Your academic job interview starts when they first contact you, not when you walk into the room. Every interaction counts: the phone call, travel arrangements, the airport pickup. Stay professional and flexible the whole time because someone is always watching.
Typically, you're going to fly in. Even before that, you're going to get a phone call or an email saying, "Hey, we want to bring you in for an interview. When are you available?" Now you get to figure out how you're going to fly there. If you have to pay, then they reimburse you, or do they arrange it? You get all those details ready. Now you fly in, and somebody usually is going to pick you up. The interview starts then. It doesn't wait till you show up on campus. It's then. Even if it's a graduate student picking you up, that graduate student is going to be probed. What do they like? What did she ask? What was you looking for? What are your impressions of this person? They're gathering data from every moment they can. So the moment you find the person you're meeting up with at the airport, your interview has started. Your day or days is— are going to have limited downtime. Just rest when you can and be aware of that. Be as professional and flexible as possible and try not to make unnecessary demands.
