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[projo]

I have an interview at an R1 school, a dream job for me.  A place I'd go into, if offered, with the intention of staying forever.  My partner and I are at a second tier state university, and both got our jobs here independent of one another.  Both he and I would love to go to a uni similar to the one I now have an interview for.  Being long distance is not an option for us since there would be no tangible end date to being long distance, and we do not want to live that way.  We are not yet married, however have discussed it, and decided when I applied that we'd go for a spousal or partner hire if I were offered the position.  In this economy, what is the likelihood of this?  This school is in the midwest, fyi, if that makes a difference.  Here are my questions:

1.  At what point do you ask about the possibility of him being hired at R1 school?  My instinct is to not mention a word of it until/if I get an offer.  If I don't get the offer after all, it's an irrelevant point during the interview process, right? 

2.  Are R1 schools more or less likely to offer him a position than a smaller university?  I realize that a lot of this is dependent upon his qualifications, which none of you know.  It is in a mid-size city, about 70K, so not huge.

3.  If they are willing to consider doing this for us, if I get the offer, what is the process?  My understanding is that I would need to ask that they consider hiring him during my negotiations with my department chair.  (we are in different departments)  If they agree to entertain the possibility, he goes up and interviews to prove himself to his potential new department.  Exactly how do you ask for this to begin with, without being demanding, but clear that you really need it for them to get you.

4.  Of course an ideal situation is that they offer him a t-t position ... which he has now.  I have heard of places that will offer a visiting position to the trailer.  I'm not sure how he'd feel about this, something we need to discuss.  If this happened, has anyone taken a one year leave of absence from their current school in order to retain some leverage of having a t-t position on the back burner at second tier state university?  Is this even leverage?  Would this help in keeping the position or later negotiating a t-t position?

5.  The time line on this is worrisome to say the least.  For my job, apps were due Feb. 1, and I will go mid-March to interview.  By the time they decide, it will likely be late March/first week of April.  With that May 1 date looming ... well the timeline is pretty tight.  How long does this typically take, if it is an option?

I realize that my head is spinning on this one, for a job I don't have an offer on yet.  BUT, I don't want to ignore the possibilities and be unprepared if any of these things come to fruition. 

[mended_drum]

There are a number of opinions of when you should inquire about a spousal/partner hire, but I agree that you should wait until you have a firm offer.

The process varies by institution; some school have formal procedures for hiring spouses, some have informal procedures and some have no procedure at all.
Whether your spouse can receive a tt offer may largely depend on whether a formal procedure exists and/or there just happens to be a need for his specialty that hasn't been filled. 

And you'll have to face the possibility that the institution may be unwilling or unable to employ your spouse at all.

[projo]

One more thing, we are in different departments but the same college.

[boringmember]

I'm also on the interview trail and I brought up my spouse during the campus visit.  I did it when I met with the Dean.  I've done this twice and have gotten both offers, so I don't think it hurt me in any way.  My SO has done the same with respect to me.  I just told them that I am married and have a spouse who was also on the market so if there's an office or someone who could help us be in the same city, I'd appreciate the information.  Neither Dean seemed surprised and both put me in touch with the relevant people on campus.  When you get an offer, you often only have a couple of weeks to decide, which isn't really enough to arrange a position for your spouse.  If you tell them at the interview, they have a bit more time to set up interviews etc.

[sibyl]

Spousal and partner hires have more to do with the institution's own choices than with the economy.  Some R1s embrace spousal hires because it helps land good people; others disdain them, because of course everyone wants to work at our R1 and there is no need to foist a less-qualified partner on a department.  Some institutions will only offer jobs to spouses and not partners.  So unless you can find references to spousal or partner hires, you can't know for sure, and you have to make your own decision.

If you are certain there is no way you will take the job without a TT offer for your partner, then tell them this now.  Otherwise all you are doing is wasting their time and yours.  (You don't need interviewing "practice.")

If you are open to the possibility that your partner would look for a job near you if they don't offer a TT job at "your" university, then I incline to the view that you should say nothing until and unless you get an offer.  If they do not offer partner hiring, then they will use this as an excuse to cross you off the list.  (It has much less to do with bias against partnered folk than with trying to decide between three or four equally attractive candidates.)

The contrary argument is this:  It takes time and energy to pull off a spousal hire.  If you tell them right now, then maybe they will have the time and energy to arrange it; if you wait until the last minute, you make it that much harder for us to hire your partner, and for that matter you.  And May 1 comes to all of us, doesn't it?

Good luck.

[appendage]

I'm with sibyl on this.

The first time I went on the market, I was still ABD, my partner had a TT job already, and I hid my marital status. I landed a TT job at an R1; but we ended up living apart for a year and I left the R1 for a fellowship near her.

On the market this year, we both knew we wouldn't accept a job without a spousal hire so we were open if asked and "outed" ourselves to (a) faculty we trusted/knew and (b) department heads.

My attitude about the whole thing at this point is this: I don't want to be somewhere that doesn't want both of us ... and being forthright early is going to give the right department the time to work something out if they're inclined to do so. Does that mean that you might be thrown out of the pool somewhere because they want nothing to do with a partner hire? Maybe; but do you really want to waste your time and theirs if that's the case?

I had five campus interviews with one TT offer this year. My spouse had two campus interviews with two TT offers. One of her places invited me out for a campus visit (that makes six) and came up with a TT line for me and we're looking forward to starting our new lives together. :)

Good luck!

[projo]

Isn't it against affirmative action regulations for them to ask you of your marital status in an interview???  This being my understanding, under what circumstances would they legally be able to ask you if you will require a spousal hire?

[mdwlark]

Isn't it against affirmative action regulations for them to ask you of your marital status in an interview???  This being my understanding, under what circumstances would they legally be able to ask you if you will require a spousal hire?

The candidate can choose to bring it up.  The question is: is it a good idea and when? 

As far as the search committee bringing it up, they can "legally" ask you just about anything.  There are no laws against questions, just laws against discrimination.  AA "regulations" are just smart practices to avoid leaving the university wide open for a discrimination lawsuit. 

[appendage]

I think there's some debate about that. Is it a BFOQ? Most agree it isn't. That said, it doesn't stop faculty from asking you. In my experience, I have been asked by (usually) senior faculty, sometimes administrators, and almost always men (I can't think of a time where it wasn't a man who asked me). Oh the stories I could tell ... but I won't.

And of course, while I was typing my reply, mdwlark posted something great. :)

[boringmember]

I've been asked inappropriate questions more often than not (interestingly, my husband is rarely asked them).  I think it's better to be prepared for the questions so that you're not caught off guard.

[temporaryname]

I volunteer things pretty freely in campus interviews (though not on the phone/at a conference). I figure that if I speak up about me and my life when appropriate (e.g., people are chatting about their kids or partners or whatever at lunch, I throw in comments about mine along the lines I'd say in ordinary polite conversation with peers at a conference), then (a) I appear more human and (b) I can better gauge whether these are people I can see myself working with. It's worked for me so far, and I've never had to worry about "inappropriate" questions, because I've short-circuited the whole issue.

(A couple times, though, I've been chatting about my children with a SC member, only to have another SC member walk in and get worried about the topic of conversation. I just say that *I* brought it up, though, and everything's fine from that point.)