Comments on: A Little Inconsistency

By: frank

frank — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 21:07:25 +0000

The biggest factor in negotiation is how much they want you versus how much you want the job. If currently employed at a decent job your chances of successful negotiation increase dramatically b/c you may not necessarily leave unless the money is dramatically better. I negotiated a better salary at my current job simply b/c I asked and then defended why I should receive a higher salary. The hiring committee found the extra money despite initially saying there was no negotiating. I did spend 5 years in sales before librarianship though so I know that everything is negotiable!

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:21:08 +0000

I think the problem with negotiating, is that senior management encounter it very seldom, so it’s not in their mindset, and they also have the (usually correct) assumption that the applicant is desperate. The only successful negotiation I know of at a relatively junior level was a colleague who saw a job at for what was basically her job, at a nearby university, but offering a much higher salary. She took it to senior management, and they said no to her request for an increase. So she applied for the job, and got it. Suddenly when she’s quitting, senior management is all anxious to pay her what it takes to get her to stay.

By: LG

LG — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:36:24 +0000

I had a professor in my library science program who urged us all to bargain for things, whether it be a decent office, a better office setup, a better-than-the-minimum-listed salary, etc. Then I spent a year and a half looking all over the country for someone who would hire me, getting more and more desperate. When I finally was offered a job, I tried to negotiate a higher salary, because I knew that the salary was lower than what was usually offered (even in towns of comparable size in the same state) for the same position in other libraries. I got shot down immediately and then it was a choice: did I want to hold out and potentially (probably) lose the one chance I had to work in the field I had trained for, or did I want to just take the job. I took the job.

Does negotiating ever actually work when you’re fresh out of library school, trying to get a job while competing against more applicants than there are jobs? I don’t even know that negotiating would necessarily work for me now, after two years of experience as a cataloger. At the library where I currently work, the salary that is listed in a job add is the salary you are getting – we’re lucky if we can even get the go-ahead to list a job opening in the first place, we’re not going to be able to pay anybody more than the ad indicated. Our office furniture comes from the university surplus – it took developing tendinitis for me to get a *slightly* better desk setup.

By: the.effing.librarian

the.effing.librarian — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 16:49:11 +0000

re: Cayman, “then they need to pay more for our budget.”

I had a patron demand that I teach her how to use her ereader. My response was, “What did that cost you? To whom did you pay that $189? Was it to the library or to me? No. Get the person with your money to teach you. Or start giving the library your money and I’ll see what I can do for you next time.”

You don’t believe I said that? Good for you.

I’m a terrible negotiator. I would take whatever they gave me, but make up for it later by stealing pens.

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 05:59:35 +0000

Spekkio, I’m a young librarian — just five years into my career. I got my start because I could move and gained a lot of pre graduation experience, had a few specialized skills, and then was lucky enough to just squeak by with graduation a year before the recession. I remember being more innocent about ALA a few years ago, but even then your professor’s comment would have made my head hurt. Ouch — how do you make it through class?

By: Spekkio

Spekkio — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:05:03 +0000

And speaking of ALA, my professor just tried to sell my class on joining the organization. A summary of what she said:

You should join the ALA – not because it’s a nice thing to do – but because it is what makes us different from the people that work at the information kiosk at the mall. It’s a professional organization, and that’s what makes us a profession. It provides us with our standards and guidelines. ALA members are standing on the shoulders of people who came before in the last 150 years.

By: Spekkio

Spekkio — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:03:07 +0000

RE: the comment / link from “librarian” on 10NOV10 @ 4:15pm:

My word – that “article” is *crap.* Will ALA publish just anything they receive?

By: Jean Costello

Jean Costello — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:00:14 +0000

“Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide” by Babcock and Laschever examines how women are acculturated not to negotiate. I found it a worthwhile read.
http://www.womendontask.com/

By: James

James — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:55:39 +0000

When we hire at our university library, the Dean typically looks to hire within a certain salary range, not according to a scale, but based on what we can afford to pay for that position. An applicant thus has some room to negotiate, but the reality is there is only a few thousand to be had before hitting a tacit ceiling. I think that applicants should always try to come in as high as possible, but higher in our world could well be a disappointment.

By: Didi

Didi — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:42:32 +0000

I’d question that academic librarian and government librarian about the negotiating. I’ve been a fed and I’m now in an academic library – and both places negotiate salaries all the time. Now, the public library I worked for…not so much.

And, thank you, AL! I cannot tell you how many times I have argued with people who think they’re going to never have to relocate for a job and then bemoan the sad state of their pay check. When I finished library school, I had a job offer from the public library I was working at to move to a professional position. I also had a job offer from a federal agency – pay wasn’t too much higher but I knew the promotion potential was FAR better there. I took the federal job and in 5 years was making 3x what I had originally been offered by the public library.

I can’t imagine what a sad life I would be stuck in if I had stayed in my hometown working for the public library. I’d never own a house; I’d never own a nice car; I’d never be out of debt. All it took to get all of that was a move 500 miles north. I highly recommend it!