The Academic Job Search
Some (hopefully) useful tidbits on
your way to landing a good position.
Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez
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?
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…
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Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez
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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
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Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez
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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.
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Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez
4
Negotiating salaries
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?
http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/highlite/salary/salsum06.pdf
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Example: UC Asst. Professors
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
Oct 2008
Annual Monthly
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!
6/28/2016
Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez
6
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
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Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez
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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.
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Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez
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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?
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Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez
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Best of luck!
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Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez
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