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[phdmom]

My spouse and I are applying for two separate positions in the same department at a university that is known to be very proactive when it comes to spousal hiring.  Sounds promising.  But this raises a dilemma -- should   we reveal in our cover letters, in the interest of full disclosure, that each person's spouse is applying for the department's other open position?  Here's what I'm thinking -- two searches, two search committees, two different last names ... they may never know the difference if we don't say anything.  This would normally be fine at this early stage, but because the department is hiring in our two fields (broadly speaking ... the list of desired subfields in each search is quite long), it may be too late to negotiate a spousal hire at a later stage, should one of us be lucky enough to get an offer.  What would you do?

[englitprof]

Will you list the same address anywhere in your application? 

I really don't know what I would do in your case.  When my spouse and I applied for two positions in the same department, we didn't say anything explicit in our letters but we share the same  last name and address and I'm sure the committee put two and two together.  At any rate, we both made it through the first cut.

I guess I'm inclined to say mention it, but I'm not sure what would be the best way to phrase it...

[phdmom]

Yes, we will use the same addresses (both institutional and home) in our applications.  But with two different search committees (the department to which we're applying is quite large), I don't know if that would be enough to clue anyone in.

[2bodyprob]

would you take the job if only one of you got an offer? That is what matters. If the answer is no and if you don't need an offer for leverage "against" another university, then you might as well mention it. The committees might be different, but there could be one person on both and tell others of the situation.
If you are "desperate" to get a faculty position, then you could mention your spouse but say that you are willing to settle for a compromise if one of you was not made an offer (researcher position, soft money or 1/2 soft money, ...). That way, you let them know but does not make it impossible for them to make one of you an offer if the other one is not a good fit. You can always negotiate something after the offer

[msparticularity]

I think it's a mistake to discuss anything in the cover letter that would make you "the complicated candidate." Earlier threads have advised that one should always wait until an offer is made to ask for spousal accommodation. In this case it might be desirable to mention the spousal application a little earlier - say in an interview (phone or campus) - but it just seems like a bad idea to clutter up the letter with it. In particular, I really advise against putting in anything about being willing to compromise or whatever.

[normative_]

I wouldn't do it either. The SCs will make their decision on criteria that is important to them. If one of you is so desireable to the department making the first offer that they are willing to consider this, and if the other spouse has already been short-listed in the other department, then it would certainly make sense. But there are a few milestones to pass between then and now.

[brycem]

I agree that I wouldn't include anything in cover letter, even in a large department they've got to talk to each other enough to figure out that you are together.

[longfingers]

I wouldn't mention it unless

1) you wouldn't take the job unless you both got a job there.

or

2) There's no way they'd miss the connection between the two of you, so that you'd prefer to spin it yourself first.

If they're interested in one but not the other, they might give second thought about the one they're interested in...

Think of it this way, how could it help you?

[boringmember]

I wouldn't mention it in the cover letter.  If either of you are invited for a visit, I'd mention it then though.

[helpful]

We hired in a small field years ago and knew that two candidates for two different positions were married to each other. That fact didn't matter to us. We so wanted one of the candidates so we naturally interviewed the spouse as well.

I would mention it if your two fields are small enough that any SC would know you are married. It would look awfully funny if you didn't mention it and everyone knew anyways.

PS In addition to the common address question, there is also the fact that often couples write together if they are working in the same field. So I would also be careful about hiding the fact you are married if you have several publications together.