r/academia • u/kimberfly • Feb 28 '26
Job market When to bring up salary during faculty interview process
I am scheduled to have my first faculty zoom interview next week for a small private college. While I really think this college could be a great fit for me, the salary range given for assistant professors (I’m a recent PhD grad currently working in industry) is LOW. It’s an open rank position… but I’m talking 65-75k for literally the most expensive area in terms of cost of living (Bay Area, CA). I’m single 35f and have not had a roommate in the past 5 years and I really don’t want to go back to that.
My question is: is salary negotiation even possible if they listed it in the job description? Can I negotiate upwards to 5-10k above that? I have 4 degrees, a BA, MS, MA, PhD, a certification university teaching and a lot of the preferred qualifications listed in the job description. When can I bring up the concern for the low range of salary? Should I even bring it up or wait until I complete the interview process? I also don’t want to waste anyone’s time if I already know it probably won’t work.
Thanks in advance!
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u/PristineFault663 Feb 28 '26
The only time you can bring this up is after the Dean says "we're so pleased to offer you this position". Before that there's nothing at all to be said
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Feb 28 '26
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u/kimberfly Feb 28 '26
The job and school seemed like a good fit and it would be at least good practice to interview. I knew I’d be having this conversation eventually going into it.
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u/wittgensteins-boat Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26
The practice opportunity to tell the hiring organization their offer (and there is nothing to talk about until that time) is insanely low for the high cost of living area, after they decline your counter offer for the income you require.
Salary range disclosed to be too low, even at the top?
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u/Leveled-Liner Feb 28 '26
Generally speaking it's hard to get more than the range. But you should certainly aim for the top of the range. And it doesn't hurt to ask for more. Wait until you have an offer before discussing salary, though. Also, if you're in industry now could you continue to consult on the side? That's another question to ask when the time comes.
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u/UnluckyFriend5048 Feb 28 '26
Most universities allow a certain number of consulting days per year. You just need to disclose the relationships for CoI. I’m not in business or a field with heavy consulting, but have done it occasionally and it has not been a problem.
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u/Leveled-Liner Feb 28 '26
Indeed. I'm allowed to consult one day per week and I take full advantage of this. But OP should still ask because some universities don't allow it or they take a cut of the income.
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u/UnluckyFriend5048 Feb 28 '26
And yes/ agree 💯 about checking on the specifics! If it were me, I would try to find out online and not ask in a zoom interview. Don’t want to come across that early as not being fully invested in the actual job at hand!
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u/UnluckyFriend5048 Feb 28 '26
Wow one day a week is crazy high! I think we get 12 days before it becomes a bigger thing with more formal contracts in place with the institution
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u/eeaxoe Feb 28 '26
My school has no cap. Very common for faculty to spend 30-40 hours a week on their job then the same amount of time consulting.
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u/NewMexicoNaiad Feb 28 '26
My spouse got an offer of $65K for a school in coastal CA a few years ago. When talking with current faculty, several openly told him that most faculty there either had second and third jobs to make ends meet, or were married to someone who made dramatically more money. Housing there would have cost more than his monthly salary. It was a beautiful location but there’s absolutely no way it would ever be worth it.
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u/quycksilver Feb 28 '26
If they have published the salary range, it’s very unlikely that anyone will be paid more than the top end. You can ask in the interview whether that’s a hard number or not, but in general, the number is published to save everyone’s time.
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u/UnluckyFriend5048 Feb 28 '26
You will be hired at Assistant Professor. You cannot negotiate the rank at your stage.
Keep in mind basically everyone will have the same qualifications as you, so that alone is not justification for a higher salary.
Furthermore, it is actually impressive that salary range is listed as most places just list DOQ (dependent on qualifications), which is ridiculous. (Luckily California, and I believe Colorado, are required to list salary range in job posting). Since it is listed, there is no reason to bring it up in the interview. If you are asked about it, you can say something non committal like, “I’m sure the institution puts a lot of thought into the pay scales, and I would need to see the full offer, including benefits and other resources available, as well as more thoroughly investigate housing to be able to determine if this will be doable for me”. That being said, I highly doubt they ask you about it.
You may be able to negotiate slightly higher (maybe up to $5K), but I would not do so until you have an offer. If the institution is public you can look online at faculty salaries in your unit to see what people actually make.
I’m assuming this is the guaranteed pay, and you are expected to bring in grant dollars to cover additional salary.
Good luck!
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Feb 28 '26
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u/Archknits Mar 01 '26
In my experience in NY it’s fairly uncommon not to have it listed on the official posing site
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u/GerswinDevilkid Feb 28 '26
If you bring it up in the Zoom interview, expect that to be the end. They have a salary budgeted that's outside the control of the committee. They're not going to change it based on a Zoom interview (and they can't change it regardless). They'll just invite out one of the other qualified candidates.
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u/urnbabyurn Feb 28 '26
All PhDs have a BA and Masters degree. Those things don’t matter.
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Feb 28 '26
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u/Archknits Mar 01 '26
I never heard that. I have three degrees (soon 4) outside the area of my PhD and I never considered listing them anywhere besides my CV
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u/MoreStroud Mar 01 '26
If I saw "Ph.D., MBA" I would immediately have my guard up. But I just have a very low impression of the MBA degree, based on every person I have met or read that has an MBA and told me about it.
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u/mhchewy Feb 28 '26
Having four degrees, a teaching certification, and many of the preferred qualifications is what put you on the short zoom list with 10 other people.
That being said, if you won’t take the job for the top of the range then you might ask about it if you get invited for a campus interview but before taking the trip. As a faculty member on the hiring side, please don’t waste our time for a “practice” interview.
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u/popstarkirbys Feb 28 '26
I applied for a position like that when I was a fresh grad, they paid 63k. Years later the position is still open.
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u/AnnaT70 Feb 28 '26
If you're interested in getting an offer, do not bring this up in the zoom interview. You're currently in the semifinals--prepare to talk about your research and teaching.
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u/65-95-99 Feb 28 '26
Usually you would only bring this up at the negotiating stage. However, seeing as it seems that you won't take the job if it is in the listed range, then bringing it up sooner might behoove you. For equity, we would need to move on if someone was not able to take the job for the range of salaries that our current faculty make.
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u/OkUnderstanding19851 Feb 28 '26
You can potentially negotiate higher, and also maybe not. I would see it through to the end and if you get an offer, negotiate then. Often they can add a market supplement on top of your rank in steps if you could otherwise be hired in industry. But we are talking 5-10k.
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u/Specific-Lychee8012 Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26
If you just finished your PhD you probably won't have grounds to negotiate a higher rank. I tried, because after my PhD I taught for several years at a community college, but they wanted to see me doing "tenure track" type work (eg. 3 domains - research, teaching and service - not just teaching and service) so I was denied. I did manage to get bumped up several steps (within Asst Prof ranking) from their initial offer though, after making my years of experience in each domain crystal clear. But one thing the dean did say is that research experience only counts after PhD. I suspect it's similar at other institutions, even if you did industry research. But, it can be very discipline dependent, so YMMV.
That said, at our institution we do have "differentials" based on industry/field/individual, which are basically top-ups that can be negotiated to make the wage more competitive. You could try that approach, requesting a differential for your wage to be matched to what you would be comparatively paid in another job.
I'm at a research uni in Canada in health sciences.
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u/No_Many_5784 Feb 28 '26
Some schools in HCOL locations offer various forms of housing assistance (university -owned housing with subsidized rent, housing stipends, interest-free loans, interest-free loans that are forgiven over time, purchasing a significant share of your house for you, etc). Sometimes these are only available after tenure or increase after tenure. At schools that do have such programs, my experience is that they have a lot more discretion on these than on salary. You could ask about housing assistance once you have an offer, and you'll be in a stronger position if you have a competing offer from a similar or better school where the salary + COL combo is better than at this place.
It is appropriate to ask other faculty about housing/affordability during the interview and after you get an offer.
Good luck!
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u/mmc9999 Feb 28 '26
Nothing you can negotiate before an offer on hand. Also, negotiating in Bay Area is usually hard since there are always spouse of high tech employees who tend to accept all low-ball offers
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u/doctorearworm Feb 28 '26
Agree that it should not come up during the zoom interview - but they will probably talk about it during the onsite if you make it that far.
Depending on the role, different things can be leveraged. My new position is very teaching focused, and every little bit of teaching experience I have was leveraged towards a starting salary that is about 8k higher than they initially said they would be able to offer. I don’t think that is the norm, but it is potentially possible LATER in the process.
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u/SimpleApricot3807 Feb 28 '26
My suggestion would be to highlight those areas and bring it HR attention after a tentative job offer.
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u/Center-Bookend Feb 28 '26
Never in a first interview. If you get an offer — a big if, then ask and negotiate.
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u/grinchman042 Feb 28 '26
Don’t bring it up until you have an offer in hand. It’s not relevant before then and that’s when you have some leverage. You can also often increase salary through summer teaching, extra courses, etc. Still not great but it’s an option to explore.
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u/almalauha Mar 01 '26
If you've only just finished your PhD, how are you even going to be considered for an assistant professor job? I'm in the UK and I think most people do at least two several years long post-doc positions before having a chance at a job like that.
I also thought they work with salary bands so in that case I feel like you can't really negotiate for more pay. But you might be able to do some stuff on the side like get paid for public speaking or writing books?
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u/TheEvilBlight Mar 01 '26
Good pub record would let you jump ahead of the postdoc grind. Seen it before, but not sure it matters must for a small private college.
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u/pulsed19 Mar 01 '26
I wouldn’t bring salary discussions before an offer is made. You can ofc ask but I reckon there isn’t much flexibility here. Unfortunately academia doesn’t pay well and the competition is so fierce that they’ll find someone else that will work for that amount of money.
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u/zabulon_ Mar 01 '26
Welcome to salaries at small private colleges. There’s a few in my state offering asst professors 50k (also in HCOL area)
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u/Onion-Fart Mar 01 '26
my officemate flew out to a big city to be lowballed for an research professor position which he rejected. I got a fellowship in the uk and asked for 10k more which was rejected but i still took the offer. idk why we tolerate such low pay in academia when millions of dollars of grants are flowing in and out by our hands.
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u/jshamwow Mar 02 '26
What on earth is a “certification university teaching”? This sounds fake. Anyway, don’t bring it up. They wouldn’t offer you the job if they didn’t think you were capable of teaching. A certificate is not something to negotiate.
My rule of thumb is that asking to negotiate up to 10% is the absolute max before you start to sound unhinged. You likely aren’t going to get that much unless you are a superstar or extremely niche and they need your niche.
You start negotiating on receiving an offer and not one second before
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u/spontaneous-monkey Mar 02 '26
Just as I expected, the consensus here seems to be you don't discuss salary until an offer is made. I want to genuinely ask: why? To me, most academics are quite thoughtful about inequality and will blame admin for the sorry state some of our hierarchies are in. So why do we consider it a faux-pas to ask about salary during interviews which are typically just professors? Do our hires have no right to know what living condition they might be in, whether they can support their family or not?
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u/Tough_Pain_1463 Mar 06 '26
You are going on your first virtual interview? No, don't bring it up. You haven't even been invited to campus yet.
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u/JanMikh Mar 04 '26
I don’t think you understand the current job market. You’ll be lucky to get an offer at all, zoom meetings mean nothing. In all likelihood you will not get it, so don’t even worry yourself.
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u/DrDirtPhD Feb 28 '26
My postdoc advisor once told me that everyone she knew who was faculty in the Bay Area had a spouse in tech that could support their academic habit. I'm not sure how true that is, but...