why waste time with a region or IS your not interested in. Its likely to be a hardship location or a bottom tier IS thats going to be more a sales pitch than an interview.