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The Academic Job Search

The Academic Job Search. Some (hopefully) useful tidbits on your way to landing a good position. PFTP Panel 20/October/2009. Questions about job searching. What are the options for jobs? Which one is right for me? The job finding process and questions: Can I negotiate salaries?

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The Academic Job Search

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  1. The Academic Job Search Some (hopefully) useful tidbits on your way to landing a good position. PFTP Panel 20/October/2009

  2. Questions about job searching • What are the options for jobs? Which one is right for me? • The job finding process and questions: • Can I negotiate salaries? • How important are benefits? • Will teaching load make a difference? • What if I need a position for my partner? • Disclaimer: Can only speak from my own experience… Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez

  3. What kind of place do I want? • Smaller school vs. bigger school? • Pros and cons in each. • Bigger/competitive school: • Pros: Larger pool of very good students for your group. • Cons: Higher pressure on faculty. Harder to get tenure. • Smaller school: • Pros: If you’re hired, the school has an incentive to see you succeed. • Cons: Less visibility, less students to choose from. • University vs. National Lab (for example) • Teaching+Research • Research only Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez

  4. Interviewing • Department visit • Academic job interviews: • You won’t have a “supervisor” • You are not joining a company, rather a community of equals. • One on one chats with many faculty. • Questions you should have: • What is the environment in this department like? Is it collegial? • Questions they will have: • Is this a person I would like to be working with until for the next 20-30 years? • Have fun discussing the research of the faculty • You will learn a lot • Always good to know what each faculty you’ll meet is up to. • Read their profiles, papers. Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez

  5. Negotiating salaries http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/highlite/salary/salsum06.pdf • Should you negotiate? Absolutely! • Should you be careful how you do it? Absolutely! • My take: get as much information as you can. • What is the average starting salary for assistant professors? Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez

  6. Example: UC Asst. Professors Oct 2008 Annual Monthly http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/acadpers/tab0809/table1.pdf • Range of 9-mo Salaries (2007) • 53K – 69K • UC has a lower salary rate than other universities. • “Offscale” salary in UC • Need to pay more than official scale to stay competitive. • My case (Assoc I): • 9-mo: 66,100+12,068 • Different salaries for each of 6 steps. • All UC salaries are public. • Records are kept at the library. • 9-mo salary comes from UC… but the year has 12 months… • Grant (e.g. NSF) 2-mo summer • Can add 0.5 mo from startup • My 11.5 mo salary: 99,881 • Get as much information as you can! Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez

  7. Benefits • Standard: • Health plans • Medical, Dental, Optical • Insurance • Life, Disability, Accidental Death • Retirement (401(a), 403(b), 457(b)…) • Employer matching? • Not so standard… some examples from UC • Pension. • Example: If I stay at my earning level until age 65: $5262/mo (for life) • Housing allowance. • UC can give up to 52K (taxable) towards your primary residence. • Mortgage assistance • UC can provide a mortgage below market rates. • Market rate today: 5.2% • UC rate today: 3.9% • Difference for a $400K 30-year morgtage: $111K Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez

  8. Teaching load: variations by field • Physics: • Teach every quarter. • Neuroscience: • Teach one quarter for each Academic Year • As a starting faculty: teaching release is common for the first year. • Find out about sabbatical accrual. Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez

  9. Two-body problem • What if we need two jobs? • Bring this up early on in the process! • Some universities have specific programs • UC Davis: Partner Opportunities Program • http://popprogram.ucdavis.edu/ • Key: Apply to places where both partners have good chances. • Departments have their own plans, do you and your partner fit in those plans? Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez

  10. Best of luck! High Energy Nuclear Physics Group Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez

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