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[nichola32]

I am in my 3rd year as a tenure-track professor. For professional and personal reasons I am considering applying for jobs in the UK this year. Whether that will be successful or not is still to be seen. However, I am also worried that in case it doesn't work out, and my department finds out that I am applying somewhere else, this will negatively influence my chances of getting through my mid-term review and also getting tenure at the end of the 6 years (if I am still at my current institution at that time).
I have read other forums about the difficulty of moving to a different job post-tenure (in the US) so it seems that it is not easy in general.
So, there are risks for both scenario's: the risk that my current department finds out I want to move away pretenure or the risk of not landing a new job post-tenure. I presume that others have struggled with this as well. What did you decide? Do you have some ideas/suggestions/arguments?

[expatinuk]

You've pretty much covered the issues in your case. In the US most departments don't really get upset if you quietly go on the market prior to tenure or tenure review. Just don't dance down the halls screaming that you've gotten an interview (if you do).

Also, since you wish to move to the UK do a LOT of research about the RAE, the salary structure in the UK and most importantly the cost of living here. Americans are often shocked by the cost of housing and transportation in the UK. There seems to be a mistly eyed view of cheap train travel that just doesn't exist.

Good luck.