Comments on: Salary negotiations redux: ALWAYS negotiate for more. Always.

By: Link Love of December 4 « Grumpy rumblings of the untenured

Link Love of December 4 « Grumpy rumblings of the untenured — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 09:53:37 +0000

[...] Always Negotiate! My sister keeps thanking her lucky stars that the first company she accepted rescinded their offer after she took the entire time period to consider it… and she learned not to say no to company 2 until you’ve got everything completely in writing. Thank goodness company 2 is not only a phenomenal place to work but also was big enough that they were able to find her a second position when she had to call back and ask to be reconsidered. [...]

By: Perpetua

Perpetua — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 15:32:42 +0000

@ wini – I hear you! No one should have to choose between good quality daycare and adequate compensation! (And we all know it’s women taking the hit on that front.) In the town where I am currently, however, I think I would actually trade (or have my partner trade, since he’s the one with the job here) a raise for a spot at the CDC, since it’s the only decent game in town pre-K.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:45:51 +0000

Sensible–and don’t forget that the nuns worked for free!!!

We’ve talked here before about how teaching is modeled on an ideal of faculty who’ve already taken vows of poverty (and ideally obedience, if not chastity as well.)

By: Sensible

Sensible — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:43:46 +0000

(Delurking) Thanks to an awesome adviser (who coached me to not say “Yes! Yes! Yes!” when I first got the job offer), I’m mostly happy with how I negotiated my first tt job offer. Subsequently, I’ve realized how rare this kind of mentoring is and am trying to spread that love a bit.

Even with such good training, however, it still amazes me how susceptible I was to the chair-negotiator’s pressure to not ask for too much (a 1 semester course release for Spring semester, in addition to 1st semester; normal load is 4/4) because it might make me look lazy/like I’m not a team player.

In response to Historiann’s original question re religious institutions, my (formerly Catholic) SLAC relies less on “moral incentives” than the institutional history (some still wandering the halls) of nuns who dedicated themselves totally to the college. Thus, the mostly explicit expectation that faculty be in their offices, with their doors open, at least 4 days a week.

By: wini

wini — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:59:21 +0000

Clarification: I did get a spot! I just gave up on the salary. I don’t think that was clear. And while the center is amazing and a little bit subsidized, that would still be the case if I was making more.

By: Perpetua

Perpetua — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:38:27 +0000

For any of you reading this who may be about to negotiate and have an infant/small child, @wini raises an important issue you should know about: You *can* try to negotiate for a spot for your child(ren) in the campus day care as part of your offer, and you should, esp if you’re moving to a smaller place w/ limited child care. Waiting lists for campus daycares are notoriously long (I’ve been on one for 3 yrs).

By: wini

wini — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:42:33 +0000

My biggest regret in taking this job is not asking for more money. I spent so long getting a spot at the on-campus daycare for my infant that I just gave up. Thankfully, my school has an active gender equity program and I’ve heard of more than one female faculty member approaching their chair successfully for a raise. They had to research it, but in one case *every singly TT man in her department made at least 10K more than her.*

I know a man hired 1 year after me makes 15K more than me. I’m also on the market, but if this situation continues past the supposed economic recovery this will become a significant tool in my pocket.

I will probably get a large “merit raise” this year, which is actually a bonus and not an addition to my base salary.

By: Perpetua

Perpetua — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 12:59:45 +0000

I just wanted to jump in and say that I failed to negotiate at my first t-t, and while in retrospect I do think I could have – and possibly should have – been more aggressive, the institution added many sweeteners to help make the salary, which they knew was low, more palatable (course releases, very generous, if temporary, pots of money, summer funding, high rates of reiumbursement for the move, high set up fund, etc etc). While it’s important to keep your eye on the base salary (because that’s what raises are based on!), such fringe benefits can make an enormous difference.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 05:14:01 +0000

polisciprof–I can see your point. Being denied tenure is an intimidating thing.

Meander’s stories are hilarious. I find it interesting where institutions draw the line. In some ways, the school that suggested you should accept less pay for the satisfaction of “moral incentives” was more honest. I can understand how a huge starting salary would be a problem for some of your new colleagues, but how on earth would a printer be an occasion for serious concern about equity?

Then again, I’ve never really wanted a printer in my office, so maybe I just can’t see how one would be an object of serious envy. . .

By: polisciprof

polisciprof — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 02:13:22 +0000

I was denied tenure at my first job. On the market again, I interviewed at a Catholic SLAC. The provost who made the offer had called my (soon to be former) dean to check out the reasons for my dismissal. Apparently satisfied, she also found out what I was making. Her offer was at the associate level (I had previously been an assistant) and $1,000 more than I had been making and with the same teaching load. It seemed inappropriate to negotiate for more.