Negotiating Power
Negotiating Power
As a new teacher how much negotiating power does one have? Before signing a very first teaching contract what plan for negotiating do you think is ok?
Big question
That depends on a lot of factors really. You really need to know what you want before the interview and what to expect. Often the interview if they like you becomes a job offer, and you only get one shot at negotiating. The main question to ask yourself is what will you walk away from. Its hard to do that this late in the game, because you dont know if you will get another offer, in fact that is "THE" time to negotiate your compensation package. The bargaining table is where you ask for and get what you want. Once the contract is signed, it would be poor form, unprofessional, and even offensive to come back and attempt to negotiate for additional compensation again (sometimes this can be done, for instance if airfare dramatically spikes, or in regard to housing your family size increases for instance).
Its important to remember that contracts are "as is" once you sign, you put yourself and the school in a difficult position should complications come up later. Know what your compensation and duty expectations and requirements are. Research the schools and the regions, and make a list or profile for each school of what you "want". if a position is offered to you this is the bargaining table and its going to most likely be the only time your going to get to have to "get what you want". Contracts are negotiable just because the school has a standard contract ready to go doesnt mean its set in stone (also understand your not a star football player). If a school is offering you a cookie, it means they have a cookie jar somewhere, and if they didnt think you would be adding value to their school they wouldnt be offering you a contract. Just go into every interview not just ready for the questions, but what your expectations are if you leave the room with a job. It will be very difficult to argue later after talking with other attendees, or doing research and finding out that others are getting paid more then you to go back and require more money. Remember whats "fair" as far as what compensation means to a school, does not mean it will be fair to you.
Schools generally have two approaches to compensation either they have a 1) Public/Open pay scale/salary ladder, etc. In which case the school determines the contributing factors (usually years of experience and degree level) and your salary is what ever that box says. There can be adjustments/supplements for extra duty assignments, etc. The point of this scale is that everyone with a certain category makes the same. Its "equal" if not fair (fair in my opinion is actually pretty subjective). This is a lot like the "no hassle" car dealership. The price is clearly published and thats just "how much it is".
In the second type 2): Negotiated/Closed (Private tends to be avoided, but still used) you negotiate or discuss a compensation package. This can take several forms in itself, the two most common are the face to face negotiation, usually over the phone or Skype where you politely try to sell your value to the head, and they try to get you as cheaply as possible. The second most common type is the "letter" type which either occurs with the head, or more often with HR, and involves a series of email exchanges. Where they make an initial offer, you counter offer, they "check with the boss" then they counteroffer, and back an forth until you stop seeing progress/change in the offers happening. This experience is a lot more like the traditional "used car" buy experience, where your essentially haggling.
In my experience the open/public approach is the most popular, for two reasons (and different situations). The better schools are interested in fairness, equality and simplicity, its makes payroll easier (especially at bigger schools, which also tend to be the better schools). The second reason, is in schools that really dont care about the quality of their teachers, and they just want the cheapest body in the classroom they can get. They know they pay peanuts, and they dont really care, because anyone whos a decent teacher wouldnt teach there anyway, and likely has better offers.
The Closed/negotiated salary scale is usually found at 2nd tier schools all over the globe, who are usually young schools, have small enrollments, or constant turn around in faculty. For them minimizing costs is very important, as many teachers simply dont stay longer then their initial two year contract before moving on, so investing in faculty is a lost cause for them. Lastly, they just have more of a "paycheck to paycheck" mentality, they dont know what their enrollment will be in the future and with a small school it doesnt take much change in enrollment before they are over budget. For them a good teacher at less cost is better then a great teacher who is more expensive.
My advice to teachers, is that if there is nothing special about your qualifications, then you want the open/public type of compensation determination. If you have something thats special or "adds real value" (not to be confused with perceived value, like your "just a super great teacher") then your likely to benefit from a closed/negotiated compensation package, since the assumption is that you bring more "value" to the table then a comparable teacher.
Trends i see, is that when it comes to closed/negotiated packages, woman tend to get the face to face approach (typically against an assertive male), on the assumption that woman are less comfortable with conflict, and will cave to negotiation stress quickly (there are a couple heads ive met who were proven VERY incorrect in that assumption). Men tend to get the letter exchange typically with what you would infer is a younger female contact at the schools HR department. The assumption that the intermediary (the HR contact) is just the messenger, and little old them has no power to do anything, except relay your demands to the boss. men tend to be less aggressive, in those situation, as they are indoctrinated to yield ld to the female gender, and to exercise restraint when confronted with an inferior opponent.
Its important to remember that contracts are "as is" once you sign, you put yourself and the school in a difficult position should complications come up later. Know what your compensation and duty expectations and requirements are. Research the schools and the regions, and make a list or profile for each school of what you "want". if a position is offered to you this is the bargaining table and its going to most likely be the only time your going to get to have to "get what you want". Contracts are negotiable just because the school has a standard contract ready to go doesnt mean its set in stone (also understand your not a star football player). If a school is offering you a cookie, it means they have a cookie jar somewhere, and if they didnt think you would be adding value to their school they wouldnt be offering you a contract. Just go into every interview not just ready for the questions, but what your expectations are if you leave the room with a job. It will be very difficult to argue later after talking with other attendees, or doing research and finding out that others are getting paid more then you to go back and require more money. Remember whats "fair" as far as what compensation means to a school, does not mean it will be fair to you.
Schools generally have two approaches to compensation either they have a 1) Public/Open pay scale/salary ladder, etc. In which case the school determines the contributing factors (usually years of experience and degree level) and your salary is what ever that box says. There can be adjustments/supplements for extra duty assignments, etc. The point of this scale is that everyone with a certain category makes the same. Its "equal" if not fair (fair in my opinion is actually pretty subjective). This is a lot like the "no hassle" car dealership. The price is clearly published and thats just "how much it is".
In the second type 2): Negotiated/Closed (Private tends to be avoided, but still used) you negotiate or discuss a compensation package. This can take several forms in itself, the two most common are the face to face negotiation, usually over the phone or Skype where you politely try to sell your value to the head, and they try to get you as cheaply as possible. The second most common type is the "letter" type which either occurs with the head, or more often with HR, and involves a series of email exchanges. Where they make an initial offer, you counter offer, they "check with the boss" then they counteroffer, and back an forth until you stop seeing progress/change in the offers happening. This experience is a lot more like the traditional "used car" buy experience, where your essentially haggling.
In my experience the open/public approach is the most popular, for two reasons (and different situations). The better schools are interested in fairness, equality and simplicity, its makes payroll easier (especially at bigger schools, which also tend to be the better schools). The second reason, is in schools that really dont care about the quality of their teachers, and they just want the cheapest body in the classroom they can get. They know they pay peanuts, and they dont really care, because anyone whos a decent teacher wouldnt teach there anyway, and likely has better offers.
The Closed/negotiated salary scale is usually found at 2nd tier schools all over the globe, who are usually young schools, have small enrollments, or constant turn around in faculty. For them minimizing costs is very important, as many teachers simply dont stay longer then their initial two year contract before moving on, so investing in faculty is a lost cause for them. Lastly, they just have more of a "paycheck to paycheck" mentality, they dont know what their enrollment will be in the future and with a small school it doesnt take much change in enrollment before they are over budget. For them a good teacher at less cost is better then a great teacher who is more expensive.
My advice to teachers, is that if there is nothing special about your qualifications, then you want the open/public type of compensation determination. If you have something thats special or "adds real value" (not to be confused with perceived value, like your "just a super great teacher") then your likely to benefit from a closed/negotiated compensation package, since the assumption is that you bring more "value" to the table then a comparable teacher.
Trends i see, is that when it comes to closed/negotiated packages, woman tend to get the face to face approach (typically against an assertive male), on the assumption that woman are less comfortable with conflict, and will cave to negotiation stress quickly (there are a couple heads ive met who were proven VERY incorrect in that assumption). Men tend to get the letter exchange typically with what you would infer is a younger female contact at the schools HR department. The assumption that the intermediary (the HR contact) is just the messenger, and little old them has no power to do anything, except relay your demands to the boss. men tend to be less aggressive, in those situation, as they are indoctrinated to yield ld to the female gender, and to exercise restraint when confronted with an inferior opponent.
Last edited by PsyGuy on Fri Jun 15, 2012 2:02 am, edited 1 time in total.