When you are invited for a campus interview it is completely normal to be excited. Other people will congratulate you and be excited for you. Of course, it is a fantastic thing. What no one ever talks about are the downsides to interviewing. Namely, that it kills your productivity.
With my first job interview the problem was that I had to spend an enormous amount of time preparing my talk and google-stalking all the faculty to find out about their research and the school and whatnot. A solid two weeks before the interview was devoted to interview prep at the expense of all my other work.
This latest interview took up much less of my time on prep, as I only needed to tweak an existing job talk. However, interviewing means plane travel in the middle of winter with inconsiderate sick people coughing all over the place. This time I came home post-interview to discover I had inherited the germs expelled by the woman sitting next to me, thus dramatically reducing my ability to write manuscripts.
Productivity aside, the other hidden danger is caused by the fancy interview clothes one is forced to wear. 1) you look like an ass at the airport, travelling in a suit while everyone else is in jeans and sweatshirts. 2) Winter + dress shoes = increased likelihood of falling down and making a fool of yourself (yes, I did this). 3) Pencil skirt + getting in/out of a pick-up truck = looking like an idiot and possibly flashing people. Invest in a pant suit or nice trousers for your job talk, totally worth it.
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