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[Angle]

I have had on-campus interviews in the US before, and soon I will have one in the UK.  Will the format be similar?  Any tips?

[Lucy]

You could post this request in the 'working overseas' forum, where you will also find some other useful discussions.  In particular, you need to get your head round the RAE (Research Assessment Exercise), and you'll find a long discussion there.

You should expect to meet the other interview candidates, and will most likely be taken to lunch or dinner with them.  You will no doubt have been given information from the school, but the format usually involves a job talk (on your research) and an interview with a panel.  You won't get to hear the other job talks, so there'll be some waiting around.  The panel will usually involve people from the department where you are interviewing, someone quite senior from within the faculty, and someone from a completely different faculty.  The exact composition of the panel will vary depending on the university and the position you are interviewing for, but don't be surprised if the person from a completely different faculty asks you a fairly general question (e.g. what do you think is the biggest challenge facing UK higher education at the moment?).   Depending on the institution, it may be that most of the interview questions will be about your research.

Also, don't be surprised if the last question at the interview is about whether you would take the job if offered it.  If offered the job, you will usually be expected to make up your mind within a day or two.

Good luck!

[In the UK]

interviews are generally shorter. all the candidates are interviewed on the same date (one right after another) and you know exactly who you are competing against. the presentation is about 15 minutes with a brief question and answer time (with ph.d. students present). no 2 or 3 day interviews. and you know if you got the job relatively quickly.

[been there done that]

My UK interview experience was quite different from my campus visits at American schools.  In the UK the tone can be so much more confrontational.  One faculty member challenging me in a snide tone of voice: "So who do you think you are in dialogue with with this research project?"  When I answered her she countered: "Well yes you've already discussed those scholars, who else?"
I didn't sit down with just the interview committee until the end of the day, lending a feeling of being under cold inspection by 20 pairs of eyes all day.  There were sessions with the faculty on my research/teaching, and then a full-blown research presentation after which the faculty were raising their hands asking questions that were off-putting in their confrontational tone.  
In some ways the UK system seemed more hospitable.  I liked meeting the other candidates, for instance.  But then on the other hand, they didn't even have anyone available to show the campus or even talk to you in any kind of friendly way.  I was basically on my own in a way that in the American system would have been a signal not to take the job.  Afterwards I learned that I was their second choice for the position, but thinking about it now I feel fortunate that I ended up at a much more friendly American department.  
If I had to do it again, I wouldn't take the tone of the interview as personally as I did (I felt crushed at the time that I wasn't their pick for the job).  I would try to keep in mind that the confrontational tone was mostly a cultural difference, the way that people criticize Bostonians for being unfriendly, but as a Bostonian, I know that's not the whole truth.

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