For anyone applying for a faculty position, this is probably the nightmare scenario: you interviewed, you like the position, they liked you, they offer you the position, you begin negotiating, and then they pull the offer. What the hell just happened? This topic is difficult for me to discuss because it is so thoroughly beyond-the-pale unprofessional and unacceptable for institutions to pull an offer that I can barely wrap my head around it. Nonetheless, it does happen in veterinary medicine, and I have personally seen it twice.
The first I heard second-hand about but did not participate in. The small, private institution had offered a candidate the position and the candidate came back with requests. The problem is, one of those requests was absolutely impossible for the institution. The applicant felt strongly about it, though, so contemplated it for a long time and came back with another possible solution. There was at least one other back-and-forth like this. The candidate came back with another possible solution, and the hiring manager at the institution became frustrated and said, “Forget it.”
The second happened to a friend of mine. They received an offer for a faculty position at an off-campus research center affiliated with a large state school. My friend came back with a request for flexibility to allow remote work from an office on-campus (4 hours away from the research center) 4-6 days per month because of a personal family situation. The institution pulled the offer without further negotiation or explanation.
Let me be clear: this is the fault of the institution, NOT the applicant. I told my friend that it was probably for the best: any organization which would pull an offer during negotiations is not one you want to work for. This happens only because individuals at the organization get ego and emotion involved, which you SHOULD NOT do during negotiations. Here’s how negotiations are supposed to work:
The institution extends an offer. You respond with what you would like in order to accept it. The institution responds. They may give you everything, they may give you something, or they may give you nothing of what you ask for. If they give you everything, great, you accept the offer. If they give you something, you may be able to reply asking for a different something. The second-to-last step in any negotiation is the institution saying: this is our final offer, take it or leave it, and we need a decision by this date. It is then up to the candidate to decide if that is acceptable to them or not.
I can’t imagine why an institution would rescind an offer unless it is due to ego or emotion. I have heard administrators say during a negotiation, “Well, they aren’t appreciative enough of our offer,” or “What they are asking for is unreasonable.” The first reflects a ridiculous premise- of COURSE they appreciate the offer, but they want to do the best thing for themselves, their colleagues, and the institution. The second is irrelevant- if the institution believes it is unreasonable, they can reply with, “We cannot do that.” That’s how negotiations work!
If you are applying for faculty positions and are concerned about the pulled offer, my advice is: Do not be concerned. First, they are vanishingly rare. I have a personal sample of probably 50 negotiations of which I am aware enough to know if this happened. The fact that this happened in only two cases indicates a 4% incidence rate. In fact, the rate is very likely much lower than that, as there are hundreds more negotiations I do not know of that did not result in a pulled offer. Second, it is a GOOD thing if an institution pulls an offer to you. This indicates they are immature and unprofessional and don’t know how to conduct a negotiation. You don’t want to work at an institution like that. Of the two cases I described, I believe both candidates dodged a bullet.
Any competent administrator, if faced with a situation where they can’t give a candidate what the candidate is asking for, will say so, “This is the best we can do. Let us know by this date if you will accept or not.” When negotiating, you need to ask for what you NEED and what you WANT and offer reasonable explanations for your requests. Don’t accept any less because you are afraid of the pulled offer. The reasonable institution will give you what they can and negotiate in good faith.