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[upfkr]

I've been wrestling with dual career issues, as the "trailing spouse" in a science PhD couple, and I want to share two of our situations as examples.
We are early in our careers, and I am trying to be flexible and proactive, but the recruiting process is hard to navigate.

I've seen posts from deans/chairs saying you should tell them about your spouse right away, maybe because they want to cross you off the list.
Or--maybe there is some room for considering the needs of couples and families as long as communication is good and the trailing spouse is willing to compromise.
It seems to me that the strategy depends on your individual circumstance, the location of the university, and the dean/chair you are working with.

A little background:
Spouse: Science PhD--currently postdoc--interviewing for tenure track positions with positive feedback and offers rolling in
Me: Science PhD in different field. I moved to industry to support the family in our expensive town while spouse finished postdoc.  I am willing to be flexible, but would prefer job with a research component, and would very much like to return to academics.  Living separately would be very difficult for us--the distance relationship solution is out.

Situation#1>>A reasonable approach for a geographically isolated, small university: 
Career options for me here are limited.  My spouse brought the issue up with the dean early on.  I sent in an application for a lecturer position.  I'm wary of taking on too much teaching because it might make my research career difficult to develop, but I also want to strike a balance with the needs of the department and show my willingness to contribute.  Once it was clear my spouse was their top choice, and an offer was under negotiation, I talked to the Dean about options in detail, including a possible dual hire.  They appear to be open to dual positions, although they don't actually _have_ a faculty position from me.  I'm headed for an "informational interview," trying to demonstrate research potential and willingness to address their teaching needs and gaps in the department.  The dean is flexible and helpful and we are working well together to meet the issue head-on.  I may end up with an offer for a lecturer position, but I'm hoping for a faculty position that will enable research, publishing, independent grant applications, etc.  Since there is not much else around the university, and we want to make a commitment so that my spouse can succeed, I want to get a position where I can be happy and productive at least for five years or so of my spouse's assistant professorship. Maybe part of the agreement can be a heavy teaching load at first--when the need is great--in exchange for independent research in 2010, 2011, 2012.

I don't understand all the incarnations of the different non-tenure-track positions, but I am hoping to get a good deal that gives me some of the privileges of faculty.  I have some scientific cards to play during my talk and my meetings with faculty that I hope will develop into a desire to help me set up a research lab that will benefit the whole department.
 
Situation#2>>University in an urban area:  (Very positive feedback from spouse's interview indicates probable offer)
Here it may be easier for me to find work, but I would like to call on the dual career office to see whether they have any other insights, or whether there are any opportunities at the university.

I've considered writing a letter to the chair saying something like:

• • "I want to be proactive in my job search to complement my spouse's recruitment at this great institution.
    There are a few options in town that I am investigating--any additional suggestions from your dual career office would be useful.
    I would consider research and teaching jobs at your university, as well, but a position for me at your university is not a requirement for my spouse to accept an offer
    Here is what I can do in terms of research, which may be interesting to your department (name some professors). 
    I can teach these courses (short list). 
    I've attached my CV
    I am open to any suggestions"

Maybe I should wait for them to send my spouse an offer before making contact like this? 
Or would the chair appreciate the gesture and assemble his forces to help me? 
There's a "buzz" following my spouse's excellent research talks at her interviews--is that the right time for me to act? 
I don't want to ruin my spouse's chances at these top notch universities by being too pushy, but I also need to get more traction in my job search, and it's probably going to take time to find a job.  I understand that offers can appear quickly, so I want to be ready.

Thanks for reading

 

[inthelab]

Labspouse and I have had dual-career issues for over a quarter of a century.  We never did the 2-job bid thing.  EVER.  We looked independently.  Which is what I'd advise you to do for scenario #2- at that uni or another place within a commuting distance.  For scenario #1, it looks like there is nly 1 game in town.  A job beats no job, so if you wind up with #1, at least you both can look for something better while earning a paycheck.  Can you collaborate with your spouse if you wind up at #1?  At least you'd still be publishing some that way.  Are you eligible for an NIH transition award for folks going back to academia?  get one of those and even at #1, they'd have to give you time for research, since the transition award funds part of your salary and gives you protected time (you don't say if you are in a biomed field or not).

FWIW, I too was in industry for almost 14 years, until pharma became a big pain without the research.  It was Labspouse who told me about opportunities at his uni; I had had some connections because I gave lectures from time to time, and here I am for the past 11 years.

[upfkr]

I am biomedical (nonclinical).

I have not seen an award for people returning to academics from industry, inthelab.  Please let me know if you know a grant I could apply for.  I don't have an institution (I'm at a biotech).
As far as I understand the transition awards are to transition from postdoc to faculty.  I tried to get support from my postdoc mentor to apply for two transitional awards but got no traction, and was not able to cover my expenses and continue for his five-year-postdoc-term, so I had to leave.
I am no longer eligible for the K99 transitional award because I have been a research scientist for one year (enough to fix our cash flow problems until my spouse's postdoc funding runs out--soon).  I am not sure about the K01.  Does a bad financial situation driving me into industry and caring for small children with a full-time job count as a hiatus in career because of family responsibilities?  Anyway, I would have to go into a new area of research (again K01), since I am the flexible one following my spouse, so maybe that will count.  I suppose I should talk to a program officer about eligibility, and talk to potential mentors before ditching my job for an uncertain landscape.

I am trying to figure out how to get help finding a job, in industry or academia, and some support so that I can do research and write some publications to get back into the game.  The hiring departments want to move faster with my spouse than I can do my job search, even as I type into the wee hours of the morning.  At least it gets easier to revise my applications each time.

Following a solid offer for my spouse, I suppose I could find a mentor at the same place and do a postdoc or research faculty job.  They would have to foot the bill until I could get funding, but I have some good skills that people are eager to exploit.  I would prefer that I get some kind of assurance that I can apply for independent grant funding before we make such a big commitment.

I have some projects lined up to work on with my spouse--so working together is a possibility.  But is this a good idea?--I already hear research and career plans late into the night, and I offer strong contributions, but I'm not sure if I can do that around the clock being supervised by my spouse.

[upfkr]

Turns out that I have some marketable skills, so a number of faculty want to hire me.
Most of the senior faculty pretend to help me out, then look for ways to exploit my situation. 

There's a constant effort of the chairs to get my spouse to sign with the minimum possible investment, reassuring me that there are good opportunities, applying pressure to my spouse to sign, we hold our ground, eventually revealing their plan to rope me into a long commitment to a senior postdoc position.

If only the job market would open up a little bit.

This is my third job compromise for my spouse, so it's starting to wear on me.

[inthelab]

Just saw this again.
You might be early career enough to qualify for a K award.  I think nearly all institutes offer those, go the the websites and see which do and which of those matches your research.
I think there are similar transition awards from other agencies like DoD, and early investigator awards from many private foundations.
Good luck.

[upfkr]

No chance at a K for me as far as I can tell.

Took a staff position, taking one for the team.  Negotiated some room for myself, but unfortunately the offer letter was a lie they are not sticking to the minimal offer that I would accept.

Lots of other stuff going on--too ugly to discuss, probably illegal, and beyond my control.  My science is going OK but doesn't seem to matter.

Unfortunately nothing I can do, and now
  lost career
  losing marriage
  people who have helped me are being punished
  no job for me to transition to

Just don't follow your spouse to become staff if you are dedicated and don't plan on staff being your permanent career.
It will tear you apart.

(Heeding warnings about your future boss is important, too)