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Considering the Offers‹ What Not to Share | Job Search Advice.Home Page | The New Job › An Advocate for Negotiating: You can negotiate. In my first job search, my only offer was from a (wonderful!) liberal arts college looking for a Writing Director who would implement a WAC program, start a writing center, and generally oversee writing on campus. I asked for some time to consider it. It was a non-tenure track position with no budget and a very low salary. After talking it over with my friends, I asked for my own budget (at least $5000), a considerably higher salary, and a tenure track position—explaining to the person offering me the job why I needed these things. (Without a budget, I would have to beg for everything I needed; without being a tenure-track faculty member, I would not have credibility with the faculty; and the salary was embarrassingly low, even by small town and small college standards.) These were things the faculty had clearly not thought much about, and the Dean quickly met all my requirements. It turned out to be a wonderful job, in spite of the “responsibility without authority” issue. Caveats about Negotiating Give reasons why the things you negotiate will (for the most part) enhance your ability to do your job—particularly writing program administration. Just wanting (or demanding) things is not sufficient. And, unless you have piles of job offers, I wouldn’t make any request as an ultimatum.
It’s better to think about what we need to do the job better than what we might like to have for ourselves. This strand reminds me about Doug Hesse’s words about “ethos” a while back. __
Agreeing with [Advocate] [Advocate] makes an excellent point about negotiating, but I would also advise folks to proceed cautiously. Playing hard ball can back fire and can leave a bad taste (sorry for the mixed metaphor) in the mouths of everyone concerned. Keep in mind you’re still “new” to the profession and that there are people around who have been working pretty hard for a long time. Be sure, in other words, that your request will sound reasonable. You’re probably not going to be given special perks that are not yet enjoyed by people who have been around longer than you have. So, sure, ask for more, but have some idea of what the culture will tolerate. And be respectful (I’m not trying to channel Ms. Manners here, but I’ve interviewed a lot of candidates over the years. and you’d be surprised by some of the heavy attitude many candidates carry into the interviewing room and beyond. Remember that virtually everyone at some time or another viewed himself or herself as the next hottest thing). __ Yes, [Advocate’s] comment is right on target. In many cases involving tenure-track positions the first salary offer you will get is a low one, with the expectation that you have checked the information from the Chronicle’s Almanac and know what the salary ranges are so that you can negotiate in a savvy way. After interviews candidates should make up a “gimme” list of things they are pretty sure are possible to negotiate at a particular institution: salary (if that’s not on a fixed scale, as it is in some institutions), reduced load for administrative work or for research the first year, travel money, a computer and a laptop, partner accommodation—whatever they need to make the move worthwhile and the job do-able. Administrators expect you to say “I’ll think about it” to an offer and then come back with a counter, especially if you are waiting to hear about another offer. That’s all part of the game, and grad students should get good advice beforehand about exactly how to do these delicate negotiations before they say “I do.” When I was an English Department chair I always worried when a candidate I was offering a job to said “yes” right away, since I knew my dean was prepared to give more if need be, and it was good for the department if the new person’s entering salary was higher—a rising tide raises all boats, as administrative logic has it. Other observations about the offer: My advisor once told me that if he were to go on the market and be offered a job, he would, if the salary was close to acceptable, ask for a permanent, reserved parking space near his office. He maintained that he would be likely to get it because it wouldn’t cost the college much, just the making of a sign, and that the convenience to him would outweigh the extra thousand or two he might get if he asked for more money. __ From a friend of mine in a bad work situation: never take a job simply because it pays more money than another job that you might like better. It’s not worth it. It’s hard to think like this when seeking your first job. But making a bad decision is costly, taking time from your life and your research that is hard to recoup. If you have a bad feeling about the place, DO NOT ACCEPT THE JOB IF IT IS OFFERED. ‹ What Not to Share | Job Search Advice.Home Page | The New Job › |