[holaberlin]

... if they show you who they are and you like them. I noticed from the hiring process where I work that hiring decisions are often based on personal chemistry, sometimes without regard to qualifications. Or more precisely, qualifications are sometimes used to rationalize a hiring decision that has already been made on the basis of personal chemistry. And I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing -- I'm more likely to be productive if I like my coworkers.

[scott_s]

Not only is it not a bad I thing, I think it should consciously be part of the process. You should explicitly ask yourself, "Do I want to work with this person every day?"

When someone in my research group went to interview at a national lab, a young professor in my department made a similar point to him. He said they're already impressed with your research - that's why they're flying you out to do go through the interview process in the first place. What they're evaluating now is you - do they want to work with you every day for the next ten years?