I'm baffled about something, and I've never asked anyone about this. Can someone here from the academic side of the fence tell me why this happens. And what value it provides the person putting it into their CV.
I have seen this time and again . . . An academic scientist will write "Positions Offered" as a section of their CV. In that section, they'll show what is sometimes a very long list of position titles and other institutions that have offered them a job. I just had one now in which the list of 12 schools and job titles had "Offered" followed by "Declined." There was one that was "Offered" and "Accepted" and that was the present position.
To people in industry -- can you imagine putting this into your resume or CV? What's the effect of a person who reads that you've already turned down six other jobs? Do you think they are going to get excited and rush to be #7? NO. It's a giant turn-off. I advised my client, a non-profit research institution, that extending an offer to that person would be a bonehead move (not the words I used) and the offer went elsewhere. And was accepted I might add.
I'd love to know what is so different in the culture at the University that allows people to show these as stripes on their sleeve instead of what they really are -- signs of disloyalty to their employer.
Dave