Filthy Lucre for Dummies

In academia, everybody claims to be motivated wholly by factors other than salary, yet salary is one of the chief dissatisfactions one hears about in the profession. I guess those two facts aren't contradictory--you can complain about something that isn't your main reason for going to work. I don't go to work for a comfortable chair, but if I didn't have one, I'd probably mutter unhappily.

So what I notice is not the complaint, which seems reasonable, but the insistence that money isn't important, and the way that insistence shuts down plain and constructive talk. It's true nobody in her right mind would become a professor for the salary (in the humanities anyway), but look, doesn't everybody have a mortgage, or need to buy a $3 gallon of gas now and then? And isn't it fair to ask for these things? So why all the disingenous denial?

My observation of this oddity in the world where I live is maybe why I found Dottie's post sort of refreshing--because she mentioned in her calm and candid way that she wants to earn money in her job. When I was doing my job search last year in the infamous academic market, I got some excellent advice from a friend of mine who had gone to business school, where they're shockingly open about wanting to make money. It was much more practical than the disavowals of salary that comprised most of the money talk I had heard previously, and I've pretty much blabbed it, solicited or not, to everybody I know who is looking for a job. So, once and for all, here goes:

1) Never negotiate salary until you have an offer in hand (why negotiate beforehand, when you have no power?). Practice maddening evasion, even if they corner you.

Them: What are your salary requirements?
You, smiling winningly: I'm sure we can settle on something once you've decided whether you'd like me to come and work with you.

2) If you think they are trying to sniff out something they can't legally ask you, like whether you're married or whether you plan to have children, get to the heart of the matter (oh yeah, this one came from somebody else).

Them: Are you married? How does your spouse feel about moving to Fargo? (Some questions may be illegal, but some employers may be clueless. And socially awkward.)
You: If you're asking whether there are any barriers to my accepting the job here, there are none.

3) Always negotiate. A recent book called Women Don't Ask says that the average salary increase negotiated is $3,000. That $3,000 plus inflation and very modest interest equals over $500,000 over a 30-year career.

You don't have to play hardball, but at least ask, "Is there any room for movement on the salary" when you get the offer. If it seems low, follow up with a reason: "Is there any room for movement on the salary? I'm expecting that the cost of living in Fargo is higher than where I live now." It could be a $500,000 question.