Dr. Allison Sheds Light on Using Resolve
samanthaHutchins
Advice from Wari Allison @waritalks:
Signing up with Resolve was worth every penny for a number of reasons, but here are a few:
1) At the time that I was looking for a faculty position post-fellowship I was working overseas in Australia, so it was going to be challenging to coordinate the process from a different time zone. Job hunting is very time consuming. Using an agency like Resolve alleviated a lot of the stress. Time is always limited even if you are not overseas and certainly during residency and fellowship, and Resolve was worthwhile so that I could focus my time and attention on other things.
2) I found the contract advice/review that came as part of Resolve’s services to be very useful. We aren’t given any teaching on contracts in residency or fellowship and their content can be critical to your job experience. I didn’t have to hire a separate attorney to review my offer letter and contract. Never sign a contract (except a residency or fellowship contract which is standard with no room for negotiation) without getting someone experienced to look at it. If the organization recruiting you sees having your contract reviewed and returned with suggestions as a problem, that for me would be a big red flag.
3) Negotiation. My advice is always to negotiate for the things that are important to you within the job. Data shows that women in academia are particularly poor at doing this. Resolve encouraged me that they would be able to assist in finding the position I wanted which was that difficult combination of clinical with significant protected research time. This gave me confidence to wait for the job I wanted and I was never disappointed with the opportunities that they directed my way. All throughout the process it was clear that I was a priority for Resolve and they were so happy (and still are!) that I secured a position that was the very best fit for me. Two years later I remain extremely happy in my position.