Let's Talk about 'Bad' Job Offers

In academia, you’re lucky to get a full-time job offer of any kind. To get a tenure-track assistant professor job offer is akin to winning the lottery. It takes a lot of luck, and your odds are relatively the same.

The powers that be know this, and they act accordingly. They know with the glut of PhDs and other highly qualified candidates on the market that they have their pick. They can bypass the struggling internal adjunct for the superstar ABD grad student from the stellar school recommended by the top professor in the field. And while that picture varies from department to department, it’s still a market that highly favors the whims of the search committee and the administration rather than the job seeker.

So, you’d be crazy not to take a job offer, right?

Not necessarily.

I was on the academic job market for two years. I had the full experience from staying up many late nights tailoring every single job application to the ad to scheduling campus visits in between classes. After years of blood, sweat, and tears (literally), I got a job offer.

It was for a tenure track assistant professor position at a small school where I very much wanted to teach. It was in my field of communication and journalism. How lucky was I?

Turns out, not so much.

See, there’s such a thing as a bad job offer. It’s not always intentional or malicious. Sometimes, it’s just that the needs of the department aren’t the same as yours. More often than not, the administration throws wrenches in the process making it more difficult than it needs to be. My situation was a perfect example.

I knew they were interested in me, but you can never bet on which way a search committee goes after the final interview. I’ve had good campus visits that resulted in a form rejection letter from HR. Never did find out what went wrong. So, just because my teaching demo seemed to go well and I had interviews with everyone from colleagues to the dean doesn’t mean I’m getting the job. I continued interviewing with other places.

One of my job hunt staples was being religious about following up. If I had a contact, I was connecting with them to get status updates. I kept reaching out to my contact because time was flying by and the start of the semester was looming. Finally, after one such email, I got the letter. It was an offer.

Here was the problem(s):

The offer came in at 4:30 p.m. on a Friday afternoon with a start date of the following Monday at 8:00 a.m. Did I mention this job was in another state? They also were not paying for relocation fees. There was little to no money for professional development and conferences. They also were resistant to the idea that I teach online for the first semester while I prepare to move. The idea was floated that I simply commute back and forth or get temporary lodging to teach and live in one city while my family was in another. Again, all on my dime. Let’s not even discuss the fact that this is all during a pandemic when teaching in person was risky for a number of reasons.

I remember painful negotiations. I knew their hands were tied due to administrative restraints; however, some of the things they wanted from me were simply logistically impossible.

At one point the person I spoke to questioned if I really wanted the job. That hurt, and it was not the first time my loyalty to higher education was questioned because I wasn’t willing to sacrifice everything.

I had to say no, and it was the hardest no I’ve ever put in writing. I lived to teach on the university level. The first time I was ever in front of a classroom, I found my calling. I had the holy grail in my hand, and I had to put it down.

I had another offer from outside of academia on the table, and spoiler alert: that’s where I work now. This offer was the complete opposite. This company was on the other side of the United States, and they offered me the opportunity to work remotely. Their salary offer was more than what I expected, and they were willing to fund whatever was necessary to bring me on board.

It got me thinking about the difference between good and bad offers.

It can be the perfect job, exactly what you wanted, but if the circumstances don’t fit your needs, then it’s not the right job for you.

And I know there are many academic fairy tales of people living separately from their partners because they got tenure track jobs in different cities and they make it work. There are stories of long commutes, having an apartment during the week, and coming home on the weekends, etc. There are certainly people who moved on a dime with a moment’s notice to teach at the school of their dreams in cities they hate. I’m not judging their choices. I am not them. I can’t do those things. Or rather, I could, but I’d be giving up other things that I cannot do without in my current situation. The offer I was given was perhaps perfect for someone else, but it wasn’t for me.

The end of this story is good. I’m working from home in a job I love that respects my degree and many of the skills that I bring over from higher education. I miss the classroom desperately, and I hope that in another chapter of my life those doors will open for me again. However, the job I have now gives us the life we want. My partner is able to pursue his passions. I’m there for my kids during their formative years. It meets my needs and then some.

This is just my story. There are many others that perhaps turned out differently. Maybe taking a less-than-ideal offer has worked out for them, and I wish them well. I’m just saying, when you get that letter and it leaves you with more questions than answers, stop for a moment. Think about what you really want and where you want to be. If this job is asking for more than you’re willing to sacrifice, it’s okay to rethink it.

That doesn’t always mean it’s a bad offer… it’s just not a good one for you. And that’s all right.

~jennifer.