I heard that once you are up for tenure you should also be in the market. Why?

[moebius_strip]

I have read here quite often that if one is up for tenure should also be in the market. Why is that? To leverage offers and ask for a salary increase during the promotion? Or maybe find a better position at a better University?

Thank you.

[clean]

You are applying for 'contract without renewal'.  You want to be sure that you evaluate that offer (assuming the process has a positive result) with all available information.

IF you DONT get tenure, you dont want to spend the next year on a terminal contract with the word "REJECT" on your forehead every time you have an interview.  IF you were denied tenure, then there MUST be something wrong with you somehow... at least that will be the default answer that must be overcome.

Benefits for interviewing:
May get a better job (with a short tenure track) that is somehow a better fit (money, schedule, location, expectations, family situation... who knows).
IF you are tenured, you will KNOW that you accepted the best situation for you!  There will be no Buyer's Remorse on your part!
You MAY get leverage at your current place for something desirable if you have another offer on the table. 

Downsides?
Time consuming/pain in the asterisk. (But gaining knowledge is not always pain free!)

IN my mind, the primary reason is to be sure that you are not settling for the offer in hand.  IF you are not willing to go on the market when your job is literally on the line, what will it take if you ARE tenured to get on the market?  Besides, by putting together your tenure and promotion package, you are the most prepared to go on the market! 

They are deciding whether to offer you a contract without renewal!  You should be POSITIVE that you WANT IT from them!    Explore what the market has to offer.  You may find that where you are has the best 'total package' of life amenities for you, BUT if you find that it is lacking, this is the best time to explore the options you have!

[Parasaurolophus]

Yeah, you might not get tenure, in which case it's better to have the extra year on the market for safety.

But also, remember that if you do get tenure, it'll be harder to move. There are more positions and opportunities to move before you're tenured.

[Ruralguy]

Honestly, most people are pretty safe. So, what it boils down to is whether or not you are safe, and whether you like your position. If you are safe and like your position, there honestly probably isn't that much reason to apply out. However, if you are unsure or just in a very competitive position, then by all means, apply out, but for most people, I think this is highly exaggerated.

[clean]

However, if you are unsure or just in a very competitive position, then by all means, apply out, but for most people, I think this is highly exaggerated.

I suppose that the discipline matters.  In accounting, the market is so one sided it is not unusual for wages to already be compressed by the time one goes up for tenure. 
However, if you were in a tight market when you got this job, things may have changed and better situations may be out there.  How will you know if you dont look?

[mahagonny]

I have read here quite often that if one is up for tenure should also be in the market. Why is that? To leverage offers and ask for a salary increase during the promotion? Or maybe find a better position at a better University?

Thank you.

You MAY get leverage at your current place for something desirable if you have another offer on the table. 

Because people who make it to the tenure track are God's supreme gift to the human race, and this point must be made abundantly clear at all times.

[mahagonny]

con't

OK...I was anticipating one of those discussions that went 'here's how you can get more salary, which is important because we know how academics are so woefully underpaid, having opted for the noble work of educating young people instead of making many thousands more in salary out in the field like we deserve instead of being cooped up in Bunghole, Ohio for peanuts for the rest of our lives...' but it's not here so I'll cease & desist.
It's not a mutual commitment, folks. You can leave after you get tenure and it's their problem not yours.
And don't forget all those colleges on the dire financial straits list. Money not growing on trees.

[Cheerful]

But also, remember that if you do get tenure, it'll be harder to move. There are more positions and opportunities to move before you're tenured.

+1  In some fields, it's almost impossible to move post-tenure unless you are a "star,"or willing to start over as assistant prof, give up tenure, live anywhere, or move from faculty to administration.

[polly_mer]

Honestly, most people are pretty safe.

This is much less true than it used to be because

And don't forget all those colleges on the dire financial straits list. Money not growing on trees.

One straightforward way to cut salaries is to stop tenuring people for a few years, regardless of how qualified the tenure-applicant is.

One straightforward way to cut overall costs is to eliminate programs.  Tenure means nothing if the program in which one is tenured goes away.  Theoretically, the institution has to make every effort to find a tenured professor another job at the institution when the programs are cut, but few professors will want the jobs being offered.  One registrar I knew joked about how learning to use the big mowers was harder than one might expect.

Thus, for many people, going on the market to see what else is available, diligently researching the financial stability of the current and possible jobs, and then making an informed decision based on evidence instead of just hoping for the best is a much smarter path than simply assuming that because they are likely to get tenure at their current institution that they are then professionally set for the next several decades.

The question has changed from "will you get tenure?" to "will tenure ensure you still have a job here in the foreseeable future?"

[lightning]

I have read here quite often that if one is up for tenure should also be in the market. Why is that? To leverage offers and ask for a salary increase during the promotion? Or maybe find a better position at a better University?

Thank you.

Yes and yes.

And possibly, the new university might offer a short tenure clock where they would still count all the research done  at the former university. The couple of years at the new university would be just to make sure that you are collegial and to verify that you are what is advertised in your CV.

[mahagonny]

Theoretically, the institution has to make every effort to find a tenured professor another job at the institution when the programs are cut, but few professors will want the jobs being offered.  One registrar I knew joked about how learning to use the big mowers was harder than one might expect.

Who wants a job that everyone can see was done poorly when you could be making a living selling ideas that don't have to work?

[Hibush]

Honestly, most people are pretty safe. So, what it boils down to is whether or not you are safe, and whether you like your position. If you are safe and like your position, there honestly probably isn't that much reason to apply out. However, if you are unsure or just in a very competitive position, then by all means, apply out, but for most people, I think this is highly exaggerated.

This is likely the norm. In a non-dysfunctional department, you have enough mentorship from the chair and others to know what you were supposed to do, supported in getting it done, and know whether you did it. When those things are true, you are pretty safe. In such a department, you probably like your position as well. (Or wouldn't like a different one better.)

In that situation, your energy is far better spent on putting together an excellent tenure package, and thinking of something way cool to do on your post-tenure sabbatical.

If you are in a dysfunctional department or college, or one in Dire Straits, then pre-tenure is a good time to look. You have a track record and haven't yet become immobile or damaged goods (depending on tenure outcome).

If you don't like your job, it is trickier. You may not like a different job any better. (I remember a person on the Old Fora who seemed to be in that situation.) The that year's open positions for which you'd be competitive might not be ones you'd want anyway. But if something great happens to come along at just that moment, why not?

[polly_mer]

Theoretically, the institution has to make every effort to find a tenured professor another job at the institution when the programs are cut, but few professors will want the jobs being offered.  One registrar I knew joked about how learning to use the big mowers was harder than one might expect.

Who wants a job that everyone can see was done poorly when you could be making a living selling ideas that don't have to work?

Once that tenured job is lost, the options usually are make a living or not.  Yep, people don't want certain jobs.  That's one reason that janitorial jobs pay $30k + benefits at places where adjuncts make $1800 per 3-credit course and are limited to six courses per year.  Finding a good enough faculty member willing to work for peanuts is easier than finding a good enough janitor willing to work for peanuts per hour.

Talk about ideas that don't work...

[mahagonny]

Re: janitorial staff -  institution and its culture accept them as a long term, legitimate part of the workforce and no one opposes their right to advocate for themselves, especially not in the sordid and even illegal ways that faculty can be subjected to. There are no professional denigrators of groundskeeping staff, janitors, et al. That's the difference.

[mleok]

IN my mind, the primary reason is to be sure that you are not settling for the offer in hand.  IF you are not willing to go on the market when your job is literally on the line, what will it take if you ARE tenured to get on the market?  Besides, by putting together your tenure and promotion package, you are the most prepared to go on the market! 

They are deciding whether to offer you a contract without renewal!  You should be POSITIVE that you WANT IT from them!    Explore what the market has to offer.  You may find that where you are has the best 'total package' of life amenities for you, BUT if you find that it is lacking, this is the best time to explore the options you have!

Yes, this is an important point, tenure involves commitment from both sides, as being tenured reduces your mobility, at least for a few years after gaining it. Also, as you say, preparing your tenure and promotion package primes you for all the research and teaching statements that you'll need in an application package, furthermore, many of your letter writers will likely also have been called upon to write your tenure letters, so they have a recently updated letter ready to go.