Navigating Negotiations

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Navigating Negotiations

• Kim E. Barrett, Ph.D.
• Professor of Medicine and Dean of Graduate
  Studies
• University of California, San Diego

Experimental Biology, April 2008
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(No Transcript)
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Job negotiations the finish line!

• The opportunity to negotiate the terms of a new
  position signals the culmination of the arduous
  job search process
• Typically begins around the time of a second
  visit
• An iterative process
• May involve many emails, phone calls, drafts and
  then a final letter

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What can be negotiated?

• Salary
• Lab space
• Size, location, renovations
• Start-up package
• Equipment, supplies, support for personnel,
  salary support
• Job description
• Assistance with moving and spouse/partner
  relocation
• Just about anything that will help you do your job

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How to approach the negotiation

• Distinguish three types of request
• Essential
• Desirable
• Dispensible
• Seek a win/win outcome
• The institution should want you to succeed they
  will be making a major investment in you
• Negotiate in good faith
• Understand institutional hurdles
• Respond to questions promptly

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Tips for success

• Knowledge is power
• Approach each meeting/call with no more than
  three agenda items
• Brief your counterpart ahead of time no
  blindsiding
• Identify the super-objective as a starting
  point
• Use as a bridge to your objectives
• Get everything in writing
• If your counterpart is slow/unwilling in
  providing written summaries, do the job for them
• Remember the importance of body language and
  other non-verbal cues

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Knowledge is power

• Explore on-line resources to benchmark salary and
  other aspects of the offer
• http//www.acdponline.org/Surveys/2007Survey.pdf
• http//www.acdponline.org/Surveys/Start-up_survey.
  htm
• http//www.aamc.org/members/msmr/comparativedata/c
  ompensation.htm
• Ask colleagues or recently hired peers to share
  details of offers in their departments
• Road test your wish list with a senior mentor
• Rehearsal is key

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Multiple offers

• You may have several simultaneous offers to weigh
• Perhaps including an internal/retention offer
• Be careful to consider the whole package not
  just monetary items
• Trust your gut
• How will I feel in this place over the next
  months and years?
• Will I find colleagues I like/trust/can connect
  with socially or scientifically?
• Remember personal/family considerations
• Dont get pressured to rush your decision

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Being an internal candidate

• Estimate your bargaining position
• How valuable have you made yourself?
• What would it take to replace you?
• Accept that you will likely not get an offer that
  matches one from outside
• What considerations might make it worth staying?
• Consider negotiating for a transition/contingent
  plan
• If I get a grant, what then?
• Test the market

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Gender-based pitfalls in negotiations

• Women, in particular, have historically been
  disadvantaged in negotiating for starting faculty
  positions
• Women dont ask
• Modest decrements in starting salaries equal
  major inequities over the course of a career
• Women also typically undersell their
  accomplishments
• Salary expectations 3-32 lower than those of men
  seeking the same job
• Women are often reluctant to reveal personal or
  other circumstances that may be deal-breakers if
  they emerge at the last minute

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Gender-based pitfalls in negotiating

• Men chose winning a ballgame or participating
  in a wrestling match as metaphors for
  negotiations
• Women chose a trip to the dentist

Women dont ask Babcock and Laschever
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Conclusions

• High stakes negotiations, such as for your first
  position, can be exhilarating and terrifying in
  equal measure
• Careful preparation will help you get what you
  want and need
• Remember the super-objective
• Use friends, mentors and senior colleagues to
  road-test your wish list
• Always remember that money isnt everything
• Good luck!

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References

• Women Don't Ask Negotiation and the Gender
  Divide
• Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever
• 2003 Princeton Univ. Press