Spousal hire

Spousal hire

GS_2016 12 Dec 2016 18:09

Good morning everyone.

I am on the job market and was wondering about spousal hire. I read some of the previous posts on the topic but would like to get some updated info and ask more specific questions to my situation. My husband is also in graduate school but he is a year behind me with getting his PhD. He is also in psychology but in a different subfield than me.
1) when an offer comes, and spousal hire will be mentioned, is there a point in bringing other things like salary?
2) can the additional year until my husband gets his PHD be actually a good thing? Will allow the department and the school a year to figure out funding and such?

Any other advise will be highly appreciated!

Thank you!

Re: Spousal hire

anonymous5 12 Dec 2016 18:37

I would also like to ask a similar question. My spouse is potentially interested in a faculty position (at the same or nearby school) in a different field than me, starting a year later. Does this create a tricky situation, since there can be no promises made for next year?

Re: Spousal hire

teaching_prof 13 Dec 2016 06:27

you didn't mention the type of schools you've applied to.

in my experience, i've only seen successful spousal hires at R1s where both the hired and spouse have strong R1-CVs (within the same discipline — usually psych).

i tried for a spousal hire for my partner who is in an entirely different department, but at teaching oriented institutions. generally, no dice since all of the schools I applied to were on the smaller side and didn't have large budgets. the best i could get was — we can offer your partner part-time/adjunct sections.

it gets even trickier if you were trying to find a position for your partner if they are in a different department/college/school b/c the negotiations then involved a different Dean or administrator. usually, i hear that the school "will do their best" to help make connections to other universities/colleges in the area.

Re: Spousal hire

Happy in the UK 13 Dec 2016 08:06

It will be difficult for the department to give you any assurances for your husband when he is a year away from finishing his dissertation. They might not need to hire another faculty and a lot of things can happen in this year.

However, if it is a large department, there is a chance he could work as an adjunct and having a year to plan might help. I saw someone that moved from an adjunct to a tenure-track position but it's difficult. At least it will give him something and he can apply for other jobs in that department or other university while working.

Re: Spousal hire

DocJ 13 Dec 2016 23:22

Teaching_Prof's comments match my experiences with spousal hires. If your partner is okay with going into an administration or academic staff position instead of faculty, the hiring institution may be more able to work with that. I'd add that even at an R1 level, with many state legislatures having strict budget-related policies on faculty hiring, adding a faculty line might not be possible.