How long has it been since your last pay rise? For almost half of current respondents to a recent Naturejobs poll, the answer is more than two years – and with ever-increasing inflation, that’s effectively a year-on-year pay cut. So is there anything you can do to improve your salary prospects, particularly in academia, where there is often a lack of flexibility in pay?
Know your opportunities
Setting your starting salary
At universities in the UK, where research positions are appointed at a particular grade, there is often a window of opportunity to negotiate the precise point within the grade after you have been offered the job. “That depends on your level of experience and what you’re earning already,” says Rob Hardwick, co-chair of the UK Research Staff Association (UKRSA) and a postdoc at the University of Leicester. It’s likely you will be able to match your current salary, and you may be able to move up one additional point. If you find yourself applying for a position at a lower grade due to the current economic climate, propose that you are appointed at the top of that grade’s scale. In Germany, where positions in public universities are also appointed at a set grade within each district, with defined increments every two years, there are fewer options to discuss the fine details. “The public wage agreements leave no space for negotiation,” says Ute Heckel, project leader for Kisswin, a career development and information platform for young researchers in Germany. “Scientists have fixed contracts, and the contracts have fixed wages.”
In the United States, PhD students can earn a few extra thousand dollars a year by becoming teaching assistants, but there is little else you can do to improve your pay at that stage. The starting salary for postdocs in academia depends on whether your university follows the National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines of a minimum stipend of just over $38,000 per year. If it does, there is not much negotiation to be had, says Zoe Fonseca-Kelly, chair of the US National Postdoc Association (NPA). “For the most part, to negotiate a higher salary you’re looking at a promotion,” she says.
Securing higher pay
Pay at UK universities usually increases by a small increment each year until you reach the top of your grade. If you’ve hit the ceiling, make the case to the university that you should be promoted up to the next grade — you’ll need a letter of support from your supervisor for this. Also ensure you double-check your contract — one of Hardwick’s fellow researchers was automatically promoted up a level as they were appointed at the top of a grade, but their contract still said they were entitled to annual increments.
In the US, if you’re getting paid less than the NIH minimum guideline, Fonseca-Kelly recommends that you try to secure your own funding: “A postdoc’s best way to make sure they get at least the NIH minimum is to apply for their own training grants and get their own money.” If you are able to secure funding that can also benefit your career in general by demonstrating early independence. Scientists in Germany searching for funding at a more senior level to develop their career should apply for several grants or prizes at the same time, says Heckel. “You will be more successful if you hand in more applications. That’s perfectly all right.” She also cautions against having a single narrow research focus. “We advise people to have at least two specialisations that they follow in order to increase their chances of getting funded.”
Gather evidence of your value
Whichever opportunity for a pay rise you pursue, you’ll need to justify why you should get more money. “Frame the request in terms of the value you bring to your employer,” says Deb Koen, president and chief executive of Career Development Services in Rochester, New York (see ‘Salary boost’ for more of Koen’s advice).
If there’s an appraisal system in place at your institute, make sure you use it. “People don’t really do that enough,” says Hardwick. He also recommends using self-help tools such as Vitae’s Researcher Developer Framework to self-assess and quantify your full range of skills. “The research things go without saying,” he says. “Aside from that, there are many [other skills] you can use to your advantage.”
The US NPA provides a similar resource called the Postdoctoral Core Competencies Toolkit. Fonseca-Kelly suggests using the toolkit to set a two- or five-year plan either by yourself or with the help of a mentor. “That gives you bargaining ground and a results-orientated output you can use as a negotiating tool to get a promotion,” she says. “The people that I’ve seen successfully get a promotion in academia have had a very good plan of what they want to do and have been able to market themselves to their PI. It takes a lot of planning and communication skills.”
As well as identifying your full range of skills, remember that your publication record is still one of the main ways your value is judged. “That’s always been the most important thing,” says Hardwick.
Do you have any other advice to add? Have you recently secured a pay rise or a promotion? Share your thoughts below.
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I think unionisation has a great deal to offer in terms of improving postdoctoral pay & conditions. Moreover, I would argue that RSAs are a distraction from really helping postdocs. This isn’t empire building; it is a fact. Practically the entire postdoctoral community of Britain are in workplaces that formally recognise unions.
RSAs are toothless by comparison to unions. What’s the difference between a union and a RSA?: Direct negotiation on all matters of pay, conditions and science policy, an army of trained reps and full time officials, unlimited free legal support, and a fighting funds of tens of millions of pounds.
That’s not to say we shouldn’t have local postdoc association or RSAs; there are lots of things we do like organise the seminars and social events that aren’t appropriate for a union. Other things like careers advice maybe could be done in tandem. If you want to know more, why not search for my name and "postdoctoral" for the letter I had published in Nature on the subject.
Postdocs in a lot of other countries are crying out for union recognition for the very reasons of formal negotiation recognition and protection that we already have in the U.K. The entire Californian university postdoc community recently unionised itself, for instance, and this was largely done as I recall to secure a better pay offer.
You get more done for postdocs, and their pay, inside a union than outside.
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@Oliver
In the UK RSAs and UKRSA are as you imply not part of a Union, however many RSAs and UKRSA have links with and work with the UCU. I agree that RSAs are not in a strong position to negotiate on pay and (formal) conditions with their institutions, and indeed UKRSA would suggest that local RSAs approach their local UCU branch if this was high on their agenda.
RSAs are well placed to organise events and engage with research policy at institutions, and in this respect they are not toothless. In the UK the research concordat requires institutions to engage with research staff, to ensure they offer career development opportunities, and by the end of the year most research universities will have been awarded the HR Excellence in Research badge, indicating that the institution has an action plan to implement the research concordat principles. Why does this matter? Well in a few years time institutions will be reviewed to ensure they are following that plan, and amongst the UK review team is a member of research staff – if your university won’t listen and says they will in their plan, there is a real chance they will loose the badge, prestige, and perhaps the ability to attract top researchers… That said the emphasis remains on RSAs and members of research staff to take action and engage with the initiative.
Remember you can be both a member of an RSA and a Union and draw on their experience and services as you see fit.
One last question, you argue "I would argue that RSAs are a distraction from really helping postdocs", what is it that postdocs most need?
If you argue this is pay negotiations, longer or indefinite contracts, and other contractual issues, being active within union is certainly the best way forward. However if it is peer support, career development, network building, then both the unions and RSAs provide complementary opportunities.