Inevitable

My husband and I are in the same Master's program. In fact, we are in the same cohort so we take the same classes and use the same books. I've been told that it is so cute it is almost sickening. After spending any time with us, it is easy to see that despite our similar interests we both have different strengths and backgrounds. We find ourselves passionate about some of the same problems, but we approach them differently and use different tools to solve them.

A small example of how we work differently is the job search. I regularly check job listings on The Chronicle, HigherEdJobs.com, and Inside Higher Ed. When I find a job that interests me, I start researching the university and building up excitement. My husband learns about a university, decides if he wants to work there, and begins looking at the job openings they have.

Right after the December vacation, I saw a job listing on The Chronicle website for a First Year Counselor. I loved the time I spent advising Freshmen this summer, and living in the freshman dorm the past two years has really given me an appreciation for how influential this year can be. I moved on to looking at the university and was impressed with what I saw. According to the website they shared some of my values in education, and it was in a place that I would like to live. So I applied.

A couple nights ago my husband finished scouring the university he was currently working on and decided to start looking at the one I have been talking about so much lately. For the past two years he has been coordinating a large part of the living learning community that our honors freshman go though. Every time our Honors College has an Interview/Inform day, he comes home energized and excited about everything those incoming students are about to become a part of. So when he came across a job posting for a First Year Counselor, he thought about how much he would like to continue working with Freshman. He wants to apply.

This was inevitable. We knew it would happen. We just never thought about the possibility that we wouldn't realize we both wanted the job at the same time. We had already worked out a plan of talking it though and deciding which one of us should apply based on our strengths and the job description, but I jumped the gun because a couple months ago I thought he wasn't interested. Now we have to decide if he should apply. He is really excited about it, and he would do a great job. Technically, we'd be competing for the position, but we would both benefit if either was hired. Will it make him look bad that I applied over a month earlier? Is there any chance we would both look bad? What really could he/we loose? Would they throw both of our applications out? Tell me what you would think if you received an application and then a month and a half later received an application from that candidate's spouse.