Full Professor looking for new position

[ciao_yall]

Yes, definitely build your administrative skills - capable ones are needed in many parts of higher ed. Especially those who understand faculty!

My sister graduated from a very prestigious medical school and for family reasons wanted to do her residency at a much lower ranked hospital. She wasn't sure they would take her seriously or would pass on her.

She focused on what she really liked/admired about that hospital and showed she did her research. And, by the way, family.

[jerseyjay]

Its tricky. For any negative you mention about your current place, try to balance with something positive that makes it clear you still like your career, colleagues, etc. If none of that is true, then think about whether you want to stay in academia. Also, don't mention very many negatives about your current place! the financial statement is maybe worth mentioning, but don't get into details, and lead with a positive.

I am in a somewhat similar situation, in that I am a tenured professor at a public university that is experiencing severe financial problems; over the last several years at least a dozen tenured professors were laid off and entire departments closed.

All that said, I try to pitch why I am looking at any job in positive terms: both why I would bring something special to the job and why the job would be good for me. The idea is to make a case that there is a reason I am applying for this particular job, but also why this job should consider me. I emphasize how my teaching experience and research focus align with the position, etc.

The fact that I might be looking at unemployment next year is real. It makes any full-time job look enticing. However, it doesn't exactly make it seem that the job should hire me, or that I will actually like a job, or that I won't leave as soon as I can. 

[pgher]

My perspective is from engineering so this might not apply. That said: when hiring an assistant professor, we're hiring potential. When hiring a full professor, we're hiring reputation and leadership. These are just different, so a posting for an assistant professor really may not be fillable by someone who is already a full professor.

There's also the salary issue. Don't expect to be paid like a full professor. That also makes a search committee reluctant--why waste time on someone who will get a lowball offer and reject it?

[AJ_Katz]

My department interviewed someone that was in a similar position.  They were an associate with tenure and coming from a university that was gutting everything.  The position we advertised for was only assistant level.  I am the DH and in my one-on-one interview with the candidate, they asked about being able to be hired at associate and with tenure and said that they really did not want to give up their rank.  I essentially had to counter that it's not going to be possible, but I'll ask, and that we should discuss other options that might be on the table instead if we get to that point.  TBH -- I don't think it was a good move on their part to discuss this before I had even extended an offer because it was too much information.  It made it clear that I was going to go into an extended back-and-forth on the negotiation.  The problem with extended negotiations is that they have a higher likelihood of failure and if it fails then I need to go to the next candidate that has now waited 2-3 weeks longer than normal.  While I certainly have been able to recover from those situations by coming up with something clever, in another case, someone we interviewed first for a faculty position was clearly our top candidate but during the time we interviewed the other candidates, they interviewed elsewhere too and ultimately turned us down for a job elsewhere.

Anyhow, when the search committee came back with a recommendation, the candidate that was already an associate came up as one of the two strongest finalists and the committee said either one would be great. In speaking with my Dean, they mentioned that our associate-level candidate was coming from that university that was gutting their faculty ranks, so it was clear without the candidate saying anything that was the reason why. 

Ultimately, I ended up extending an offer to the candidate that was a postdoc.  That person showed incredible interest and enthusiasm for the position.  The associate level candidate was also great and I sensed they had characteristics that would make them a great faculty member and future leader. With both being great picks, I ultimately went with the person that I knew would be a slam dunk to negotiate and hire.  We weren't looking for an associate with experience, so that component was less of a factor here.  We were fine with a true assistant. 

So, bottom line is that if it is well known that your department is being gutted, you probably don't need to say anything about that as a "push" factor for leaving.  Just talk about the "pull" factors that are attracting you to that new job.  The second point here is that you shouldn't try to negotiate before it's time to negotiate because you are essentially showing your cards before the offer is even on the table, which might not work out. 

Best of luck!

[jerseyjay]

So, bottom line is that if it is well known that your department is being gutted, you probably don't need to say anything about that as a "push" factor for leaving.  Just talk about the "pull" factors that are attracting you to that new job.  The second point here is that you shouldn't try to negotiate before it's time to negotiate because you are essentially showing your cards before the offer is even on the table, which might not work out. 

I think this is good advice.

I think it is important to keep in mind that a legitimate "push" factor is not the same as showing that you would be a good fit for a particular job. I mean, a SC probably would be wary of a full professor would be looking for a lower-rank position, so financial trouble is a legitimate reason. But it is not enough to demonstrate that the full professor would be good at the other position.

It is best if the push factor is well known so like AJ Katz says, it is implicit and the SC already can figure out why you are looking for a job. If this is not the case (e.g., the job you are applying for is across the country) it may be possible to obliquely mention it. But the focus should be why you are a good fit for the new job and why the new job would be good for your career trajectory.

I mean, if I were laid off from my current job, I would be tempted to take any job because, well, I need to eat. But while legitimate, that does not show the SC that I would actually be able to do the job, that I would contribute something to the school, and that I would not immediately start looking for something better once I stabilized myself.

Of course, facing imminent career disaster may help people reevaluate what is important in their life, making some positions more attractive than they would have been otherwise, but there is still a need to convince the SC that, really, you are interested in teaching at a community college instead of an R1 (because you really love teaching, etc), and not that you just need to survive.

I also agree that one should not start negotiating until it is clear there will be an offer. (Unless something really is nonnegotiable, like you will not take a position unless offered tenure, but then you probably should not be applying for an untenured job.)

[Kron3007]

Maybe I have a different take on this than most but I think it is important to include the push and the pull.  I don't mean you should dwell on it, but I would want to know why you are willing to give up your rank and tenure to join us as assistant. 

Basically, I would want to make sure you are not running from personal scandal or something like that.  Maybe the situation seems obvious, but I wouldn't assume the committee knows about your university's finances or would take the time to look it up.