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[whereto]

I have just been headhunted for a chair at a new university. This has come as a bit of a shock to me as I sought promotion in my own institution some time ago and was unsuccessful - and that was a lower-level transition. The call came from a headhunting company though I have a colleague in the other department who may have suggested me.

My own department put almost everyone in for the RAE and came between Kent and Manchester. The other department put in about 1/3 of their staff and came between Keele and University of Ulster. So that gives you an idea of the relative quality.

The relevant points are:
*I could move, but it would be very messy personally. Potentially it would be less messy in about a year's time but I don't know how long the potentially messy situation is going to take to resolve - it could be longer and it would be really, really hard to move before that happens.

*I would love to be offered this and use it as a bargaining tool in my current department. The current department know about the messy personal situation (the outline, anyway) but they don't realize how hard this makes it for me to move.

*I would prefer to stay in this department, but I was half-heartedly looking for other positions already. I like where I live and this is the other side of the country (though Britain is of course, tiny, some places are hard to get to from others!).

*I have no idea why they thought of me but frankly, I'm not sure how appointable I am.  I have some older and more recent publications which are pretty good (though I say so myself) but in the middle there was a fair amount of languishing. I've just failed to get about 5 grants (3 of them in the last couple of weeks!).

*I am not clear how much teaching and admin this role would really involve. I don't know if headhunting companies really grasp the full complexities and responsibilities of academia (or what certain terms mean - the person I spoke to thought I was asking about salary when I mentioned startup funding).

*I'm not sure how prestigious this would be, frankly, or how easy it would be to push research to this department. My colleague there tells me they haven't been accredited for our RCUK PhD training; so few of the department are research active, and I've been (very junior) in a similar department before, and have a few colleagues like that here. If previous experience is anything to go by, motivating them would be an uphill battle. My colleague is good and an easy person to work with, but wouldn't be a huge draw.

I am slightly aware that my current department, though good, is not outstanding and we are currently seeking someone very prestigious. So it's a bit odd to be on the receiving end of this...

[babbinacara]

Can you clarify--you've been offered a chair by a headhunting company (!?) or have been headhunted to apply for a chair? The first sounds odd; the second is quite normal, and presumably you've no idea how many other names are getting a call and where you might rank among them.

Can you bargain in your current department? I get the impression most UK universities are less susceptible to making deals than is the case in the US. And if you've recently been turned down for promotion where you are but may end up with a theoretically better-looking offer elsewhere, your current colleagues could just say "goodbye".

You don't sound thrilled by this place nor convinced that you would get the job nor take it if offered; the only positive thing in your message is the possibility of the bargaining tool, which might never materialise.

I suppose it might be useful practice getting your cv and letter together in case something you do want comes up.

[scotia]

I have never seen anyone successfully use an offer from a lower ranked department as an effective bargaining tool to get a promotion (or any other advantage) in their own department, though I have known people who have tried it. If anything I would say it reduced their credibility in their own department. I have seen one person move to a lower ranked department as a chair and be so miserable that he accepted a lectureship to return to his previous department having left as a senior lecturer (I was on the promotions committee that considered his promotion back to SL a couple of years after his return).

[whereto]

I've been headhunted to apply. I've gone from confusion (I initially thought they were canvassing opinions on another candidate or candidates) to slight shock to feeling a little flattered; I'm also clearer on what this post would involve having given it some thought (we have a similar person in our, more go-getting, department) which increases the post's attractiveness slightly but not very much.

I think if I did apply, I will be seeing it very much as practice. I do think I'm an extremely long shot so although it would be nice to have a bargaining chip, it's highly unlikely it will get to that stage. But the messy personal situation could end up as an "oops, they can't wait long enough for me" get-out, in the final analysis. 

After all, if I find out my current institution aren't willing to promote me rather than lose me, that's a piece of information you only need to find out once - you aren't going to ask a second time.

I'm seeing the person who likely recommended me next week so I'll find out a little more about the post and the department/institution.  It is an odd institution, not a classic ex-poly, so hard to know for sure.

[totoro]

I was head hunted for a full professor position here in Australia. I talked with the headhunter on the phone and also in a face to face meeting. These were like regular phone or conference interviews. I didn't make the cut for the on campus interviews. The guy was an education specialist but mainly dealt with administrative hires I think. He didn't have too much clue about US academia and some other subtleties. It was an interesting experience.

[whereto]

I was head hunted for a full professor position here in Australia. I talked with the headhunter on the phone and also in a face to face meeting. These were like regular phone or conference interviews. I didn't make the cut for the on campus interviews. The guy was an education specialist but mainly dealt with administrative hires I think. He didn't have too much clue about US academia and some other subtleties. It was an interesting experience.

That sounds very similar to this setup - initial round of interviews, headhunter does a lot of education work but includes admin/VCs/school head teachers.
Even just having got to this point has likewise been interesting, to be honest.

[cranefly]

I wouldn't put too much stock in it. My first year I was 'headhunted' to be Dean of some new faculty somewhere. The headhunters don't necessarily know what  they're doing!!