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[prevprofmd]

Here is the situation: my spouse and I both have PhDs. Mostly because I'm apparently more aggressive/anal, hu has wound up following me around for the past 15 years. It has been a complicated path. We went together to postdocs at a major R1. I then got tt job at top-10 R1, and he negotiated post-doc there. Did that for 5 years, but then my ambitions/goals changed and I quit tt (yes, crazy, I know) and went to med school. Hu stayed, more postdoc years (technically higher rank, but remained under another prof since this uni does not have tt research positions in his field). Eventually hu added adjunct positions at local cc, which it turns out hu loves.

Now I have 1 year left of residency and will be eminently employable anywhere in US. Hu wants tt job, but not R1 or SLAC--hu wants to teach at a cc or lower tier uni. (Unlike me) he loves the under-achiever, under-motivated students. My fear is that hu is now 10+ years post-PhD with no tt jobs. Tons of pubs, including top top journals and excellent student evals, but I am very worried about job prospects. I guess following my usual (anal/aggressive/paranoid) timelines, I keep encouraging hu to apply this year to jobs that are a good fit, but not a single app has gone out yet. I know it is up to hu to apply, but it is my life too and I want to get on with it. Is there any possibility of jobs that hire now but start date can be negotiated? Back when I did the prof thing, lots at my R1 did this, but I'm guessing that's a diff market? Hu's field is STEM, so there are jobs, but I'm not at all clear how market works anymore.

And I do realize that we are lucky that only one of us is hard to place now, but it has taken a LONG time to get to this point.

[madhatter]

So, your question is if he can apply this year and negotiate a start date of next year?

It's possible in some circumstances, not possible in others. However, the cart is so far ahead of the horse here that it's not worth worrying about. Your husband needs to get his applications out, as many as possible. Then land some interviews, then get an offer or offers, then see if it's possible to negotiate a deferred start date. Even if it's not possible, for a good TT job, it might would be worthwhile for you two to live apart for nine months or so until you're able to join him.

BTW, is your husband's penis detachable? I noticed he gained and lost his gender several times in your post. You might want to look into stronger glue.

[prevprofmd]

That's my basic question. He doesn't think it is worth applying because no one will negotiate start date while I try and convince him that everything is negotiable.

I'm not used to trying to be gender-neutral when posting, guess I'll just abandon it as too much trouble.

[madhatter]

That's my basic question. He doesn't think it is worth applying because no one will negotiate start date while I try and convince him that everything is negotiable.

Well, some things are negotiable, some things are not, but you'll never know which it is until you get a chance to negotiate. (I'm full of little aphorisms like that -- another favorite is "You can't turn down a job you haven't been offered.")

Even if your husband was unquestionably a strong TT candidate, he could easily be on the job market for several years before finding a suitable position. It might be that the only position that he will be offered is available this year. Or it might be that it's coming up three years from now. There's no way to know. But I do know he won't get that job if he doesn't apply for it.

(See? Told you I'm loaded with these pithy little things.)