Korean Job Discussion Forums

[noobteacher]

Just looking for some advice from those in university positions. I was curious if it is common practice for native teachers to try (and successfully) negotiate salary for university teaching position? Or is it kind of the mind set of the hiring universities that the teachers who are applying should consider themselves lucky enough to be interviewed/be offered a job by them that it would be insulting or at the very least unwise to try and negotiate on things like base salary, housing, or anything else?

Just curious what experiences people have had, especially for those who were successful.

[nora]

My university hired 1 person this semester. We had over 30 apply for the position and they interviewed 5. If you feel like rocking the boat, that's up to you.

In all seriousness, if you're talking about a lower tier school and you've got the qualifications, you could give it a shot. But if you're talking about a better place where the compensation is already decent, and you try to wrangle even more out of them, the fact is that you're replaceable. I wouldn't recommend it unless I really didn't care about the job.

[ttompatz]

[thrylos]

Keep in mind that many unis have a pay scale/pay grade, depending on your (uni) experience and degrees earned. My last 2 places did. Yes, there may be a range within each scale, but it really doesn't amount to much and it is impossible to negotiate beyond that small range.

Also, my previous uni had a 'base' salary (which was quite low), but added on a 'research stipend' that bumped the total up to a very good level. I didn't know about that until I signed a contract and calculated the total amount/month, which was quite a bit higher than what I originally was told during my interview(to my happy surprise). I suspect they were coy about that and wanted to see who was genuinely interested in the position VS. the salary. Add on OT payments for extra classes over my contract hours and summer/winter work and it came out to a decent package.

My current place has a pay grade. You start off at one level and with each new contract, you get bumped up a grade based on years of service (for me, it's about 3-4% per year). That's on top of any OT and/or editing work. After 8 years at the same place, I seriously doubt I'll find it better anywhere else.

Maybe ask what the system is in a second/third interview, especially if you re-sign/renew in subsequent years.

[edwardcatflap]

[PatrickGHBusan]

The University I used to work for had pay-scales and packages that were set for specific positions. The scale could move up within a pre-decided range depending on specific elements like referenced experience, qualifications, publications, related degrees and so on.

Asking for more without those things meant being told no and for a few applicants meant to the end of they being considered for employment.

The weakest position by far was for the applicant with limited experience and a degree that was barely related to the field of work. For that person, asking for more than what was offered meant the University would move to the next applicant down the list. I would think that this is even more true now in the more competitive market.

I also have to say that some applicants did not consider the whole package and only focused on the base pay which they considered too low. That is their right of course but the pay is only one element of a job. This holds true for University positions.

Bargain if you have leverage. If you have no leverage, bargaining will just end up costing the applicant.

[thrylos]

[PRagic]

Be mindful of those universities that pay a 'research stipend' on top of a lower base pay. On a month-to-month basis, there are no problems. Sometimes, however, they try to calculate your retirement/severance based on only the base pay.

I seem to recall one of the SKY universities getting taken to the labour board over this some years back, and they lost. Severance must be calculated on total pay.