Our department was successful in hiring three new faculty members this year. We advertised two positions, one in probability and/or statistics and one in applied mathematics. The application deadline was in early January. Our advertisement required that the candidate have a PhD in mathematics by January 1- we weren't willing to consider candidates who were ABD.

When the applications rolled in, we were somewhat disappointed - fewer than 20 applications for the prob/stat position, and only about 60 applications for the applied mathematics position. Back in the mid 1990's, we'd routinely get 500 applications for any position that we advertised. At this point in the process another one of our faculty members decided to retire. Fortunately, our vice president agreed to let us hire two applied mathematicians from the pool of candidates that we already had. It looked as though we might have trouble filling all three positions.

However, we were able to find short lists of six to ten good candidates for each position to telephone interview. This was followed up by a round of on campus interviews. We interviewed six candidates for the applied positions and three candidates for the prob/stat position. After the on campus interviews, we were still happy enough with seven of the nine candidates. We began making offers, and within two weeks, all of the positions were filled with our first or second choice candidates.

In speaking with department chairs at other institutions, it became apparent that many institutions had planned to hire but had their faculty slots pulled at the last minute because of budget problems. Also, some of our candidates were in danger of losing their visiting (and even tenure track) positions because of budget problems.