Ask a Career Consultant
Hi there! Every week, the Career Development Team for Researchers at the Office of Career and Professional Development answers an anonymized career development question from the UCSF community. You can also visit the archive of all of our past columns. To submit your own question, email it to [email protected] with the subject line 'ASKOCPD.'
A postdoc asks—
My spouse is currently an assistant professor at another university, so a move for a faculty position would involve considering potential academic opportunities for both of us. I’d really appreciate any guidance on how and when this is typically raised during the faculty application and interview process, and how best to navigate negotiations when one partner already holds a faculty position at another institution.
In general, I recommend approaching things in one of two ways, based on how important it is for you to get support in finding a position for your spouse.
- If it is an absolute deal-breaker (i.e. you would definitely turn down any reasonable offer from the university if they cannot help with finding a position for your spouse), then I think it makes most sense to raise the issue as part of your first conversation with the department chair, when they ask if you have any questions for them. If they can help with a spousal hire (which isn't always easy or possible depending on the university), it will usually take a while to arrange and would involve significant extra work from the chair. You'll want to give them plenty of time to work on it. The only downside of raising it at this point is that it might make them remove you from consideration if they cannot help, but if it is a dealbreaker for you anyway, that'll save you both time by not moving you forward for a position that was never going to work out.
- If it is not an absolute dealbreaker for you, it can make sense to raise the question a little later, likely during the first campus visit (toward the end). At that point, they'll be fairly invested in your candidacy, and they'll still have some time to work on arranging a spousal hire. If it is not possible for them to help with a spousal hire, they are more likely to negotiate and continue moving forward to see if they can hire you anyway, since they've already short-listed you and invested time and energy into the campus visit.
-David Blancha, Assistant Director, Career Development Team for Researchers