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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html >
<head><title>Pre-Tenure Move as an Engineering Faculty: switching to a better research university </title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
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>
<div class="maketitle">
<h2 class="titleHead">Pre-Tenure Move as an Engineering Faculty: switching
to a better research university </h2>
<div class="author" ><span
class="cmr-12">Pranav A. Bhounsule,</span>
<br /> <span
class="cmr-12">Comments to: </span><a
href="mailto:pranavb129@gmail.com" ><span
class="cmr-12">pranavb129@gmail.com</span></a><span
class="cmr-12">.</span>
<br /><span
class="cmr-12">My homepage: </span><a
href="https://pab47.github.io/" ><span
class="cmr-12">https://pab47.github.io/</span></a></div><br />
<div class="date" ><span
class="cmr-12">Revisions:</span><br />
<span
class="cmr-12">In 2019, Sep. 1, 2, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17; Oct 15, 20,</span><br />
<span
class="cmr-12">In 2020, Jan 10, June 18, 30</span><br />
<span
class="cmr-12">In 2022, Apr 9, July 7</span></div>
</div>
<!--l. 23--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-1000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Update in 2022:</span></span>
<span
class="cmti-10">Since posting this document online, I got quite a few requests for material and more questions about the moving</span>
<span
class="cmti-10">process. I have updated these extra parts at the end of the documents in the new section called “More</span>
<span
class="cmti-10">tips”.</span>
<!--l. 26--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-2000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Context:</span></span>
<span
class="cmti-10">I spent </span>5 <span
class="cmti-10">years (Aug.</span><span
class="cmti-10"> 2014–July 2019) as a tenure track assistant professor in a </span><a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_research_universities_in_the_United_States" ><span
class="cmti-10">Tier-2 research university before</span>
<span
class="cmti-10">moving to a Tier-1 research university</span></a><span
class="cmti-10">. In the new University, I restarted my tenure-track clock. This document</span>
<span
class="cmti-10">pertains to my experience and perspective on the move. I moved as a tenure track Mechanical Engineering faculty to</span>
<span
class="cmti-10">a higher-ranked university, so these notes may not be applicable as-is for other scenarios (e.g., faculty in</span>
<span
class="cmti-10">other fields especially those which do not require fundraising, moving to schools with same/similar</span>
<span
class="cmti-10">ranking, moving as an associate professor). If you need my application material that includes cover</span>
<span
class="cmti-10">letter, research statement, teaching statement, diversity statement, and curriculum vitae, please email</span>
<span
class="cmti-10">me.</span>
<!--l. 30--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-3000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Difference between pre-tenure position change and first time tenure track position:</span></span>
The pre-tenure move is different from moving to your first tenure track position in some not-so-obvious ways.
Here are some pointers on what the search committee is most interested in pre-tenure applicants.
<ol class="enumerate1" >
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-3002x1">The search committee wants to hire a person that has established an independent research agenda that
includes papers with your students (not advisor), has shown competence in getting grants, and has
established a track record in teaching and service.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-3004x2">The search committee expects you to put forth a compelling research presentation that looks many
years ahead.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-3006x3">The search committee is extremely interested in knowing if you can transfer your grants.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-3008x4">The search committee wants to know why you are moving pre-tenure.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-3010x5">The search committee wants to ascertain that you are a serious candidate and not on the job market
to elicit a counteroffer in your current university. More about this later in the document.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-3012x6">You should <span
class="cmbx-10">NOT </span>at any cost tell your dean, chair, or colleagues that you are on the job market. If
you don’t end up getting the job offer, it will work against you. It’s a different issue if they find out
by themselves, nothing can be done to stop that.</li></ol>
<!--l. 40--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-4000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Deciding to move:</span></span>
I had many reasons to move. The equipment startup was simply not sufficient for my growing ambitions to get
into experimental research, difficulty in hiring good international students given the lower ranking, and difficulty in
finding collaborators. Lastly, it did not help that my research did not align with the strategic research areas of the
school; people working in the strategic research areas saw better collaboration opportunities, greater opportunities
for fundraising, and better overall support.
<!--l. 42--><p class="indent" > Some other reasons people move is because they want an increase in salary, unfavorable working conditions,
difficult administrators, chair, or colleagues, dual-career issues. Occasionally faculty will get an offer from another
school so that they can get a counteroffer (more toward the end on this topic) in the current school. Even if you
don’t have any reason to move or to receive the counter-offer, going on the job market is a great way to calibrate
yourself – if you get interviews that means you are competitive and if not, then you can change your research
portfolio accordingly.
<!--l. 44--><p class="indent" > If you feel that you are not being loyal in moving from one tenure track position to another, you do not need to
feel so. First, you owe the university/college/department/faculty/students around you nothing and there is
no obligation to stay if you don’t want to. Second, the colleagues/administrators around you have
moved (some multiple times), so can you and people around you will not mind it eventually. Third, no
matter what you told in the job interview about staying/working in the school, circumstances can
change and you are not liable to what you said in good faith when you were interviewing. In summary,
if you think this is a good move for you professionally (and personally), you should go on the job
market.
<!--l. 46--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-5000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Timing of the move:</span></span>
When I started looking to move at the end of the 4th year, I was not worried about not getting tenure in my old
university. That was because I had a favorable mid-tenure review and I had met the tenure norms that were
informally communicated within the assistant professor inner circles. I had to my credit 22 journals/conference
papers, 7 MS students graduated, 3 PhD students in my advisements, and $720<span
class="cmmi-10">,</span>000 in total funding that included
$650<span
class="cmmi-10">,</span>000 credited to me; fairly good teaching evaluations and reasonably good service inside and outside the
University. The fact that I got a sole investigator NSF award (my second sole investigator award) towards the end of
my 4th year made my application particularly strong and it was perhaps the best time to go on the job
market.
<!--l. 48--><p class="indent" > It is best to move when you can convince the search committee that you are on the path of research
independence in multiple ways; you have funded grants, you have graduate students, you have published few papers
<span
class="cmti-10">without </span>your PhD/postdoc advisor but with your students. Although other things such as teaching and service are
important they are usually never the deciding factor unless there are serious issues. Assuming you have publications
with your graduate students, it is still best to go on the job market when you win a major research grant that is
easy to transfer to the new university. It helps if this is a federal sole investigator grant and the federal agency has
an established protocol on transferring grants. The best grant you can have when you want to transfer is
probably the NSF CAREER because it is tied to the investigator and not the institution but other sole
investigator NSF grants would also be great. If you don’t have sole PI NSF grants you should still
figure out (discretely) if it is possible to transfer the grant. The reason I want to stress transferable
grants is that having $ that can move increases your chances of being viewed favorably by the search
committee.
<!--l. 51--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-6000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Thing to be aware of before you start on application materials:</span></span>
First, preparing the application material, applying for jobs, interviewing, etc. will take time and energy and the
last thing you want is a failed job search and an unproductive tenure track year. Second, even if you nailed the
perfect job, moving pre-tenure will probably lead to loss of years towards tenure. That said, there was one
institute where I was told that they would count all my years in the old university towards tenure
in the new university. Sweet deal but I never got an offer from that school. Third, it goes without
saying, <span
class="cmbx-10">do not </span>tell your colleagues (unless this is a much-trusted friend) or chair or dean that you are
on the job market; it is not going to help you especially if it so happens that you did not get any
job offer. Fourth, when you go for the interviews, you will have to find people who will teach for you
unless you cleverly schedule your interviews or classes (a much difficult task). Finally, be aware that
because you thought you would be the best candidate for the position in the University, the search
committee may not think so. Thus, your best bet is to apply wide and to as many positions as you
can.
<!--l. 53--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-7000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Planning your research/grants the year you are on the job market:</span></span>
You should strategize your research/grants preparation/submision the year you are on the job market to give you
maximum leverage if you are successful in your job switch. For example, you might want to write papers and
grants but not submit till you change your affiliation or use the time to explore a new research idea,
etc.
<!--l. 55--><p class="indent" > In the year I was on the job market, I did not submit any new research grants. I used all my time to do research
and write papers which I refrained from publishing. Once I moved to the new school, I quickly sent out the papers in
quick succession.
<!--l. 57--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-8000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Preparing the application material:</span></span>
The application material is pretty standard. It includes a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, a teaching
philosophy statement, a research statement, a list of 3 to 5 referees, and for some schools (almost
all California state schools) a diversity statement. Since there are many resources on creating the
application material, I will skip talking about this aspect. However, I would like to mention a few
points: (1) the cover letter is very important and it will be read by the search committee so try to
bring out the best in you in the cover letter (e.g., funding in bold); (2) include pictures/photos in
your statements because that eases reading and to some extent helps your application to stand out; I
had pictures/photos in my research and teaching statements and my curriculum vitae; (3) in your
curriculum vitae include funding on the very first page (usually after your education or professional
experience), the reason being that deans/chair who are extremely busy are most interested in your funding
profile than other things; (4) have a good research website and indicate it in your application as some
search committees will simply look at your website to help them assess your application. You could
put a tracker on your website so you can see if there were hits on your website from the Universities
you applied to. I have been using <a
href="https://statcounter.com" >https://statcounter.com</a> and it has helped me to some extent in
knowing the site traffic and correlating with the interviews/offers that I got. (5) You can submit the
same cover letter (this is what I did) or write a customized letter (usually one custom paragraph) for
each school, but remember it will take more time to write a customized letter. Finally, you could use
your official school email for all communications or a personal email but do use your mobile number
in your application (instead of office number) because there are chances that the search committee
will decide to call rather than email and you do not want to be out of your office when the call is
made.
<!--l. 59--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-9000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Applying to schools:</span></span>
I used only 2 websites to find faculty positions, <a
href="https://higheredjobs.com" >https://higheredjobs.com</a> and <a
href="https://academickeys.com" >https://academickeys.com</a>. The
advert will indicate the open positions, the level (e.g., Assistant/Associate), the application materials required, how
to apply (email/job portal) and the deadline. The application is mostly submitted through a weblink or in rare cases
via email. I emailed two professors who I knew in two different schools that I was applying to and got phone
interviews in both these schools. It most certainly helps if you know people in the schools you are applying to and
make an effort to reach out to them after you apply.
<!--l. 61--><p class="indent" > Although I could have applied to Mechanical Engineering Departments <span
class="cmti-10">and </span>Electrical & Computer
Engineering Departments, I consciously decided that I would only apply to Mechanical Engineering
Departments. I applied to all Tier-1 schools irrespective of whether I would go/not go if I did get
an offer. The rationale is that interviews with schools that you will not go even if you had an offer
will provide you with some practice (phone as well as campus interview) so that you are much better
prepared for the schools that you are most interested in. No, it is not unethical to do so. Also, getting an
offer from a school could potentially be leveraged to solicit offers from other schools (more one this
later).
<!--l. 63--><p class="indent" > It is always advisable to apply to the position as early as possible. That is, no need to wait for the deadline. This
is because there is a high chance that the search committee chair is looking at applications more closely in the
beginning because there are fewer applications. Also, sometimes the positions are filled on a rolling basis. This
means that review/interview starts as the applications are received. That is, there is no specific deadline for the
review to start.
<!--l. 65--><p class="indent" > Diversity and inclusion are very important topics in academic environments. Diversity refers to the range of
people of different race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, etc. that constitute the environment. Inclusion is providing a
supportive and encouraging environment to everybody. It is best to have one paragraph in your teaching statement
that addresses diversity and inclusion. It is very likely that the search committee has at least one member, usually a
minority person, who is tasked to ensuring that the candidate are aware of diversity and inclusion in the academic
environments.
<!--l. 67--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-10000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Phone interview:</span></span>
If the search committee likes your application be prepared to get an email to set up a phone interview date. The
search committee will consist of 3 to 5 faculty members out of which one of them will be the chair of the search
committee (not the chair of the Department) and occasionally one person outside the Department.
Some of these people will be in your broad area (e.g., thermal, design, manufacturing) but not exactly
expert in your research area(s). Feel free to ask the contact person (can be the chair of the search
committee or the staff member who helps scheduling your interview) about the composition of the
search committee if they have not already done so. This will help you to better prepare for the phone
interview.
<!--l. 70--><p class="indent" > You can expect the phone interview to be either a regular phone chat (no video) or a skype / gotomeeting chat
(with video). Most interviews are about 20 or 30 minutes but they can also be 45 min or 1 hour long. Be mindful
about the time and stick to the allotted time else you will run out of time to answer the questions which might work
to your disadvantage. Usually, phone interviews are scheduled back-to-back and the committee might have to cut
you out before you can finish answering all questions. Ideally, you want to end a few minutes early to be able to ask
questions that you might have about the position. Sometimes you will be told about the interview questions
beforehand but most times not. I have found that there are normally 4 <span
class="cmsy-10">- </span>5 questions (at least for
the 20 to 30 min interviews) and are pretty standard. The most common ones are variants of these
questions.
<ol class="enumerate1" >
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-10002x1">Tell us about you, which you should interpret that the search committee is interested in knowing your
past, current, and future research agenda (Research).
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-10004x2">Tell me us about funding you will seek/the first grant you will write / collaborators within and outside
the school (Funding).
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-10006x3">Tell us about your teaching experiences and courses that you would like to teach (Teaching).
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-10008x4">Do you have any questions for the search committee?</li></ol>
<!--l. 77--><p class="noindent" >As a pre-tenure faculty, who has put some years in a faculty job, you are going to be asked why you are planning to
move to another school and if you can transfer your grants. There is also a likelihood that you will be asked about
how you ensure diversity and inclusion in the classroom and/or research, which is an important issue in academia.
Occasionally, you might be asked how much startup and lab space you would need, a tricky question. You should
avoid putting absolute $ figure for the startup. It’s best to be vague; tell them what you would need but don’t put
a $ figure. Give a conservative number for the lab space (e.g., 700 to 1000 square foot for a decent
experimental program). You only give the $ figure once you get the verbal offer from the chair (more on this
later).
<!--l. 79--><p class="indent" > My preparation for the phone interview was very algorithmic based on the list of questions mentioned earlier. I
would first go to the Department website (and also to other related Departments websites) and find out
whose research overlaps my research so that I may be able to collaborate. I would also research on
each of the search committee members including their research areas, education, etc. I would also
look into courses that I would be interested in teaching and also new courses that I might be able to
develop. I would take a note of the course number; you will be amazed that faculty talk about courses by
number, not so much by name. There is usually a definite purpose for the advertised position. Some
common reasons are the Department wants to grow in the particular research area or hiring as part of a
newly developing research group, replace a faculty member who left, etc. If you can find the reason in
advance, you can emphasize how you fit the particular requirement during the interview, giving you an
edge.
<!--l. 82--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-11000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Campus interview:</span></span>
If the search committee liked you, you should hear back either from the search committee chair or the
department chair or a staff member about scheduling a time to get you on the campus for the in-person interview.
The time between the phone interview and invitation for campus interview is usually less than a month. So if you
don’t hear back within a month, you can assume (with high probability) that you were not selected for the campus
interview.
<!--l. 85--><p class="indent" > The first thing is to decide a date for you to fly in (driving is viable if you are close proximity) for the
campus interview. The main issue you will deal with (other than leaving your family for a few days) is
that you might have to arrange someone else to teach your classes. Of course, you can schedule your
interview so that you do not miss a class by having an exam on the day you are out of town (to be
proctored by a teaching assistant). But this is often not the case. Here you might want to have a faculty
friend to substitute for you but you should take him/her in confidence (it would not be correct to
lie to somebody who is helping you). In my case, I told a graduate student to teach my class in my
absence.
<!--l. 87--><p class="indent" > The campus interview is usually 1 day long but sometimes 1<span
class="cmmi-10">.</span>5 to 2 days. Depending on the availability of flights
and timing of the interviews, be prepared to be out of town for 2 or 3 days. Before you leave, be sure to have the
itinerary of your trip that includes all the faculty members, administrators, and laboratories that you are going to
visit. Sometimes it is possible to request a meeting with a specific faculty member not in the itinerary (e.g., outside
the Department). Do your prior research on all the people you are going to meet and be ready with at least 1
(ideally more) questions for them. It is fine to repeat the same (important) question to multiple people because you
will get a perspective on how people think (e.g., questions on tenure requirements or politics in the
Department can be asked to multiple people). At any cost, do not ask about spousal hire or other
non-standard things during the campus interview as those issues are best discussed after you have the coveted
offer.
<!--l. 90--><p class="indent" > Some other logistic issues that are often overlooked. You will invariably take a personal item and a carry on
baggage on the plane. Ensure that your flight allows you to carry 2 pieces on-board. There are certain flights or
certain fare categories (e.g., United basic fare) where the flight will charge you to take the carry-on bag <span
class="cmti-10">and </span>a
personal (laptop) bag onboard. If you are going to check-in your baggage, ensure that you have another set of formal
dress and shoes in your carry-on just in case the checked-in bag does not arrive on time. You need to
dress formally. At the minimum wear a formal shirt, pant, shoes, and a coat (tie is optional). Keep
all your receipts so that you can then scan and send them to the Department to get reimbursed. A
better option is to use a smartphone app (I recommend <a
href="https://www.camscanner.com/" >https://www.camscanner.com/</a>; no need to
take the paid version) to save scanned copies of the receipts on your phone or email them to yourself.
Have your presentation on a thumb drive and on the cloud (e.g., Dropbox) beside your computer
just in case. Finally, it is a great idea to sign up for frequent flyer programs with the airlines as you
will not only accumulate points for all your faculty job trips (free points) but also subsequently as a
Professor.
<!--l. 92--><p class="indent" > The campus interview is very standard. It involves a face-to-face meeting with at least one administrator at the
College level (usually the dean or associate dean of research), the chair of the department, the faculty members, and
sometimes graduate students and other personnel (e.g., laboratory instructors/managers/realtor). There is at least
one lunch/dinner/breakfast with one or more faculty members and/or department chair. At the least, you will be
asked to give a research talk for about 50 minutes with 10 minutes for questions. Occasionally, you might be asked
to give a teaching talk (10 <span
class="cmsy-10">- </span>15 minutes) or a future research/funding talk (10 <span
class="cmsy-10">- </span>15 minutes) in addition to the
research talk but is not common.
<!--l. 94--><p class="indent" > The research talk is the most important part of the interview and you can expect quite a few people showing up
for the talk including graduate students. As a pre-tenure faculty with prior faculty experience, you are expected to
not only present past research (as a PhD or postdoc) but also your current research that establishes you as an
independent researcher. There is no hard and fast rule but you should be able to connect the things you
have done in the past, to your current work, and how that leads to future work and funding. You
should talk a little bit (<span
class="cmmi-10"> </span>5 min) on seeking extramural funding and 1-2 slides on teaching at the least.
Remember that as someone already on the tenure-track, the expectation is that you are not only an
independent researcher but know how to navigate through funding, and this has to show up when you
interview.
<!--l. 96--><p class="indent" > As you progress in the interview, try to make friends with at least one person (e.g., get to know her/him well).
This person is going to be very helpful (perhaps giving you some insider information) but only once
you have an informal offer from the department chair. This person might help you with negotiations,
telling you what the department chair is thinking, etc. In my case, I was fortunate that in both my
offers, the search committee chairs were particularly helpful (but only after I got the informal offer).
Also, when you meet new assistant professors be sure to ask them about the startup packages and
salaries (if this information is not publicly available). This will immensely help you during your offer
negotiations.
<!--l. 98--><p class="indent" > Before you depart you might have an exit interview either with the chair of the department or with the search
committee. This is your chance to provide them with the last moment clarification about your job interview (if you
missed something), re-express your interest in the job, indicate if you have any other job offers and/or interviews
coming up (but do not give specific details about the other job offers because it could work against you). Try to
figure out when the last person will interview because that will give you a good sense of when the
potential offer will be made. Also, after your research talk is over, feel free to ask the faculty members for
feedback—it might help you in you in your next job interview (and faculty members always like to give
feedback).
<!--l. 100--><p class="indent" > Finally, after returning back home, it is a good idea to send short thank you email to some of the people you
met. I sent thank-you notes to chairs, search committee members, and occasionally to some faculty members that I
met.
<!--l. 103--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-12000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Job offer:</span></span>
Hopefully, you have a fair idea about when the last faculty candidate will interview (a question you could ask
towards the end of your interview). Because this information can help you gauge when the offer will be made. It
typically takes one week to one month for the top candidate to get the job offer. The negotiations typically
last for one to two weeks per candidate. Thus, the second person on the list (assuming the first one
did not take the job offer) can expect to get the offer in three weeks to 1<span
class="cmmi-10">.</span>5 months. Of course, there
are instances when the search committee may decide it did not like any candidate or liked only one
candidate or other exceptions may apply. If you have offers from other schools then you should let
your first-choice school know immediately. This works in your best interest to bump up your current
offer.
<!--l. 106--><p class="indent" > I have found that most schools are not very particular about letting you know if they filled the position and/or
you were not chosen. However, if they did let you know early, you could try asking the search committee (usually
the chair) if she/he would be willing to give you feedback on your performance. Some others will tell you too late in
the season (April or May or June) to be useful for your job search in the current year. Nevertheless, it is always
good to ask for feedback. In my very first job hunt as a postdoctoral research associate in 2013, a search
committee member told me that I had a few publications and that was important in their deliberations.
Thus, I was able to bump up my publication the following year to get a tenure track job in the 2014
job cycle. For my most recent job hunt, the search committee of a school that I got a reject after
campus interview, was kind enough to give me very detailed advice about my interview. This feedback
came in mid-March, so I was able to use this valuable feedback in the last few schools I interviewed in
April.
<!--l. 110--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-13000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Negotiating the job offer:</span></span>
The job offer consists of all the things you would be needing to be a successful professor in the new school. The
job offers includes, a salary (usually 9 month in academia), summer support for first two or three years,
graduate student / postdoc support, reduced teaching load for the first few years, money for travel to
conferences, moving allowances, and most importantly equipment and lab space (if you need the latter
two).
<!--l. 113--><p class="indent" > The job offer will usually come via email or phone call from the Department Chair. The first thing the
Department Chair would want to know is your equipment needs as this is the most variable part of the job offer.
Because you are already a successful tenure track professor this is where you have a huge advantage as you would
know what you need to be successful. You are expected to give an itemized list with costs and justification. I
recommend adding another column indicating if the particular equipment would be useful to other
faculty within the Department. That way it shows your intention to collaborate. Likewise, if there is
a piece of existing equipment in the school you should put it in the list and indicate a cost of zero,
thus showing that you are cognizant of current equipment in the school. The necessary information
about available equipment is something you will have to figure out when you talk with the faculty
members in-person during the campus interview. Its good to ask for a little more than you need. That is
because there is a chance that your plans may change or there is better equipment available when you
start so the extra money gives you some leverage. If you developed some custom-equipment or have
specialized equipment in your current school and that is very specific to your research, you might
be able to buy that from your current school at a reduced rate and take it to the new school. You
should put your best guess estimate for buying the equipment (i.e., costs after depreciation and moving
costs).
<!--l. 115--><p class="indent" > Once you provide your list of equipment to the chair, she/he will return either accepting your request or lowering
the money you asked for citing his/her limitations. It is up to you to either negotiate back or accept the offer on the
equipment. At this point (second email/call) the chair will also tell you about other things in the package such as
9-month salary, summer support, graduate student support, travel support, moving allowances, etc. Although all
these things are mostly standard (salary takes into account your experience and current pay scales of faculty
members), it is possible to negotiate all of them. However, I would only recommend negotiating a few of them but
not all of them as this might send the wrong signals unless of course, the chair low balled you on all of
them.
<!--l. 117--><p class="indent" > Your 9-month salary is an important financial remuneration for you. Because salary compounds through yearly
merit raise, a higher salary means more money to you over the long run. For most public schools, salaries are posted
online and may be searched. For private schools, you will have to either rely on the chair’s judgment or ask the
faculty for more information. The summer support, graduate student support, and travel support are usually
fixed for all incoming faculty but you could potentially negotiate one or more if you have very good
justification. The moving expenses cover the cost for you and your family to move from your current
school to the new school. This <span
class="cmti-10">is not </span>the cost for house hunting and usually needs to be negotiated
separately.
<!--l. 119--><p class="indent" > There are other things that you might need to negotiate. For example, a spousal hire either as faculty or other
appropriate position in the University. Many schools do have a dual career hiring policy which may work well in
your favor. Sometimes you may able to negotiate how many years of tenure track experience in your previous
institution would be counted towards your tenure in your new school. Another issue, not faced by new tenure
track faculty, is to negotiate the transfer of your PhD students to the new school (e.g., course credit
transfer, qualifier exams, proposal/defense timeline). Such things are usually not on the offer letter so
you have to negotiate them as well as get it in writing (personal email will do) so that you can bring
them up as needed. At this point, it is also important to emphasize that it is best to do job offer
negotiations using your personal email account so that you have a record of everything that was informally
communicated.
<!--l. 121--><p class="indent" > At this point, if you have not heard back from any other school, you can email them to let them know that you
already have an offer. If you are a strong candidate in the other school they will likely come back
quickly with an offer. You can then use the two offers against each other to get more of what you
need.
<!--l. 123--><p class="indent" > Just remember that after you get the offer, it is expected that you will decide one way or the other in about 2
weeks unless there are exceptional circumstances (e.g., spouse interview). This is because most likely the school has
other candidates in mind and they would like to move quickly, else they will end with a failed search. So be mindful
that you cannot simply buy time.
<!--l. 130--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-14000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Getting the counteroffer:</span></span>
Once you have a job offer from an outside school, you can seek a counteroffer from your current school. A
counteroffer is an offer made by your current school to keep you from taking an outside offer. While I did not seek
the counteroffer, you might have reasons to do so.
<!--l. 133--><p class="indent" > Many schools have a policy on faculty retention (usually a handbook of policies and is usually available online).
Besides reading that, you should also try to discreetly find out if your Department/College/University entertains a
counteroffer and seek information about past cases.
<!--l. 135--><p class="indent" > Usually, you need a detailed offer (an unofficial email will do) to seek the counteroffer. When you go for the
counteroffer you must be clear on what you are going to accept from your current school to stay. These could be
things such as higher pay, spousal hire, equipment money, lab space, etc. Be mindful that in certain cases (e.g., you
don’t have a competitive offer), your school will not give you a counteroffer. Also, a general rule is that you can seek
a counteroffer only once in any school, so be strategic about the timing and external factors (e.g., the strength of
your job offer).
<!--l. 137--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-15000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">After accepting the offer:</span></span>
Once you sign the paperwork from the new school and return it, you are officially set to move to a different
school, which means you need to resign from your job at the current University. First of all, it is always a good idea
to check the rules and regulation about faculty resignations in your (now) previous school. There are likely
documents (e.g., handbook of policies) posted online. In my previous school, the handbook of policies was posted
online and indicated that there was no notice period for faculty resignations (e.g., two weeks in most companies).
But the only requirement was that faculty should resign at the end of the term (e.g., Fall, Spring, Summer) so
that it does not affect the classes that you are teaching. Thus, technically you can resign as late as
the beginning of the Fall term and be within the terms of the school. However, it is always a good
idea to let the Chair know that you intend to resign as early as possible (but only after you sign the
offer) about your intentions. This will give the Chair enough time to find a substitute teacher to teach
the classes that you were assigned in the Fall and is a professional courtesy. In my case, I told the
Department chair about 2 months before Fall classes started giving him ample time to find a replacement
instructor.
<!--l. 140--><p class="indent" > Your graduate students (i.e., MS and PhD) are going to be affected by your decision too and you should let them
know as soon as possible. In my case, I told my PhD and MS student immediately after signing the job
offer.
<!--l. 143--><p class="indent" > All three of my PhD students decided to move with me, two moved in Fall 2019 and one moved in
Spring 2020. A colleague’s PhD student also decided to come with me. Thus, I ended up getting 4 PhD
students transferred to the new school. I had 4 MS students working on their thesis and I was able to
graduate 3 of them while the fourth transferred to another faculty and he graduated end of Spring
2020.
<!--l. 145--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-16000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Preparing the transition:</span></span>
As you near the transition, there are a bunch of things to take care in your school (e.g., graduate/transfer your
students, taking care of teaching, etc.). The major one being submitting your resignation letter to the chair/dean. In
the case of resignation letter be mindful about the resignation date because if you are getting paid
in the summer, you might lose some pay if you resign too early. Also, you will lose access to your
email so items such as pay stubs, grant information, etc. would need to be backed up before you lose
access.
<!--l. 148--><p class="indent" > If you were planning to buy some of your custom-equipment from your old school then this is a good time to
start the negotiations. Also, initiate the grant transfer after you have appropriate authorization in the new school. In
my case, the new school processed an adjunct (no pay) appointment before my start date so I had an official
email to initiate the grant transfer. If you have any dues in the old school including books do settle
them as soon as you can. You might have to touch base with the human resources department to do
any final paperwork. Such paperwork might include leave donations, getting health insurance during
transition (known as COBRA), and giving your new address to get the tax documentation mailed to
you.
<!--l. 150--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-17000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Get a mentor:</span></span>
I cannot emphasize this more, find a mentor (usually a professor in another school and not necessarily in your
field of specialization) who is genuinely interested in your success and who can provide you with sound advice as
needed. I was lucky enough to have a great mentor who provided vital advice at critical junctures that helped me
get the best of the mid-tenure job hunt.
<!--l. 152--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-18000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">Timeline:</span></span>
The application starts one year before the tentative start date. For example, if you are going to join in Fall 2020
then you start in July 2019.
<ol class="enumerate1" >
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-18002x1">Preparing the application: July to Aug.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-18004x2">Applying to schools: Aug. to Mar. with deadlines peaking in Nov, Dec, and Jan.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-18006x3">Phone interviews: December to Mar. with peaks in Jan. and Feb.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-18008x4">Campus interview: Jan. to Apr. with peaks late Jan. to late Mar.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-18010x5">Job Offers: February to May.</li></ol>
<!--l. 161--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-19000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">My stats:</span></span>
<ul class="itemize1">
<li class="itemize">Applied to 38 job positions (public, private universities, all Tier-1)
</li>
<li class="itemize">Got 13 phone interviews. (11 public universities and 2 private universities).
</li>
<li class="itemize">Got 8 campus interviews. (all public universities and in different states)
</li>
<li class="itemize">Got 2 job offers.</li></ul>
<!--l. 169--><p class="noindent" ><span class="paragraphHead"><a
id="x1-20000"></a><span
class="cmbx-10">More tips </span><span id="textcolor1"><span
class="cmbx-10">(NEW)</span></span><span
class="cmbx-10">:</span></span>
Since posting the above writeup, I have helped a few people with their job hunt. The notes below are additional
tips based on these interactions.
<ol class="enumerate1" >
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-20002x1"><span
class="cmbx-10">Talk preparation: </span>For general advice on how to prepare the talk, read the book “Even a Geek Can
Speak” by Joey Asher. Once the presentation is ready, write a script for your talk. Then practise giving
the talk using the script. Update the presentation and script as you practise. You might have to give
the talk several times (10+ times) to emphasize on the important things, cut down on unnecessary
stuff, and keep yourself within the time limits. Never exceed the time limit. Also, keep enough time for
questions. The seminar time is usually about an hour. Your talk should be about 45-50 minutes, with
about 10 minutes for questions and answers. The last part of your talk should be about future plans
that include plans for teaching, research, funding, and collaborations.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-20004x2"><span
class="cmbx-10">Startup package: </span>The startup package has two parts to it: (Part 1) The general part that is almost
the same for all new hires which constitute your 9-month salary, your summer salary for the first
and/or second summer, student support (Teaching Assistant (TA) and Research Assistant (RA)),
course release in the first 2 or 3 years, travel to conferences, and moving expenses from your current
location to the University; and (Part 2) lab space and equipment. For (Part 1) you probably have little
negotiation power. You can change that a little, but not a lot. The RA support is typically 2 students
for 2 years. Sometimes you may get additional TA support (e.g., 1 TA per semester for 2 years). For
(Part 2), the lab space would depend on your research needs. For computational work, 300-400 square
feet is good enough, for experimental work, 900-1200 square feet is reasonable. If you have the need for
big equipment, you will have to negotiate for more. Just be mindful that space is always a constraint
for most Universities, so try to be reasonable (e.g., sharing space with colleagues). The equipment
depends on your requirements, but you should try to get the maximum possible for that University.
That is because you might change your mind about what your research might be and/or there might
be new or better equipment available by the time you are at the University. Perhaps you can ask for
about 10%-25% more depending on your specific needs. This can be rolled into your negotiation as a
warranty and/or cost of repairing the equipment.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-20006x3"><span
class="cmbx-10">Things to do before leaving your current job: </span>Do not resign your current job, unless you have a
signed offer from the University. The offer letter will typically have your signature and that of the chair
or dean or provost of the University. Your resignation letter should be short. You could address it to
the chair of the department or the dean of your college, saying that you are resigning your job on <span
class="cmti-10">¡put</span>
<span
class="cmti-10">a future date¿</span>. You could add another line saying addressing why you are leaving, but do not get into
the details. For example, you could say you are leaving for personal and professional reasons. You do
not need to state where you are going, either. Write the letter on a plain document, sign and date it,
attach it to the email and send it across to the chair or dean. Do not write the letter on your letterhead.
Ideally, use your personal email so you have the letter on record. Get all your pay stubs from the
current job. The pay stubs are usually downloadable material. You never know if you would need them
in the future. It is best to be safe than sorry. You will have to talk with the human resources (HR)
department before you leave. The HR will ask you if you want extended health coverage between two
jobs. This is known as COBRA. This is an expensive health coverage. Instead of taking this coverage,
try to resign on a date where you will have some overlap between coverage between your old institution
and the new one.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-20008x4"><span
class="cmbx-10">Whom and when to tell that you are leaving your job </span>You have to tell your higher up (the
one you report to). This is usually the chair of the department. The best time to tell is after you have
signed the letter (in case you do not want to go for the counter-offer), but at least one month before
the start of the next semester. This way, the chair has enough time to find a replacement instructor
for the course you were signed up to teach.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-20010x5"><span
class="cmbx-10">Salary negotiation </span>The salary is the most important item you will be negotiating. This is because
the salary will compound over time. Thus, if you start high, you will accumulate more wealth. For
public universities, salary information is publicly available. You can use this information to negotiate
a salary. For private universities, it is more tricky. You will have to either ask for faculty about their
current salaries or make a guess on what is the approximate salary. You could use the salary figure
from a comparable university in a comparable city/town as a starting point. Remember that salaries
are at least 5% higher than a comparable public university. If the chair comes with a figure, it is always
possible to ask for up to $5,000 more, politely. The worst thing that could happen is that they would
say NO (because of constraints), but would not rescind the offer for asking. Do not say that you want
more salary because of family/personal reasons. Your reasons should always be tied to your profession
(e.g., star performer at your previous institute, CAREER awardee etc.).
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-20012x6"><span
class="cmbx-10">Negotiating for a post-doctoral student: </span>Young faculty are discouraged from hiring post-docs
because they would like the faculty to work directly with students. However, some Universities are fine
if new faculty ask for post-doc. The biggest advantage of hiring a post-doc on the startup is that the
salary is not charged an overhead. That is, on a regular grant, with an overhead rate of say 50%, you
have to budget 1.5 times the post-doc salary. If you absolutely need help to set up the lab, but the
University does not support a post doc then you could try to ask for a technical assistant for a year or
two, but this is more likely to be OK in the biology department than engineering.
</li>
<li
class="enumerate" id="x1-20014x7"><span
class="cmbx-10">Transferring grants: </span>A grant can transfer when all encumbrances are zero. If you have an active
grant, you are probably your students and/or have payments to be made for materials or equipments.
This means that you have encumbrances. Once all payments are made, the encumbrances go to zero.
You would then know how much money can be transferred and would be able to transfer the grant
from one school to another. The method for transfer of grants is different for different agencies and you
should check with the grants office of the institution you are going to. When you transfer the grant,
you will have to redo the budget to account for the salary and overhead of the new institution. If you
are moving to a better ranked school, the overhead, student salary, and your salary would be higher,
which means the same amount of money will get you fewer person-hours. If you have not started using
a grant, then you can initiate transfer as soon as your appointment at the new school starts. It is
possible to create an adjunct appointment so that you can transfer grants earlier without having to
wait for the end of the term (e.g., joining in Fall, but need to transfer a grant in Summer then an
adjunct appointment starting in Summer would enable the grant transfer early).</li></ol>
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