Academic job offer questions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you consider moving from the private sector?

OP here, a few of my top reasons:
Routine 70-hour workweeks. Constant fear of layoffs. Terrible coworkers. Lack of freedom to do anything creative.

In academia you will likely work far more than 70 hour weeks.

As for layoffs and coworkers maybe you should just look at new opportunities? If you want better work hours maybe it is time to get out of research? Marketing or business development?

Academia offers a ton of flexibility with work hours, but I have to agree that you will easily still be putting in 70 hour weeks, especially in your early years on the TT.

A second (or third) suggestion to check out the Chronicle of Higher Education Forums. They can provide discipline specific advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you consider moving from the private sector?

OP here, a few of my top reasons:
Routine 70-hour workweeks. Constant fear of layoffs. Terrible coworkers. Lack of freedom to do anything creative.

In academia you will likely work far more than 70 hour weeks.

As for layoffs and coworkers maybe you should just look at new opportunities? If you want better work hours maybe it is time to get out of research? Marketing or business development?

Academia offers a ton of flexibility with work hours, but I have to agree that you will easily still be putting in 70 hour weeks, especially in your early years on the TT.

A second (or third) suggestion to check out the Chronicle of Higher Education Forums. They can provide discipline specific advice.

Yeah, I don't know any science academics--tenured or not--who work reasonable hours. You may have flexibility but you may also be up until 2am every night, as well. The funding climate is such that many established researchers aren't having grants renewed as they used to, so they face pressure now, too.

[Anonymous]

OP, find and talk to people in your field who have made similar career moves, ideally at a similar-size/type of institution. Make sure your vision of what an academic job looks like aligns with the reality on the ground.

I'm afraid what others have said here is true. 70 hour work weeks are common. Add more time if you've never taught before. Terrible coworkers may be replaced by terrible, unmotivated students. Job security comes at the expense of many hours writing grants and then scrambling to pay your grad students (or lay them off) if the grant doesn't come through.

All this isn't to say that taking at TT offer is a bad move. Just make sure you know exactly what you are getting into.

[Anonymous]

Former academic here. Constantly amazed at how many people assume academia is some easy street with cushy hours and agreeable colleagues.

[Anonymous]

Congrats.

Teaching load, tenure schedule (how many years do you have), service requirements, research budget. My husband also negotiated salary and housing benefits. Child care. Some universities (public ones, usually) are loathe to negotiate anything.

But, academia is very specialized, and individual fields are even more so. I'd recommend asking a friendly junior member of your new department -- that's how we knew to ask for housing benefits.

[Anonymous]

professional advancement fund

[Anonymous]

I went from biglaw to academia, and my stress level declined exponentially, even during my first year. Of course, biglaw probably is not a great benchmark for stress levels/work hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went from biglaw to academia, and my stress level declined exponentially, even during my first year. Of course, biglaw probably is not a great benchmark for stress levels/work hours.

Nor is academia for a law professor a good benchmark for academia in the sciences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went from biglaw to academia, and my stress level declined exponentially, even during my first year. Of course, biglaw probably is not a great benchmark for stress levels/work hours.

Nor is academia for a law professor a good benchmark for academia in the sciences.

+1

You don't have the same work load as a science professor on a tenure track and big law is arguably much worse than working in the private sector for the sciences.

[Anonymous]

Look up the Tooling up columns in Science Careers (www.sciencemag.org) but there are probably countless blogs discussing this ("Fumbling on the tenure track", "female science professor" etc.) Everything depends on the type of institution. A private R1 will have deeper pockets which means a reasonable if not lavish startup, most public R1s can come up with good startup funds as well. Although you do have to figure out whether this startup is for equipment and personnel or does your summer salary as well as lab renovation is included. While salary is often not negotiable, whether you get the first two years fully covered (i.e. no expectations of grant support to cover summer salary) is negotiable. Teaching loads are reasonably sparse and you can negotiate some time off teaching in the first 2-3 years.

At R2s, SLACs etc you will be expected to teach a 2+2 load (or 2+1) which can be negotiated down for a couple of semesters as you set up. I have no idea about startup funds etc. although research is expected at these places and harder to get done with the teaching loads and with undergraduates (or limited numbers of graduate students). It also pays to ask about the Office of Sponsored Programs and their efficiency.

If you will have a lab, you should figure out the renovation schedule. If it is outrageously long, negotiate a later starting date if you can. Not having a functioning lab means that you are wasting vital time as your tenure clock ticks. Some schools cheap out and negotiate your startup by asking you to use shared facilities which may not be practical.

Finally, the most overriding concern is the expectation of extra-mural funding. Funding rates at almost all Federal agencies are abysmal. So it pays to figure out whether a Federal grant (or whether a RENEWED grant) is a pre-requisite for tenure. There are probably a lot of additional issues but almost everything is covered in one of the blogs above.