Navigating Mid-Career Moves

Tenure track jobs are so rare that The Atlantic referred to landing a tenure track job as being akin to watching the last dinosaur being born.

Say you’re one of these “lucky” dinosaurs. You landed the job. At some point, you’ll probably wonder whether another tenure track job could be a better fit. It’s risky to talk about moving - I know because I’ve been on the job market twice since I landed my first assistant professor position. So, how do you navigate a mid-career move?

Here’s my advice, based on experience and conversations with other scholars. Caveats: this advice is not comprehensive. I am not a lawyer, and I’m not familiar with your complex situation. Seek advice and additional input from people you trust. I share this advice as a starting point for navigating conversations.

• Only apply to jobs you would actually consider. You’ll hear conflicting advice on this. Some people will tell you to apply no matter what, to any possible job, and to use that as leverage. But for most job searches, only about three candidates are invited for job talks. If you would never take the job, you’re potentially wasting one of those candidate spots. You’re putting the search committee and would-be dinosaurs in a losing position (i.e., the chance to see/be a viable candidate). Make your choices, but please consider what personal gain costs other people.
• That being said, job applications are an opportunity to renegotiate your contract. Being on the job market is a leverage point. You can try to re-negotiate your contract with your current institution at any point during the application and interview process (e.g., the committee reaches out, phone interview, job talk, contract negotiations). I’ve seen scholars successfully renegotiate at each of these stages. Generally, scholars tend to negotiate earlier if they are keen to stay (e.g., “The search committee reached out to me. Before I apply, I wanted to let you know I’m very interested in staying here. Could we discuss my contract?”). Bring up negotiations later (i.e., after you’ve received an offer from the new institution) if you really want to move. The rationale is that you need to see the offer to know what your current institution would need to do to retain you.
• What would make you happy? Applying to jobs is your chance to decide what you want personally and professionally. Is it location, type of school, department, money, resources? For instance, I wanted a university with a child care center. I also knew that my starting salary would never get to my desired salary unless I could renegotiate my contract.
• Only bring up negotiations if you are willing to risk your social capital or position. Your chair or dean may tell you, “That’s great someone else is interested in your work. Good luck!” I mentioned earlier I have seen people be successful with renegotiating. I have also seen renegotiating backfire - where people felt they had to leave for a new position.
• Don’t burn bridges. Even if you plan to never set foot in the state or country again, our worlds are very small. And life is strange - you may want to return one day. People will remember how you treated them when you were leaving. Keep going to meetings until your contract ends. Fulfill your contract to your best ability.

That’s all for today. Good luck to those of you thinking of moving mid-career. In case you’re thinking of leaving academia, check out this interview with Dr. Lisa Ibanez on moving from academia to tech.

If you know someone who might benefit from today’s newsletter, would you mind forwarding it to them? Thanks for reading and believing that scholars deserve support for incredible ideas.

Betty

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P.S. Happy start of the semester to many of you. I’m stepping into my new role as department chair this semester.

P.P.S. I just got the cover for my new book. Check it out! I like how it pairs with The Grant Writing Guide.