Two European economists have told me of their experiences interviewing for senior, tenured positions in the U.K. In both cases they, and the other two finalists, visited the campus at the same time, had rotating interviews with the hiring committee, and were even taken out to dinner together. My experience in the U.S. is just the opposite-we try to keep the identities of finalists for jobs hidden from their “competitors.”
Why is there a totally different culture within the same occupation? Which approach is better at achieving a university’s goal of hiring the best person? Which makes the participants feel better about the process? Which side of the Atlantic has it right? Bottom line to me is the importance of the role of culture, even within a very narrowly defined market.
and 
. You can also watch it on 
By taking them all together, you essentially make public who applied for the job. While this will not be a problem for the successful applicant, do those who have to return to their current job really want their bosses to know they are looking for a new job?
I think the best simple test might be a single question: “Which of these two economists is a solid researched and educator, the other is a political shill. Russ Roberts & Paul Krugman. Which is which?”
The American system seems to encourage better departmental cohesion as well. By spending a whole day at the hiring school and interacting with faculty, talking with them individually and seeing how everyone mixes, you get a better idea if the candidate is a good “fit” for the department (not just if their research abilities are impressive).
Where I worked there were usually three final candidates, one star (who would probably turn it down), one good match and a stooge. My one brush with the British system left me with a poor impression … like perhaps I was the stooge.
The group dinner could be quite entertaining as a test of character. Find out which candidates (if any) are courteous listeners to their peers, which subtly undermine, which have to hog the conversation, which start arguments, which are confident enough to make the others also look good. The dynamic would be much nastier with one’s competition present than in dining only with the hiring committee.
Maybe we shouldn’t base our conclusions on culture? We should base this on how a certain institution interviews compared to another. This university could have very well been the only institution in the U.K. interviewing that way.
Interviewing the candidates together seems like a reasonable way to compare the two side by side (literally). The university can also look at the candidates ablilty to stand out and act with good “sportsmanship” towards competition.
If we are basing this issue on culture, then so be it:
U.S. is overly obsessed with “privacy”, while the U.K. is not. The U.K. is more open about some things than the U.S. is. Enough said.
So did the Europeans hold a sealed-bid auction and offer the position to the lowest bidder? Seems like the next logical step.
Bet those shared dinners are fun. Do they let them have steak kinves?