Abstract
Each new academic year brings with it hundreds of advertised openings for university faculty positions in colleges and schools of Education. For many of the applicants, the process of applying and becoming a candidate for these positions is their initiation into the higher education community. The author argues that search committees are responsible for the public relations side of this initiation and for keeping the process humane and empathetic to applicants. It is the author's viewpoint that search committees must exercise professionalism and vigilance if disasters in public relations and the insensitive treatment of fellow educators are to be avoided.