Now the fun began!. Negotiations. Figuring out the conditions of the hire. This is the first point of success or failure on the TT. You need enough startup money to meet the expectations of the tenure requirements at your University. You need some kind of teaching release for your first semester. You need to spell out what you are going to teach, how often you will be making new classes, what your service expectations are. Where you're space will be, lab space, grad student space, computers, furniture, everything.
The first time, I was prepared for this. I had even read books about it. I had lists, I knew what I needed. The negotiations went something like this.
U: please send a list of your startup estimates
Me: Ok, specific equipment for just a lump sum
U: specifics
Me: Ok, here are the equipment estimates, I'd also like to fund a graduate student to startup, I don't how much that is at your institution
U: Don't worry about it. Your salary is $xx and $xxx is all the startup you can get. There is nothing more. Sign the papers in one week.
It wasn't quite that harsh, but it was made clear that I wouldn't be negotiating and that if I didn't sign soon (almost immediately) there wasn't going to be a job at all. The letter came, it seemed pretty standard, I read it carefully. But, if you'll remember correctly we were desperate, so I didn't argue. That was a mistake, and to be honest, it set the tone for my whole time here.
This time it was much different. It was actually a little bit fun. We started with salary, which we had talked about a little bit at the exit interview. Based on that conversation, I was worried that they weren't going to be able to match my current salary, which was all I really wanted. They came back with a substantial raise. We moved onto startup costs, I was again very honest. This is what I need to match what I have here and will need to leave behind. This is what I need to really get a solid program going. We discussed it rationally, and I got it all. We negotiated space, travel money, teaching loads, summer salary. Each point was handled rationally and fairly. Mostly everything I asked for was given or something else was given as a consession. (e.g. No grad assistantship because of current budget, but some money to hire an undergraduate lab tech).
I negotiated with the Department head, and in between dealing with the points necessary for me, he scheduled a visit for hub. Finally we got down to an agreement, which was contingent only on the outcome of hub's visit. It took several weeks, and it was so easy I was actually sad when it was over. It was really nice to be wanted and respected. A whole different tone right from the start.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
The two-body problem part 7: Introducing the Husband
After the reality sunk in. We cautiously entered into negotiations. Remember, that one job doesn't make our situation better, we needed two.
There is a lot of advice on how to handle the two-body situation with a perspective employer. This advice ranges from "don't wear a wedding ring on the interview" to "be upfront from day 1".
Last time, I didn't bring it up, but I answered any questions that came up.* When I was offered the position here, I took it, but started asking about possibilities for hub in my initial conversations with the department head.
Since we all know that that approach didn't work, and two-jobs was necessary for us to move again, I took a new tactic this time. I asked to meet with the dual career office during my interview. In the part when they ask, "is there anyone you'd like to meet while you are here". "Yes, the dual career office to explore possibilities for my husband either within the university or the local community" (remember, I had done my research, I knew they had one).
I wasn't able to have a meeting during my interview, but it cleared the air, everyone knew the score going in, and I discussed the situation earnestly with the department head during my exit interview**. It was not awkward at all. When you are pre-tenure and looking for a new position, there has to be a reason. The interviewers are trying to tease out if it is a legitimate one, or if you are a dud. I was prepared for this and was able to answer honestly on both fronts. Professionally: "My current department isn't a good fit for reasons x, y and z " Personally "my husband still hasn't found a job" To my surprise, this was often met with: "yes, we know your current U is dysfunctional", "you seem like and odd fit for that program, how did you end up there anyways", "No PhD program!" and "oh we have a great dual career program"
When it came time to enter negotiations, it was a simple as "yes, I'd like to negotiate in good faith with the understanding that some type of employment for my husband will be a deciding factor". The department head asked the Provost and the initial offer came back with a funded one-year post-doc for hub and a trip for him to visit and explore the long-term options on and off campus.
It was as easy as that. In this case, my moral compass what dead on right: Honesty is the best policy.
*legally they aren't supposed to ask, every interview I went on they did, some overtly and uncomfortably, some naturally when I slipped and said something like "we own our house".
**This is the point after the two days where everyone has felt you out and gossiped about you and the department head is going to talk numbers and tell you when they are going to make a decision. This is the most important moment of the interview, you can usually get a strong feeling about the department's feeling for you and this is where you should lay the groundwork for start up needs and what not.
There is a lot of advice on how to handle the two-body situation with a perspective employer. This advice ranges from "don't wear a wedding ring on the interview" to "be upfront from day 1".
Last time, I didn't bring it up, but I answered any questions that came up.* When I was offered the position here, I took it, but started asking about possibilities for hub in my initial conversations with the department head.
Since we all know that that approach didn't work, and two-jobs was necessary for us to move again, I took a new tactic this time. I asked to meet with the dual career office during my interview. In the part when they ask, "is there anyone you'd like to meet while you are here". "Yes, the dual career office to explore possibilities for my husband either within the university or the local community" (remember, I had done my research, I knew they had one).
I wasn't able to have a meeting during my interview, but it cleared the air, everyone knew the score going in, and I discussed the situation earnestly with the department head during my exit interview**. It was not awkward at all. When you are pre-tenure and looking for a new position, there has to be a reason. The interviewers are trying to tease out if it is a legitimate one, or if you are a dud. I was prepared for this and was able to answer honestly on both fronts. Professionally: "My current department isn't a good fit for reasons x, y and z " Personally "my husband still hasn't found a job" To my surprise, this was often met with: "yes, we know your current U is dysfunctional", "you seem like and odd fit for that program, how did you end up there anyways", "No PhD program!" and "oh we have a great dual career program"
When it came time to enter negotiations, it was a simple as "yes, I'd like to negotiate in good faith with the understanding that some type of employment for my husband will be a deciding factor". The department head asked the Provost and the initial offer came back with a funded one-year post-doc for hub and a trip for him to visit and explore the long-term options on and off campus.
It was as easy as that. In this case, my moral compass what dead on right: Honesty is the best policy.
*legally they aren't supposed to ask, every interview I went on they did, some overtly and uncomfortably, some naturally when I slipped and said something like "we own our house".
**This is the point after the two days where everyone has felt you out and gossiped about you and the department head is going to talk numbers and tell you when they are going to make a decision. This is the most important moment of the interview, you can usually get a strong feeling about the department's feeling for you and this is where you should lay the groundwork for start up needs and what not.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
we interrupt this pity fest
Let's take a break from the seriousness for a moment (I'll finish the story this time, let's just take a break!)
The endpapers started a bit of a craze around here. This hat had been on my radar for a very long time. Since, 2007, when Adrian of HelloYarn knit a couple. But, my fairisle skills were too low for it, then the mitts became unearthed and I was like a madwomen. Ta-da:
It took me two day to knit and I'm totally in love with it. I have a bunch of knitpicks merino style lying around after a failed attempt to find a color that matched something else, and these two colors go well together. It was nice to work with.
The pattern is pretty well written, but I did mod it a little. Several people have complained about how tall the hat was if knit as written. A common mod is to just remove the first certain number of rows (22 I think) of the pattern. But, that makes the bottom of the hat start mid-way through one of the "diamonds", not at the center of one as written, which I don't really like. I have a thing for symmetry. So, I thought that maybe if I just eliminated the stripe at the start, that it would shorten the pattern enough. I didn't have a third color of yarn anyways.
As I got into it, I realized that it was still going to be too tall. So I re-arragend the decreases to produce what you see here. That made the had just slightly too short. It covered my ears, but would pop off my head. So, I picked up stitches from the bottom, knit 7 rows of corrugated ribbing and another braid and voila. A perfect fit. LOVE!* There might, just might be matching mittens on the needles as well ;)
*seriously, I wore it around the house for days I was so damn proud of myself.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The two-body problem-part 6-A potential solution presents itself
Even though I was determined to not let this consume me, it did. Once you actually do something it becomes part of your life, whether you want it to or not. I received a confirmation email within minutes of hitting send. This was a good sign that they were serious about hiring, and it indicated that they were planning to choose interviewees in one month. A quick response like that makes the wheels in your head turn.
That, and they requested letters from my references within an hour of my submission. I found this out quite by accident later in the day when I talked to one of these references and he said "So you decided for sure to apply for that job?", and I said, "Yes, how did you know, I just sent my CV today?", "Today? Really? Wow your CV must rock because they already asked for a letter".
That was fast. Really fast. So fast that logically it could only mean one of three possibilities.
1. I was the only applicant (which I knew wasn't true)
2. The search chair was really efficient (which turns out to be true, but this was overly efficient by academic standards)
3.They also felt that I was exactly what they had written that they wanted (which was the one that gets in your head, because you don't want to believe it, but a little part of you feels really proud, and it turns your hypothetical to a possible)
Suddenly this went from just sending in a CV to something highly interesting. There was buzz among friends and colleagues about the job, about others they had known who applied. Academics can be as gossipy as teenage girls sometimes.
A week or so later, the buzz died down and we all returned to real life, and I once again almost forgot all about the whole thing. The one month window passed and I figured that was that. Then I got a call asking if I was still interested. 3 weeks later I was there, interviewing, and falling in love with the school, the town, the department and the people. I made friends with other faculty within minutes, the grad students were super smart, the town was nice. I was treated with respect and it was really great. It was almost too good to be true. I came back exhilarated, but figuring that there was no way that this was happening. No one is that lucky. There were a couple of small ticks in the negative column, most notably a higher teaching load, but overall it was great.
4 days later, I had the job, and I was in shock.
Once the shock wore off, we started the long process of negotiations and decision making.
That, and they requested letters from my references within an hour of my submission. I found this out quite by accident later in the day when I talked to one of these references and he said "So you decided for sure to apply for that job?", and I said, "Yes, how did you know, I just sent my CV today?", "Today? Really? Wow your CV must rock because they already asked for a letter".
That was fast. Really fast. So fast that logically it could only mean one of three possibilities.
1. I was the only applicant (which I knew wasn't true)
2. The search chair was really efficient (which turns out to be true, but this was overly efficient by academic standards)
3.They also felt that I was exactly what they had written that they wanted (which was the one that gets in your head, because you don't want to believe it, but a little part of you feels really proud, and it turns your hypothetical to a possible)
Suddenly this went from just sending in a CV to something highly interesting. There was buzz among friends and colleagues about the job, about others they had known who applied. Academics can be as gossipy as teenage girls sometimes.
A week or so later, the buzz died down and we all returned to real life, and I once again almost forgot all about the whole thing. The one month window passed and I figured that was that. Then I got a call asking if I was still interested. 3 weeks later I was there, interviewing, and falling in love with the school, the town, the department and the people. I made friends with other faculty within minutes, the grad students were super smart, the town was nice. I was treated with respect and it was really great. It was almost too good to be true. I came back exhilarated, but figuring that there was no way that this was happening. No one is that lucky. There were a couple of small ticks in the negative column, most notably a higher teaching load, but overall it was great.
4 days later, I had the job, and I was in shock.
Once the shock wore off, we started the long process of negotiations and decision making.
Friday, March 19, 2010
The Two-Body Problem - part 5 - seeking a solution
So, once we decided to look for a new situation, we did just that. Scoped the job boards, watched the mailing lists, etc. We figured that since we were waiting for the "right" position in a down economy it would be awhile. Rather than the broad net we had cast in the first go around we set a few parameters on what we would look for, and more specifically where we would look. The reasons for this were both personal and professional. The two major factors were:
Basically the plan was to do a lot more background research before sending out application.
About three days later I opened my email to a job posting that met all of these criteria. The conversation went something like this:
Me: Hmmm. This one looks interesting. Listen to this "TT position, niche sciency stuff that I do, courses that I really want to teach, etc."
Hub: I don't know much, but those are science words you use alot, sounds like a possibility.
Me: I suppose, but we'd have to pack up all my yarn.
Joking aside, it was like the posting was written for me, about me, even. It was almost surreal. That doesn't happen to often. I was a little excited and a lot scared. While we had decided that this is what we were going to do, I wasn't expecting something so perfect to pop up so soon. The thought of putting myself out there again was, well, just heavy.
I put the posting aside, there was a month before they would review applications anyways, and we were just starting a new semester and I wanted to see how it went. But...I found myself re-reading that posting every couple of days. Every time I did it sounded better and better, and I would do a little more web research about the program and the university. Slowly everything was ticked off the list, and there wasn't a single reason not to go for it. Well, except that fear. I called some trusted friend-lleagues, who were very encouraging, but it was still hard to make up my mind.
Finally, the deadline was here and our "faculty retreat" made it even clearer that staying wasn't going to be a long-term sustainable option. So I fired off a cover letter and CV. I put very little time into the prep work (This isn't something I would recommend). In retrospect, I'm not sure my heart was 100% in it; seeking change is scary. In any case, it was just something I did, along with the dozens of other emails I send in a day, and then I went back to my business. I was willing to look, but in no way was this going to consume my life.
- Geographical location: We would only move north and/or east from where we are now. This was to be closer to family, etc. Hub also wanted to limit how north since we have decided that winter sucks. I was more flexible on that option.
- Only universities with dual career offices/policies would be considered. Reason pretty self-explanatory.
Basically the plan was to do a lot more background research before sending out application.
About three days later I opened my email to a job posting that met all of these criteria. The conversation went something like this:
Me: Hmmm. This one looks interesting. Listen to this "TT position, niche sciency stuff that I do, courses that I really want to teach, etc."
Hub: I don't know much, but those are science words you use alot, sounds like a possibility.
Me: I suppose, but we'd have to pack up all my yarn.
Joking aside, it was like the posting was written for me, about me, even. It was almost surreal. That doesn't happen to often. I was a little excited and a lot scared. While we had decided that this is what we were going to do, I wasn't expecting something so perfect to pop up so soon. The thought of putting myself out there again was, well, just heavy.
I put the posting aside, there was a month before they would review applications anyways, and we were just starting a new semester and I wanted to see how it went. But...I found myself re-reading that posting every couple of days. Every time I did it sounded better and better, and I would do a little more web research about the program and the university. Slowly everything was ticked off the list, and there wasn't a single reason not to go for it. Well, except that fear. I called some trusted friend-lleagues, who were very encouraging, but it was still hard to make up my mind.
Finally, the deadline was here and our "faculty retreat" made it even clearer that staying wasn't going to be a long-term sustainable option. So I fired off a cover letter and CV. I put very little time into the prep work (This isn't something I would recommend). In retrospect, I'm not sure my heart was 100% in it; seeking change is scary. In any case, it was just something I did, along with the dozens of other emails I send in a day, and then I went back to my business. I was willing to look, but in no way was this going to consume my life.
Monday, March 15, 2010
The Two-body Problem - Part 4 - Meanwhile
The job we did have, the one we had turned our lives on end for, was turning out to be not all that. You'll all remember how much trouble I had getting a job in the first place. That's the TT gig, we knew it when we choose this path, but what I found here was not what I had been hoping for, a fact that contributed to a lot of self-doubt and depression, until I started tapping into my larger network of colleagues and realized that I was not crazy, but rather the situation wasn't quite right.
It turns out that I'm in a really dysfunctional department and the overall culture of the University is really behind the times. I'm not going to go into specifics, but we'll just say that I'm often put in situations a normal pre-tenure faculty shouldn't be put in. Situations that make me consult my moral compass, and make me worry that when I follow it, I may feel some negative consequences. Think everything bad that the term "old boys club" conjures up and I'm living it.
Aside from that, I'm not a good fit for the education mission of the department. Most people don't know what I do and seem to get upset when I tell them it's not what they think I do. I have yet to get a permanant course number for any class I teach, which means I'm making up a new one every semester, and getting really low enrollment in said new courses. I can't put together a full committee for my graduate students because no one in the department has appropriate skills to fill those roles. These things combine with some of the cultural issues to put up big road blocks to my research program.
Despite that, I've been successful. In just under two years, I've received ~quarter million dollars in nationally competitive grant money for myself (well over 1.5 mil if you count the grant totals for all PIs), and published 3 papers, with 2 more currently under review. My teaching ratings are above average as well. I say these things not to brag, but to make the point that in most normal situations, I'm successfully meeting the requirements for tenure. I'm not a scientific rock star, but I can hold my own. I think it's important for anyone reading this to understand that I'm not whining, I've been making the best of a bad situation.
Yet, I worry. Not the healthy kind of worry, but the kind that makes you bite your tongue in faculty meetings. The kind of worry that made me have to think hard about whether or not to turn in a student for plagiarism because it might ruin my chances at tenure.
Finally, I'm in a master's only program, when I interviewed, I was told that we had a new undergraduate degree and a PhD program that would be starting up at the same time I arrived. Neither of these has materialized. I wanted to become a faculty member because I love both teaching and research, without undergrads and without PhD students, you're limited on both ends of that spectrum. So ultimately, this was not the job that I wanted.
Couple all of this with Hub's employment situation, and I was on the job hunt again.
This was not an easy decision. The thought of it actually made me want to throw up a little. But the thought of staying in this situation forever was even worse, so there you have it.
It turns out that I'm in a really dysfunctional department and the overall culture of the University is really behind the times. I'm not going to go into specifics, but we'll just say that I'm often put in situations a normal pre-tenure faculty shouldn't be put in. Situations that make me consult my moral compass, and make me worry that when I follow it, I may feel some negative consequences. Think everything bad that the term "old boys club" conjures up and I'm living it.
Aside from that, I'm not a good fit for the education mission of the department. Most people don't know what I do and seem to get upset when I tell them it's not what they think I do. I have yet to get a permanant course number for any class I teach, which means I'm making up a new one every semester, and getting really low enrollment in said new courses. I can't put together a full committee for my graduate students because no one in the department has appropriate skills to fill those roles. These things combine with some of the cultural issues to put up big road blocks to my research program.
Despite that, I've been successful. In just under two years, I've received ~quarter million dollars in nationally competitive grant money for myself (well over 1.5 mil if you count the grant totals for all PIs), and published 3 papers, with 2 more currently under review. My teaching ratings are above average as well. I say these things not to brag, but to make the point that in most normal situations, I'm successfully meeting the requirements for tenure. I'm not a scientific rock star, but I can hold my own. I think it's important for anyone reading this to understand that I'm not whining, I've been making the best of a bad situation.
Yet, I worry. Not the healthy kind of worry, but the kind that makes you bite your tongue in faculty meetings. The kind of worry that made me have to think hard about whether or not to turn in a student for plagiarism because it might ruin my chances at tenure.
Finally, I'm in a master's only program, when I interviewed, I was told that we had a new undergraduate degree and a PhD program that would be starting up at the same time I arrived. Neither of these has materialized. I wanted to become a faculty member because I love both teaching and research, without undergrads and without PhD students, you're limited on both ends of that spectrum. So ultimately, this was not the job that I wanted.
Couple all of this with Hub's employment situation, and I was on the job hunt again.
This was not an easy decision. The thought of it actually made me want to throw up a little. But the thought of staying in this situation forever was even worse, so there you have it.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The Two-Body Problem - Part 3- Making the best of it and taking control
To make a long story short, a full year went by, with little success on the soft-money front. Hub wrote several grants, large and small, and we even wrote one together. All came back with decent reviews, but didn't quite make the cut. He continued to work on publishing papers and got two under review, he went to a conference, and that was just generally the life we settled into. He managed to hook up with some other folks on campus and "consult out" some of his survey technique skills and experience with social data, which resulted in the equivalent of 3 months of salary. (he did the work in October, and got his first check in mid January, but that is an entirely different story of incompetence and idiocracy at it's best).
All in all, it wasn't that bad, but it also wasn't that great. He was stretching his skills to participate in projects that had cash associated with them, he was hanging out in the attic, and coming upon road block after road block with the logistics of his appointment/position/etc. After 12 months it was getting really old. His "appointment" had no legitimacy with it and ultimately, he was just some guy they let hang out in the attic. After a year, it was time to re-evaluate. But, we weren't entirely sure what to do. No place was hiring, and we had spend all those years in school to get the PhD, so it seemed a shame to waste it. We were kind of at an impasse on Hub's career path.
I'm not going to lie to you, and I'm not going to belabor the point, but the situation was starting to put a strain on our marriage and our lives in general. The number of emotions and stress wrapped up in the situation was high, and it was starting to take a toll. The lack of stability really starts to weigh on you after a while. We pressed on, but both of us knew that the situation wasn't sustainable, and that something had to change. So, at the start of the school year, we decided that we would selectively pursue other opportunities that came available. What that meant in practical terms was that we both were keeping an eye on the job boards, and specifically, hub would expand his job search nationally, and we would consider all options. We were going to take control of the situation and do our best to change it (for the better).
Meanwhile...on the TT ride, I was on a really long downhill slide.
All in all, it wasn't that bad, but it also wasn't that great. He was stretching his skills to participate in projects that had cash associated with them, he was hanging out in the attic, and coming upon road block after road block with the logistics of his appointment/position/etc. After 12 months it was getting really old. His "appointment" had no legitimacy with it and ultimately, he was just some guy they let hang out in the attic. After a year, it was time to re-evaluate. But, we weren't entirely sure what to do. No place was hiring, and we had spend all those years in school to get the PhD, so it seemed a shame to waste it. We were kind of at an impasse on Hub's career path.
I'm not going to lie to you, and I'm not going to belabor the point, but the situation was starting to put a strain on our marriage and our lives in general. The number of emotions and stress wrapped up in the situation was high, and it was starting to take a toll. The lack of stability really starts to weigh on you after a while. We pressed on, but both of us knew that the situation wasn't sustainable, and that something had to change. So, at the start of the school year, we decided that we would selectively pursue other opportunities that came available. What that meant in practical terms was that we both were keeping an eye on the job boards, and specifically, hub would expand his job search nationally, and we would consider all options. We were going to take control of the situation and do our best to change it (for the better).
Meanwhile...on the TT ride, I was on a really long downhill slide.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
The two-body process: Part 2 - The soft-money plan
Soft money is just what it sounds like. It is salary that is not definite. To survive only on soft money you have to be a good writer, an innovative scientist, and a general all around academic superhero. Plus you have to have a bit of luck. There has to be money at the granting agencies, it has to be in programs relevant to your, now widely diverse, research program, the money has to be enough to support you and the research.
Many people have long and very successful careers on soft-money, and for two bodies, it is often a good solution. One guaranteed salary can ensure you get through a "lean funding cycle", which can be for a couple of months or so, and sometimes you can supplement by teaching a class here or there.
The problem with a soft-money position is that there can be a long lag from the time you submit a grant to the time it's awarded (6-18 months), which means, when you are just starting out, there is a minimum of 6 months without salary, assuming you have a proposal ready to submit on day 1, so realistically you are looking at a year of no pay. It's also not an easy road for a young academic for several reasons.
In my limited experience, most trailing spouses pursuing the soft-money plan are given some help from the University to help carry them through that early phase, such as a half time salary, or a per class teaching compensation. At the very least, they are given a gratis appointment that will allow them to pursue the soft-money option with some legitimacy. A PhD at large can't just submit a grant to NSF, it has to come from an organization of some type.
My University had already adademently refused to provide financial support in any way. In fact, two weeks after my dear husband asked about teaching opportunities, and was told there were none, a full color ad appeared in the local paper looking for instructors in the department in question! His formal application never received a response.
So there we were four months in, and hub was unemployed, continuing to apply to local businesses, the state agencies, etc and not receiving a single response. It took a little doing, but he was able to convince a department to give him an adjunct appointment for one year, and keys to an office in the attic where he could work on trying to get a salary for himself. Two months later, the University had actually managed to process the paperwork and he was off to the races!
Optimism was running high in our house. That was 10 months ago.
Many people have long and very successful careers on soft-money, and for two bodies, it is often a good solution. One guaranteed salary can ensure you get through a "lean funding cycle", which can be for a couple of months or so, and sometimes you can supplement by teaching a class here or there.
The problem with a soft-money position is that there can be a long lag from the time you submit a grant to the time it's awarded (6-18 months), which means, when you are just starting out, there is a minimum of 6 months without salary, assuming you have a proposal ready to submit on day 1, so realistically you are looking at a year of no pay. It's also not an easy road for a young academic for several reasons.
- You don't necessarily have a track record to help you get a grant (the old chicken and egg problem)
- You are most likely only going to be able to get a month or two salary from every project (sometimes more, but at the start that's really all there is), which means that you could easily end up spliting your time between 6 projects to gain a full time salary.
In my limited experience, most trailing spouses pursuing the soft-money plan are given some help from the University to help carry them through that early phase, such as a half time salary, or a per class teaching compensation. At the very least, they are given a gratis appointment that will allow them to pursue the soft-money option with some legitimacy. A PhD at large can't just submit a grant to NSF, it has to come from an organization of some type.
My University had already adademently refused to provide financial support in any way. In fact, two weeks after my dear husband asked about teaching opportunities, and was told there were none, a full color ad appeared in the local paper looking for instructors in the department in question! His formal application never received a response.
So there we were four months in, and hub was unemployed, continuing to apply to local businesses, the state agencies, etc and not receiving a single response. It took a little doing, but he was able to convince a department to give him an adjunct appointment for one year, and keys to an office in the attic where he could work on trying to get a salary for himself. Two months later, the University had actually managed to process the paperwork and he was off to the races!
Optimism was running high in our house. That was 10 months ago.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The two-body process, Part 1
A long time ago, I decided to talk about the two-body problem from the real-time perspective of living it. Then I didn't.
I can make excuses, but the truth is I didn't because living it was painful enough and I didn't have the personal strength to put it out into the world. I started several posts and didn't finish them. They always felt incomplete, and worse yet, it felt counter-productive to just be another whiner about something that was plaguing us so severely. It is a serious problem, but when it strikes home it's harder to handle.
Here's the score. I have a tenure track position. It's what I've always wanted to do and my husband was gracious enough to support me in that endeavor. My husband has a PhD, as well as a professional master's degree, that should have allowed for employment outside of the academic world. We moved here optimistic that he would find some position, he had ~ 4 months left on a post-doc and he was allowed to finish it up remotely. We felt 4 months was plenty of time to find a job somewhere in a city of !~225,000 people. That was 16 months ago.
Those first 4 months were crazy. There was the move, there was a hurricane, there was culture shock, there was two mortgages, my father had heart surgery, there was the "global financial crisis". It was bad. We worked and tried to stay on top of our lives. Hub even did some temp work to make ends meet. He put out many job applications and we told everyone we met of our plight. (Having of course been often reminded that in the South, you have to know someone to get anywhere). Before we knew it, the window was gone and still he was unemployed. That was 12 months ago, about the time I wrote that original post.
We hatched a new plan. The soft-money plan. A title, an office and the gumption to write some grants was all we would need.....
I can make excuses, but the truth is I didn't because living it was painful enough and I didn't have the personal strength to put it out into the world. I started several posts and didn't finish them. They always felt incomplete, and worse yet, it felt counter-productive to just be another whiner about something that was plaguing us so severely. It is a serious problem, but when it strikes home it's harder to handle.
Here's the score. I have a tenure track position. It's what I've always wanted to do and my husband was gracious enough to support me in that endeavor. My husband has a PhD, as well as a professional master's degree, that should have allowed for employment outside of the academic world. We moved here optimistic that he would find some position, he had ~ 4 months left on a post-doc and he was allowed to finish it up remotely. We felt 4 months was plenty of time to find a job somewhere in a city of !~225,000 people. That was 16 months ago.
Those first 4 months were crazy. There was the move, there was a hurricane, there was culture shock, there was two mortgages, my father had heart surgery, there was the "global financial crisis". It was bad. We worked and tried to stay on top of our lives. Hub even did some temp work to make ends meet. He put out many job applications and we told everyone we met of our plight. (Having of course been often reminded that in the South, you have to know someone to get anywhere). Before we knew it, the window was gone and still he was unemployed. That was 12 months ago, about the time I wrote that original post.
We hatched a new plan. The soft-money plan. A title, an office and the gumption to write some grants was all we would need.....
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