
Negotiated Out of a Job - soundsop
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/03/13/lost-faculty-job-offer-raises-questions-about-negotiation-strategy
======
mbenjaminsmith
>> This candidate really has no idea what s/he was considering stepping into
at a [small liberal arts college]. While s/he could have done the job just
fine, working at a [small liberal arts college] is, above all, about
collegiality and teaching ability, and this candidate basically offered
[several] counterpoints to her being able to fulfill that part of the
college's mission.

It wasn't that the candidate was negotiating, it was that the candidate showed
herself to be a bad fit for the hiring college. The salary she asked for may
have been "market" but probably not for a small college. The other points were
mainly about limiting the amount of time she would be teaching -- which is not
what a small college wants to hear.

The fact that they probably had trouble deciding between a few candidates
meant it was easy to toss her out of the pile and go with candidate #2.

If I got an offer from a scrappy young startup I wouldn't counter with a list
of perks someone might expect at Google and/or a bygone era.

------
dusklight
It's signalling. An employer that refuses to negotiate is looking for
employees that are easily bullied. If they have lots of candidates to choose
from who allowed themselves to be bullied, they can get away with this. Do you
really want to work for them? I would consider it good luck to be able to get
out of a bad situation before you potentially put yourself in a situation you
cannot get out of (because of leases/house purchases, loss of time and money
moving for the new job, contracts, etc)

------
bsder
Well, to be fair, she was asking for a _LOT_ of time off above and beyond what
was already policy.

That's not going to go over well, ever.

In addition, while they will never mention it, I guarantee that maternity
leave question is what killed the deal. Someone thought: "If she doesn't get
that, is she just going to quit when she has a child? Crap. We'll have to go
hiring again in 2-3 years. Um, no. Let's go to the next person--preferably
male."

------
lazylizard
so i list a camera on ebay for $500. bids come in. someone leaves a message
that says, "i'm willing to pay $540 for this over 6mths, with payments
starting 3mths from now". if i'm bored i might actually respond to that saying
no thanks i'll wait for the auction to close. that someone is also free to
make similiar offers to other auctioneers. and take the rejections as insults
or something..

------
mooreds
"One reader said it was simply a “buyers’ market,”"....

It still seems in poor taste and I'm glad it is public.

