Maintaining mutual respect among visual arts professionals at different career stages is important to all the work we do, and the interviewing process is a primary occasion for cultivating this mutual respect. We also need to keep in mind that interviewing can be a learning experience not only for the candidates but also for the interviewers. As interviewers we learn about the intellectual interests and employment concerns of candidates, the emphases of their graduate programs, and how our own institutions and curricula relate to these interests and concerns. We benefit greatly from our contact with candidates, and our behavior should reflect that. Prior arrangements for interviews may take some time and trouble to make, but they are infinitely preferable to ad hoc interviewing at the conference arranged through message boards or by phone.
Prior arrangement puts everything on a more professional level.
Establish an application deadline that is early enough to be able to acknowledge the receipt of candidate's materials and to make the necessary prior arrangements. In your acknowledgment, thank candidates for their interest and let them know how and when you will inform them if they are to be interviewed at the conference. When you or an administrative assistant tells a candidate that they are to be interviewed, let them know if possible who will be conducting the interview and where they will be staying. This lessens anxiety and enables candidates to get in touch with interviewers more easily in case something unexpected happens, such as a canceled flight. Schedule enough time per interview so that candidates can learn something substantive about your institution, and you can learn something substantive about them.