Making Room: How to Create Generous Spaces—No Renovation Required

I work in a striking place. People come from all over the world just to see the University of Virginia. The Rotunda, with its grand dome and sweeping steps evoking the Pantheon. The Lawn, a sloping grassy expanse lined by columned pavilions, each one slightly different from the next. A peaceful pea-gravel path I discovered last week, and so many other delightful nooks and crannies just waiting to be found. It makes every “best campus” list.

But the last time I served on a hiring committee, the candidate was visiting the University of Virginia for the first time, while those of us doing the hiring had collectively occupied these campus spaces for more than a century. Job interviews are anxiety inducing no matter where they occur, but when they happen on the interviewer’s home turf, they can be doubly exhausting.