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[wonderland]

Dear Wise Forumites:

I will be a fresh graduate this summer in an AHA field and my SO is  now in her first year at a tt position at a top private R-1 university (thought not one of the Ivy league) in a different discipline which has a relatively better job market than my field. I have had two on-campus interviews with two R-1 universities this year and am wondering whether it makes sense at all for me even to try to negotiate a spousal hire. My spouse and I may show some potential for good scholarship but cannot claim to be superstar. I understand that spousal hires often happen to senior scholars. Do you happen to know any concrete examples where a fresh graduate in an AHA field succeeded in getting a tt spousal hire? Any particular advice as to how to broach this issue if I do get the offer? What strategies might be most effective in this kind of situation? Thanks for all your help.

[sunanoonna]

Strangely enough, I was about to post this exact question. I'm ABD in history, my husband is a recent Ph.D. in a different humanities field currently in a postdoc. If I get an offer, what's the most I can hope for for him? I have the impression that I should be grateful for getting any adjunct work at all for him in his department, and that asking for a TT position would be laughable. So I'm planning to ask for an "adjunct or visiting" position for him.

Other thoughts on this?

[terpsichore]

I don't know about AHA fields, but I do know this:

- After you are offered the position, but before you accept it, is the best (really the only) time to negotiate. You have leverage during that time. After you accept the job, there is no incentive for the university to provide a position for your spouse or partner.

- If you do not ask for the position your spouse wants, the institution will certainly not spontaneously offer it. They won't even know what you hope for unless you tell them!

Wait until the offer has been made and negotiations begin. Then let the chair or dean (whoever you are negotiating with) know what you would like. Don't be demanding, like you expect to be treated like a superstar, but don't be apologetic about your request, either. Simply state what you would like to see if conditions were ideal. For example, "My spouse would be interested in a TT position in _ department." They may come back and say that is not an option, and then you can negotiate a visiting, adjunct, or similar position. But you won't know what is available if you don't ask.

[wonderland]

I did get the job offer and the school indicated that they would be willing to offer my SO a contract-based position and that down the road there might (just might) be a tenure-tract position opening up for which my SO might apply. But apparently, there is no guarantee that my SO will get the tt position eventually. I appreciate the school's accomodation, but my SO is already in a tt position at R-1 univ. (although in a different city). The options for us now is either my SO stays in the current school and waits for the tt position at my would-be school, or comes with me for a contract-based position and takes the risk that there might be no tt position turning out for my SO (either because there is no vacancy or because my SO is not offered the opening). I know this involves many personal considerations as well. But based on your hindsight or observations, what kind of factors or risks do you think either option might involve? I would very much appreciate all your insights. 

[daniel_von_flanagan]

I did get the job offer and the school indicated that they would be willing to offer my SO a contract-based position and that down the road there might (just might) be a tenure-tract position opening up for which my SO might apply. But apparently, there is no guarantee that my SO will get the tt position eventually.

If your husband joins you on a contract basis and your department decides they dislike one of you, then you will both be out of jobs; this is a big risk.  (My wife and I once went through something like this.)

This is a decision you need to make based on your personal priorities.  Your best chance of ending up in positions you both like in the same region is to each take the best job you can now, even if they are geographically separate, and build your portfolios to make you more attractive in a future search.  However, if being apart for a couple of years at this point in your is impossible, then the risk might be worth it.  - DvF

[castafiore]

It is a frustrating situation. DvF is right that you have to make the decision based on your priorities as a couple. Is the university realizing that your partner has a tt position at an R1? If so they must realize that the partner is unlikely to want to give that up for a contract position. The options are all unappealing but here they are:

1) You accept the job, SO stays at hu's job. You are both unhappy and spend time applying for jobs, and money commuting. You try to be better positioned for "rising star" status in a few years and hope that one of you can finagle a spousal hire at that time.

2) You accept the job, SO comes as contract hire, at which point the university does not bother to do anything else knowing that you are there already and they've got you where they want you! Depending on your SO's career aspirations and your interpersonal dynamics, SO might be disgruntled and someday resentful. Who can say.

3) You decline the job (or say, I am sorry, but I cannot take this job without a tt position for my SO, which opens you to the possibility of losing it... in a dream world then they would say "Oh well, then we will make one for you!") and live off your SO. Same kind of career aspirations vs. interpersonal issues apply.

I'm currently in a 1) holding pattern. Hence my depressing reply!

Good luck.

[englitprof]

It seems to make most sense to me for your spouse to keep her current job and apply when this (supposed) tenure-track job opens up at your gig.  This would maintain the most job security for both of you, and if you've made yourself an integral part of the dept. by the time your spouse applies, their desire to keep you may work to her advantage.

[tenured_feminist]

Never give up a tenure-track job without a compelling justification.

[august_leo]

I negotiated (??) a post-doc for August-Lion, but the university here has a group in his area and I mentioned it immediately -- at the end of the "we'd like to make you an offer" phone call.

[terpsichore]

Never give up a tenure-track job without a compelling justification.

So true!

[wonderland]

Never give up a tenure-track job without a compelling justification.

So true!

I am wondering whether someone in like situation (i.e., ABD or within three years post-Ph.D.) has succeeded in securing a spousal hire this year so far (or in the past few years). It will be great if people with such experience can share some ideas of creative solution to this taxing situation. I.e., what kind of packages or arrangement worked/works better. I am sure everybody would prefer a tt position for the SO right away, but that is mostly unrealistic. Any creative suggestions/solutions?

[oseph]

No spousal hire for my spouse was forthcoming, but my spouse just started calling and emailing schools in the area and has ended up a) getting an offer for a very good visiting position (renewable) nearby, and b) forging relationships with people at the school where I probably will be working, and they have said how impressed they are with spouse's CV and how they want to keep in touch for when a T-T position opens up in the near future (they even offered use of an office, a library card, a computer, and invited spouse to give a few talks next year).  Start networking -- you may be surprised.  We were.  It only took about ten days to accomplish this, and all in an area with very few schools.

By the way, if YOU get a good offer, perhaps you can use that to get a job in your SO's neck of the woods, since she already has a good job.  You become more desirable when other people want you.

[larryc]

To answer the original question, it is damned unlikely.

[t_r_b]

Maybe a better question would be, how likely is it for a job candidate with only one offer (and no current job) to get a spousal/partner hire?

In other words, I suspect that OP's lack of leverage (i.e., lack of other job options) is a greater hindrance here than the date on OP's degree.

Has your partner attempted to get you a job at her university? If you could get a contract gig there, or nearby, you might then have more leverage in the future. But it all comes down to how much they need you compared to how much you need them. If you have multiple options, then you can negotiate for a better deal.

[wonderland]

To answer the original question, it is damned unlikely.


Posted by: the_raised_bar
Maybe a better question would be, how likely is it for a job candidate with only one offer (and no current job) to get a spousal/partner hire?

In other words, I suspect that OP's lack of leverage (i.e., lack of other job options) is a greater hindrance here than the date on OP's degree.

Just an update. I have got both R1 jobs from the two interviews I had this year and cancelled the third one due to the time restraint. So far, one school has promised a contractual appointment with a tt position created within a year for my SO; the other one has been working on the same or a better deal. I don't know how this situation will end up, but it seems some schools are really interested in accommodating their new hires (even for a junior hire). So the situation is not as gloomy or hopeless as it might often seem. So remain hopeful and continue working hard at resolving the two-body problem.