I never got around to writing a recap of the Magnuson Series 5K that I ran in June, even though I wanted to. I was mostly stumped by my lack of planning, photo-wide: I failed to take a picture pre- or post-race, and the race photos didn't capture me somehow [Note: the Magnuson Series is a great bare-bones but CHEAP series that focuses on being able to track your progress from one month to the next, so I don't blame them at all for this!]. So I'll pad the race recap with some non-running photos of me, and running photos of not-me. :)

I'm a fake fake doctor!

Running the Magnuson 5K was actually a spur-of-the-moment decision; my family was in town for my graduation (the fake one -- I won't defend my dissertation until December) and I was looking for something active for my brother and me to do. A tempo run earlier in the week had me feeling good and I was wondering if I could challenge my PR of 28:55. So we jumped in the race. My goals for the race were: A) break 28:00, B) score a PR, and C) race smart and negative split the race.

We arrived at Magnuson Park in plenty of time for me to do my mile warmup and a few strides to boot. The morning was beautiful: sunny but cool, with temperatures in the low 60's. It's a small race series, so even after the gun went off there wasn't much maneuvering necessary. Gunning for a PR, I went out at a comfortably hard pace, and went through Mile 1 in 9:17. Looking back, it was a bit slower than I really wanted, but I wanted to save some (mental and physical) energy for the hill at about 0.6 miles. It's not a huge hill, but looms large in my head after feeling extremely defeated by it on the second lap of a 10K I ran there last year.

Once over the hill, I started to squeeze down bit by bit. I saw fastie Greg at several points on the course shouting encouragement, but didn't have much breath to waste telling him how I felt. By about the middle of Mile 2, I started feeling a little foggy and couldn't do much except try to maintain contact with the woman in front of me. I knew we had picked up the pace, but didn't know by how much. At certain points I tried to summon the energy to pass her, but I couldn't. I grimly hung on until the last couple of tenths of a mile, when I tried to kick but lost her by a few yards as I didn't have much left. Still, as I clicked off my watch crossing the finish line, I saw that I had run 27:57! The race was only gun timed so my official gun time was 28:03, but I'm counting it by watch time... ;) After catching my breath, I walked over and thanked the woman who I had followed for pulling me through, and she in turn thanked me for pushing her (she said she had heard my footsteps through most of the race).

Happily, my brother Murray also scored a PR (25:27), too: as evidenced by the pain face photo below!

Murph hangs on for a PR; cheers from Mama Z in the background!

Overall, I was quite pleased with the day. I had a race plan and executed it to good effect. I still don't claim to have a lot of mental toughness when things start to hurt, but I was able to hang on and accomplish all three goals that I had for the day. And a PR in at least one race distance was on my list of goals for 2015, so I'm happy to have checked that one off! Next up: I'll be running the Women of Wonder 10K on September 13, where I'll try to put some of these same racing lessons to the test in a longer format.

Last week's session on negotiation in a statistical career covered a broad range of situations in which negotiations skills might come in handy. The four panelists -- Nandini Kannan (UT San Antonio), David Madigan (Columbia), Nancy Reid (UToronto), and Kelly Zou (Pfizer) -- brought a wealth of experience in both academia and industry to the discussion. I summarized the first part of the session, about negotiating an initial salary, here. The remainder of the session took the form of scenarios posed by the moderator, Paula Roberson (UArkansas for Medical Sciences), in which negotiation might be needed.

Scenario 1: Negotiating pausing the tenure clock. This scenario can apply either to having children or to taking care of an elderly parent. Some institutions have formal agreements already in place with respect to the tenure clock, but if not, you might need to negotiate. In general, the same advice as for salary negotiations applies: just ask, and don't worry about figuring out if you'll get it or not. NR commented that it's the university's job (and in their best interest) to make sure that you can do your job well. Plus, she says, everyone wants women on their statistics faculty -- and if they don't, come to Canada! :) (NB: one special situation to note is that in Canada, if you take your first job just before finishing your thesis, the first year does not count against the tenure clock.)

DM also shared the experience of having an incoming faculty member negotiating to come up for tenure early. Don't do this! You are only negotiating against yourself. If you are successful early, go up for tenure early, but don’t negotiate it into your contract at the outset.

Scenario 2: Negotiating for a reduction of workload for major professional/service organization duties. What is appropriate here seems to be a bit greyer than in some scenarios, and depends highly on what the scope of the work is. Called to become the editor of JASA? Absolutely ask for a reduction in workload (at least in the academic sphere), since it's a major responsibility that also brings honor to your institution and department. Organizing a conference? Perhaps less reasonable to ask for a reduced workload. If you have a clear sense of the value of the activity, you can make a case to the chair/dean. 

In industry, KZ noted that negotiating a reduction in workload might be reasonable if the activity is highly relevant to your assigned tasks at work. Many companies have yearly goal-setting or professional development plans; you can write these extra activities into your plan, and the achievements can show innovation and leadership. (But avoid the impression that you are overextending yourself). Extra care may be needed if you work in the financial sector, where regulation may limit your extracurricular activities.

Scenario 3: Negotiating sabbatical and/or extended leave. Sabbatical schedule is usually fairly straightforward with respect to university policy, but there may be negotiations about how much support is available while on sabbatical, or whether you are allowed to teach outside of your university. Extended leave (such as the program officer position at NSF held by NK for several years) can be harder -- while it can be a valuable experience that reflects well on you and the university, it may be hard to "replace" you (teaching-wise) while you are still on the rolls. Most importantly, make sure the review process (for promotion, merit raises, etc.) is clear before you leave. Will the extended leave be viewed as a positive? You likely won't have as much time for research while you are away.

Scenario 4: Negotiating workload (such as teaching release and for local service). When can you ask your dean or department chair for release time? Activities that will add value to your institution (and cannot be easily accomplished within the scope of your current duties) such as developing a new course or building a new program are most likely to be well-received. NK commented that minority and women faculty are often put on many committees (because it looks good) -- if this is the case you may be able to negotiate the 3 or 4 committees where you will have the greatest impact.

Scenario 5: Negotiating for support that will help in applying for grants (e.g., partial time for a programmer). DM reiterated here, once again, that if you don't ask for it, you won't get it! As long as you make a reasonable case, asking for this kind of support will not reflect badly on you. KZ mentioned the results of a Harvard study that found that women tended to receive smaller grants than men because they asked for less money. Make sure you ask for support if it's needed, and realize that you are setting the stage for future grants in asking for support for students, programmers, etc. (there may be internal grant funders at your institution that can provide this type of support). 

Scenario 6: Negotiating at the time of changing position within a company/institution. DM noted that there is diversity by institution here with respect to what is negotiable. Some roles (say, within the department) may be preset in terms of compensation and teaching relief; exterior roles within the larger university (e.g., faculty senate, committee on curriculum) may be invisible to the department and require more to make your work apparent in these areas. NK emphasized the importance of clarity on how accepting these leadership roles will affect your promotion. She recommended getting agreements in writing (deans change, and verbal agreements may not be honored), and trying to negotiate some time off to get research back on track after a heavy administrative duty such as department chair.

Scenario 7: Negotiating collaborative authorship and author position. The panelists agreed that, while potentially uncomfortable, it's best to discuss this up front (before a grant is submitted). Make sure to be listed as a co-PI or investigator, not just a consultant. Make sure you have publication rights, and make sure you are all on the same page as to the expectations for contributions for authorship.

Scenario 8: Negotiating with funding agencies about the terms of an award. Know that if you get funded, your proposed budget will be cut. But by calling the program officer, you may be able to mitigate the effects. Additional student support is the easiest to negotiate; salary is hardest, since NSF has set rules. The program officer may be able to offer suggestions (especially for women/minorities) on where else to seek funding. It can sometimes be a good idea to call the program officer (ask nicely!) at the end of the fiscal year, when they might have some extra money (e.g., for an extra student). [Ed: NK primarily has experience with NSF funding, but suggested that the same approach is possible with NIH awards.]

Scenario 9: Negotiating retirement. DM commented that in academia, there's a bias in favor of retirement because of the desire to renew and bring in new blood. That means there's often willingness to negotiate and make retirement attractive. Retirement plans in academia have become "ever more exotic" and may include financial incentives -- so be creative! In industry, a retirement plan might be possible, such as a gradual reduction of hours, or working with mentees for knowledge transfer before you leave. When layoffs are imminent, taking a retirement package may be an attractive option (make sure to negotiate having health care in retirement, if possible!).

And there's enough advice to take you from graduation to retirement! One final piece of advice, from my fabulous dissertation advisor Patrick Heagerty (who was recently named chair of UW Biostatistics): identify the things you NEED (versus the things you WANT), and make sure you negotiate so that you will have the tools/resources at your disposal to be successful in your job.

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the American Statistical Association or the panelists. Some comments and questions have been summarized for content; I have tried to do this faithfully -- to the best of my ability -- but make no promises. 


Call for comments:

• What have been your (successful or unsuccessful) strategies for negotiation?  
• What are the areas of negotiation not covered by this panel, whether specific to a statistical career or not?

One the highlights of the 2014 Joint Statistical Meetings in Boston for me was attending a panel discussion on negotiation in a statistical career, from the initial job offer to negotiating leave and even retirement terms. While I am getting wonderful training in the theory and applications of (bio)statistics as part of my PhD program at the University of Washington, practical advice such as this is less common. The session was sponsored by the Joint Committee on Women in the Mathematical Sciences, among others, and though the advice given was applicable to all, the panel especially addressed issues of interest to women, who historically do less negotiating than men (to their professional detriment). 

The panel was moderated by Paula Roberson (PR), professor and chair of the biostatistics department at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and the panelists were:

• Nandini Kannan (NK), professor of statistics at the University of Texas at San Antonio and past/future program director at the National Science Foundation
• David Madigan (DM), professor of statistics, executive vice president, and dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University
• Nancy Reid (NR), University professor of statistics at the University of Toronto
• Kelly Zou (KZ), director of statistics and statistics lead in market research at Pfizer

The morning began with a discussion of effective and ineffective negotiation techniques during the initial recruitment process. Here is a brief summary of the panel's dos and don'ts:

DO:

• Know the market. The ASA publishes surveys of salaries by sector every couple of years; these can help you get an idea of what salaries might be reasonable for someone with your experience (though location and cost of living should also be considered). Salaries in the academic arena will also differ by the type of institution (a large research institution may have more flexibility in salary than a teaching-focused college, for example) or by the kind of department (biostatistics vs. statistics vs. mathematics, etc.). Talking to friends who have gone through the process recently may be helpful; recruiters will likewise know the market well and can give you an indication of the prevailing winds. In evaluating salary offers, especially in industry, keep in mind that compensation may be a mix of base salary, bonuses, and stock options.    
• Think outside the box. Although it is often the focus, salary is not the only dimension worth considering. At academic institutions, the department's hands may be tied with respect to salary, but the department chair may have more flexibility with respect to physical space, teaching load, summer support, and/or startup packages. Even in government or industry, there may be non-monetary benefits such as telecommuting that can make a job more attractive.   
• Ask for what you think you deserve. Women especially tend to feel that negotiating will reflect badly on them, but it is expected, not adversarial. As NR explained, negotiating is really "a friendly exercise that is better for both of you". And it's OK to walk away from the offer if necessary.
• Realize you won't necessarily get everything you ask for. But you definitely won't get what you don't ask for. 
• Bring up the terms of a competing offer, where applicable. There is nothing inappropriate about this, and it can be a powerful tool (or a "reinforcement of your value", as DM said). Especially in university settings, there can be a staggering range in salaries -- at least a factor of two between the highest and lowest paid at the same level of responsibility! DM attributes this to both differences in negotiation at the outset, and to retention packages later in one's career. Bringing up another offer will be most effective when the jobs are similar in terms of location, desirability, and responsibilities. 

DON'T:

• Jump at the first offer. It smacks of desperation, and can indicate that you don't really know your own worth.
  
• Come with a "laundry list". Or be completely inflexible in negotiating.
• Negotiate against yourself. NR recommends resisting the temptation to jump to the end of negotiations ("Give me a number.") because of discomfort with the process of negotiation. Don't hand over your power immediately, and don't try to imagine what's going on in the other person's head ("can they afford this?", "who will teach this class if I don't?") - that's not your job in the negotiation process! 
• Take a job that will make you miserable. No matter the salary. 

The panel also addressed a number of specific situations later in one's career in which negotiation techniques might be needed, but I'll save these for another post. 

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the American Statistical Association or the panelists. Some comments and questions have been summarized for content; I have tried to do this faithfully -- to the best of my ability -- but make no promises.