Bring up spousal/parnter hire at interview?

[blakjak12]

Hi everyone,

I have a few campus interviews coming up for university faculty positions (two which would be classified as R01s and two as R02s that still include a significant research emphasis). I have a partner in the field who also is on the job market.

I have asked a few mentors for advice on bringing up having a spouse in the field who also would need a position at campus interviews, and have received conflicting advice (we realize this may not be a tenure-track faculty position, but even a visiting or adjunct position would be nice). Several of them advised me not to bring this up at the interviews and to wait until/if I receive an offer. They recommended approaching it this way because (1) you have no leverage until after an offer and (2) you don't want to make your campus interview about trying to ascertain if a two-person situation is possible. Others have said that search committees may appreciate being told upfront about spouses/partners, however. Any thoughts or advice on how to approach this? Thanks!

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[deleted343839]

If you absolutely would not consider a position without a spousal hire option, I think there is a case to be made for being forthcoming at the time of the interview, though I don't think it's necessary. In any other scenario, I would wait for an offer. Keep your expectations reasonable. Negotiating for two TT jobs is tough to pull off.

 

[Justanothergrad]

I can't imagine the stress of two concurrent academic searches trying land at the same institution. I've had friends pull it off, but I know it was tough and took a lot of negotiation during interview process between both them and the university and between each other. When I was on the market I asked about job opportunities for my partner (in psych but not a researcher) and emphasized how that mattered for me to settle into the area. Given some of my research, this also lined up with inquiries about things I would need to know about what I work on. I didn't push it as hard until after the offer because that's when you have the most power.

 

[blakjak12]

Thanks for the helpful responses! Good to get some feedback and outside opinions.

 

[SAPsych]

I have been faculty at two R02s (with significant research components) - so has my partner (same departments). In our first search, I was the more competitive applicant and we negotiated a non-TT position for my partner. I brought up my partner during the interview because I was more or less asked directly about it, with the search chair even specifying that it would be really helpful to know NOW if there were certain accommodations I would be seeking. In our second search, my partner and I "outed" ourselves immediately in our cover letters - we didn't want to waste everyone's time/money if departments weren't willing to consider us both (and we didn't need to leave our prior positions). We both got phone interviews at 3 or 4 places together, on campus interviews and TT offers at 2 places together, and interestingly I got a handful of additional phone and campus interviews individually. Based on my N of 1 experience, I was successful negotiating the two-body problem being upfront. Who knows if I could have been more successful if I hadn't, but at least I felt like it limited a lot of my stress.