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[geogeek]

I have been there.  I left a tenure-track job to follow my then new husband to a place where he was offered a sweet job.  I was a Research Assistant Prof for a few years before getting on the T-T.  In the end, it all worked out, and I am now tenured and we work in the same department.  We are both very happy.

Sounds like a great story, but I must say that the transition was pretty tough.  I really felt the loss of status.  I think I grieved the loss of the job and status I'd worked so hard for as I might grieve a loss in the family.  I did not expect to be hit so hard by those feelings.  I wasn't taken as seriously by some as I had been at my old job, and even had people labeling me as a "postdoc."  This was after 4 successful years in a T-T position elsewhere and a high probability of making tenure, so the label stung.  I persevered, and focused on my research. The association with the university allowed me to submit grants and I had access to the library.  I found that having an office to work in at the university was key.  After we made noises about moving on, I was finally considered for a T-T position and got it.

My advice?  If you move ahead with this, don't work from home, as you will miss having colleagues and students around you.  It can be very lonely and depressing.  Get yourself some sort of adjunct position so that you can apply for funding.  Participate in university activities. Go to faculty meetings.  Advise students.  In other words, continue to comport yourself as you did in your T-T position, don't let ignorant people get you down, and then great things can happen. 

Good luck!

[wirtanen]

Thanks everyone! Offthemarket, yes I could have a 'guest scholar' position right away if I wanted it.  Geogeek, you address the points I was most concerned about. I think I would feel a loss of status if that tenured/tt hire didn't happen right away, and you have good advice about finding a spot on his campus. My love's dept chair wants me there and has already brought up this idea of a guest scholar and an office, and has also mentioned that he might have a small amt of funding for a year or two. He has also mentioned a spousal hire, but points out the lousy economic situation makes it difficult to do this *this year*. Also, I have found two organizations willing to let me submit proposals through them and are happy to take my grant money and handle it for me. And my consulting job will probably continue, and the pay has been substantial for the last few years. I've often thought of just pursuing *that* full-time. Anyway, lots of promising possibilities. We also continue to apply for jobs around the country.

A new development - when/if I leave I will feel less of a loss now, because I recently learned that my university is eliminating "my" major, and my department will soon no longer exist (we'll be moved to another dept). Morale is very low and we see a future of class sizes double or triple what they are now, and no teaching of the major courses in my field. Some people may enjoy that, but this is not for me. I would rather work outside academia than do this. I've been afraid of this for years, but now it's a done deal.

[totoro]

I quit a tenured job in the US and moved country so my wife to be (now wife) could do a post-doc. Post-docs in this country pay better than in the US (we can pretty much live on the one salary). I thought coming to this city would maximize both our job opportunities (and I am a citizen of this country and neither of us is a US citizen). At first I wanted to leave academia but after a year decided to get back in. So far I managed to get a one year position on a grant and then a month of funding in third country and have applied for a bunch of jobs here and get interviewed in most cases but no hire yet. I do still have an office on campus and title "Visiting Fellow". Now I am starting to apply back in the US and Europe as well. I think that actually I will be hired here eventually though, though several of the options have been exhausted.