2008 Mentoring Symposium on
"Gainfully Employed: From Launching a Job Search to Navigating Negotiations"

This career development symposium will address the needs of early career scientists who will soon transition into ‘new’ professional appointment. The workshop will provide information regarding 1) launching a job search, particularly for a dual-career couple; 2) delivering a job talk: formal seminar vs. chalk-talk; 3) the art of interviewing; and 4) negotiation tips. Each speaker has a significant amount of recent experience in their particular topic and each will give a 15-minute informative presentation.

The session will include mock sessions on interview and negotiation in which videotapes of someone interviewing for a faculty position and discussing negotiations on their salary and resources will be shown following the talks of the same topics. The mock sessions will form the basis of an interactive exercise where the audience discuss and critique the taped interview and negotiation. Two pairs of a junior faculty person and his/her respective chair will participate in the taped mock sessions and they will be present during the workshop.

The session complements the workshop on “Marketing Yourself on Paper for Academic Positions” proposed by the Trainee Advisory Committee for Experimental Biology 2008. The symposium will be of interest to scientists of all stages of professional development seeking a position, from trainees to established investigators.

Presentations | Help Launching a Job Search | Colleen Cosgrove Hegg, Ph.D Michigan State University Delivering a Dynamic Job Talk | Susan C. McKarns, Ph.D. University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine The Art of Interviewing: Winning the Job | Lynn Wecker, Ph.D. University of South Florida College of Medicine Navigating Negotiations | Kim E. Barrett, Ph.D. University of California, San Diego Potential Interview Questions Siribhinya Benyajati, Ph.D. University of Oklahoma Health Science Center

Mock Interview and Negotiation Video Michael A. Reid, Ph.D., “Interviewer” Sean D. Stocker, Ph.D., “Applicant” University of Kentucky First Interview Why transition now? Chair Question 1: What has motivated you to make the transition from postdoctoral fellow to faculty at this point in time? Questions & Answers from symposium Why choose our department? Chair Question 2: Why the interest in this particular department and university? Questions & Answers from symposium Are you married? (Poor response / Better response) Chair Question 3: How will being married and any future children affect your ability to get your grants funded and lab up and running quickly so that you can succeed in a faculty position? (How to handle “inappropriate” questions) Questions & Answers from symposium What are your research plans?(Poor response / Better response) Chair Question 4: What are your research plans for when you become a faculty member? Questions & Answers from symposium Will you collaborate? Chair Question 5: Where do you see possibilities for collaboration for you in this department and how do you see your research program fitting in with other programs here? Questions & Answers from symposium Did you research our department? Chair Question 6: How did you find out so much about the research being conducted in the department by individual investigators? Why? What are the teaching expectations? Interviewee Question 7: As new faculty member, what are the expectations for teaching and is there any protected time for a new faculty member? What is the teaching load? Interviewee Question 8: How much does the teaching load differ between assistant and associate professor? Do I get formal reviews? Interviewee Question 9: Once my teaching and research mentors are identified, are there formal reviews I go through with them to make sure I am making appropriate progress and moving toward tenure and promotion? What about research vs. teaching? Interviewee Question 10: Does the Tenure and Promotion committee’s expectation of time spent on research vs. teaching change after those initial 1-2 years? How is that factored into their decision to grant tenure? How do you deal with family? Interviewee Question 11: Is there any mechanism built into the Tenure & Promotion process to deal with a new faculty member who is starting a family, dealing with family health issues, or elder care and needing extra time to get the lab going? Teaching outside your area of expertise (Poor response / Better response) Developing needed teaching skills Chair Question 12: Are you willing to teach courses that are outside of your area of expertise? Second Interview Start-up package (Poor response / Better response) Chair Question 1: What kind of start-up package are you going to need to be able to do your research? Laboratory space Interviewee Question 2: What kind and amount of space will I have for my laboratory?            Discussion of the reasons for not starting with a huge laboratory space. Salary Interviewee Question 4: What typically are the salaries for new faculty members?            Discussion of what’s included in addition to base salary in terms of annual bonuses and how they can be dealt with. Matching offers Interviewee Question 5: I’m getting other offers and one school is offering more salary. Can you match it and increase it by 10%? Animal and core facilities Discussion 6: What is the availability of dedicated animal facilities and other specialized core facilities? Temporary labs and remodeling space Discussion 7: What laboratory space is available and can renovations be made? Contact us to obtain copies of workshop materials or a copy of the video.   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. Career Mentoring Home Page | APS Careers in Physiology Home Page APS Trainee Home Page | APS Education Home Page | APS Home Page |  Search Sponsored by the APS Women in Physiology Committee The American Physiological Society 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD   20814-3991 (USA) Phone: 301-634-7132, Fax: 301-634-7098, Email: APS Education, APS This page last updated on October 23, 2008 Copyright 2008©, The American Physiological Society