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Negotiating the Spousal Hire
This entry was posted in Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Negotiating Offers, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Tenure--How To Get It, Yes, You Can: Women in Academia and tagged getting a spousal offer, spousal hiring, spousal positions in academia, the spousal hire, the two-body problem. Bookmark the permalink.
Thanks Karen.
From what you say I am guessing that a spousal hire in the same department is going to be more difficult to secure than one in another department. Does anyone have experience with this particular issue? Should we be focusing on something else?
You can’t really assume that it will be more difficult.. it might be easier, if it’s a well-funded and powerful department that gets what it wants. In a department of 50 faculty, adding one more is not a huge step. In a department of 5, it’s massive, and thus controversial.
I was offered a TT position at an R1 this spring and negotiated to have a spousal hire as part of the package, but I’m commenting here because the way that I/we did so is completely counter to all of the advice I have ever heard, including that supplied above. Since it is counter, it might not be of further use to any one, but it can at least be included in our mental lore for the future? I had a phone interview for the above position, which went really well, and was followed within 24 hours with an e-mail offering an on-campus interview. I happened to have an offer in hand at the time…but it did not represent my ideal academic situation, whereas this new possibility seemed almost ideal. Deciding, “what the heck”, I replied saying that I thought this department was a much better fit and that I would love to come interview, but that I needed them to know that I had an offer in hand already, and as such, I would need to interview ASAP, I would need to be offered the position before the deadline for my previous offer…and that I would need a spousal hire (I still can’t believe that I actually said these things.) I did so very, very courteously and while making it clear that I was tremendously excited to interview, that I was very grateful to be asked, and that I realized that all of the above might not actually be possible, but that they were my needs and I was going to approach this entire process as honestly and transparently as I could.
And do you know, it worked! I was offered the position at the end of my interview, my spouse’s CV was vetted alongside mine during the interview process, and while my printed offer was being worked up, we traveled back so that my spouse could interview. With the Dean and the Provost’s approval, a position was made for my spouse (that roughly fit the specifics we had laid out and all of us had negotiated over). We ended up within the same department (which is small), and research institute. In this case, it helped that we were in the same discipline, because everything was absorbed and negotiated ‘in house’. I am certain that it would not have worked so well if we had differing foci.
I will also note that our university is amenable to spousal hires as there are limited employment opportunities in the region, but there are certainly not tons of academic couples on campus. We were very fortunate, but I think that sometimes, given all of the subterfuge that is a part of modern academic hiring and negotiations, being very straightforward can be very refreshing to all involved (and sets a nice precedent for what you will be like as a future colleague). I think that suddenly bringing up, “oh yes, and I’m going to need a spousal hire” after the department and the Dean have scraped the funds for one line together could potentially be really, really frustrating and irritating for administrators.
One takeaway from Jasprann’s story that aligns with my own observation: competing offers help a lot with spousal hire negotiations.
Yes indeediroo they do.
I know that this is an older essay, but I have a further question about spousal hires: is it appropriate to request one for a future spouse? As in, if you interview when you are engaged, but you will be married by the time the job begins, can you negotiate a spousal hire? Do you recommend disclosure of engaged/married status at job talks, or should we leave the ring(s) at home?
Also, generally speaking, do you think it is a plus or a minus to be married on the job market, as an academic couple? I don’t like the idea of rushing into marriage just to be assured that my partner and I can live in the same city/state, and I’ve heard that it can actually be a liability on the market.
I think the hard truth is that the spousal hire is such a pain in the ass for institutions to arrange that without the imprimatur of actual marriage they will balk (when this is possible–the same rule doesn’t apply to gay couples).
Don’t disclose the spouse who needs a job until a firm written offer has been made. If you have a spouse in a different line of work, you can mention him/her during the visit!
The plus/minus of being married on the job market is impossible to answer. I don’t think it’s a liability. I think it’s a STRAIN on you as a couple until you get work for both of you in the same location, but in terms of your standing for a job, I have not noticed that marital status has played a role in hiring, in the departments I’ve been associated with.
Interesting. It’s something my partner and I are currently debating, as we are both in academia. We are a bit on the younger side (entered grad school right out of college), so we are not sure we want to rush to get married – especially because the thought of getting married only to immediately be separated due to the job market makes us both miserable. However, if marriage means spousal hires, it’s a point to consider, although since we are in different fields, there’s no telling how it would shake out. The problem is, it’s going to be an emotional liability either way.
Thanks again for your excellent advice!
Very useful post, thank you! Would you have any insights on whether it is also possible to negotiate a spousal hire at a European University?