Interview Week Rules

Interview Week Rules

Congregations and Institutions are not permitted to contact candidates directly prior to interview week. This includes all phone, email, and social media contacts. This allows for a level playing field for everyone.
 
At the request of synagogues, we have two “blackout” periods in the placement process for graduating rabbis. These blackout periods afford search committees the time to consider candidates and include stakeholders in their communities without feeling that they must act immediately in order to avoid losing candidates. The blackout periods described below are designed in response to the feedback of congregations and are intended to make it easier for congregations and institutions to interview candidates in a thoughtful and reflective way, without feeling that decisions must be made on the first day or the first hour of the process.
 
The first blackout period is BEFORE Interview Week commences. 
 
After the initial meetings during Interview Week, congregations and candidates are not permitted to contact each other until Sunday, February 14th, 2021 at 7 PM (ET) regarding visits. They are however allowed to request and contact references. Starting Sunday, February 14th, congregations and institutions may begin to offer invitations to graduating rabbis for a virtual "visit" to the congregation. This is the second blackout period.
 
Congregations and Institutions may invite candidates to "visit" their community on a weekday or Shabbat any time between February 14th and March 22nd, 2021. Please remember, all interviews must be held online until at least April 1, 2021.
 
Starting on Monday, March 22nd, 2021 at 7 PM ET, congregations and institutions may begin to offer positions to graduating rabbis.
 
It is likely that a number of congregations and institutions will continue to interview after March 22nd but these guidelines provide some breathing room during the first exciting month following the initial Interview Week meetings.
 
We greatly appreciate your cooperation in adhering to these guidelines, as we want to create a level playing field for congregations and institutions seeking new rabbis. We have instituted this policy based on employers’ feedback and rely on your honor in order to make it work. Should it come to light that an employer or a student did not adhere to these guidelines, it would become a matter for review by the Joint Placement Commission. For those of you who have not been in the placement process before, please let us acknowledge that this is a time of great anticipation, or even anxiety, for all parties involved. We do our best to lower levels of anxiety. Mazel tov!