Many people find salary negotiations to be stressful and uncomfortable. However, it’s a necessary evil, especially in academics. You know your worth and want your prospective employer to meet your salary expectations. Thus, the necessary salary negotiations.  

Talk of salaries should only begin after an offer is extended, not before. When negotiating salaries, it is imperative not to rush into accepting an offer. In fact, you shouldn’t accept a verbal offer without a written agreement. But first, you and your prospective institution must agree on a respectable salary. Luckily, there are 5 ways to best negotiate a salary offer to make the process easier.

Why Negotiation is an Art

Ideally, employment would be based solely on experience and qualifications. Unfortunately, there’s so much more to it than that. Your personality and demeanor can either make or break a job interview.

Institutions want to hire someone personable. When it comes to negotiating your salary as a potential faculty member, there’s a fine line between staying firm and being inflexible.

The Basics: What’s Negotiable vs. Non-Negotiable

When it comes to a job offer, salary isn’t the only matter to take into consideration. Taking on a faculty position has numerous other factors to consider, such as: 

●      Location - will you need to move if you accept the position?

●      Benefits - 401k, health insurance, etc.

●      Workload - how many classes are you expected to take on each semester?

●      Research opportunities - is the faculty position teaching only, or is there a possibility of a joint teaching/research position?

●      Tenure track - How much room for advancement does the position offer? Will it put you on the track to tenure? 

What’s non-negotiable to you and to the institution? Are you willing to relocate, and does the job offer include relocation costs?

Is the institution able to meet your salary expectations? Public vs. private schools have very different budgets.

5 Tips to Negotiate the Best Offer

Salary negotiations shouldn’t be discussed until a formal job offer is extended. It’s best not to discuss specific salary details during an interview. Once a job offer is extended, the search committee chair will likely contact you to discuss salary. How can you best negotiate?

1. Research the institution’s salary data

You have a salary in mind, but is the institution able to meet it? Do they have the resources necessary to offer you what you’re worth? Researching an institution's general salary data can save yourself from going through the negotiation process only to discover they can’t meet your salary standards.

1. Seek advice from mentors

You don’t have to negotiate your salary alone. Reach out to mentors or trusted advisors to get their advice. They may even have networking connections at your prospective employer to get inside negotiation tips. Your mentor can also tell you if your salary expectations are unreasonable.

1. Determine what’s non-negotiable

Everyone has a line in the sand. You just have to find the line you’re not willing to cross. Not all of your requests will be granted during negotiations. Figure out which ‘gets’ are your priority and remain flexible on the issues that aren’t a priority.

1. Leverage other offers

If you have more than one iron in the fire, use that to your advantage. If you’re fielding more than one job offer, that may speed up the negotiation process with the offer you would prefer to accept. However, if you don’t have another offer, don’t be dishonest and say you do.

1. Express gratitude for the consideration

Remain pleasant and respectful throughout the negotiation process. Even if you ultimately turn down the job offer, express your gratitude for being considered for the position. The academic world is smaller than you’d expect. You never know when you’ll cross paths with the hiring committee chair again.

Use Your Impactio Data to Prove Your Value

Impactio can bolster many aspects of your career, including salary negotiations. Impactio is America’s premier networking platform for scholars and researchers. It can help you forge connections with current and former faculty.

Additionally, the data on your profile can give you the edge when it comes to negotiating your desired salary. Join the platform today to create your profile.