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Applying to other TT jobs from a job in a non-ideal location?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

Landed a TT job this year in a non-ideal location, and so I plan to be very minimally (and selectively) on the market again. Do search committees frown upon seeing this sort of thing? I figure some could think it means I'll never stop jumping around, which is obviously false (location, location, location). If they do frown, do I need to say something about my rationale for applying in the cover letter? Or can I assume a charitable interpretation of my application?

I think you can probably assume a charitable interpretation of your application, though perhaps it might give rise to worries that you might not stick around. But I'm not sure, and don't know whether it would be a good idea to say something in your cover letter. Another reader submitted the following reply:

I supported a junior colleague who wanted to jump for the same sorts of reasons. I wrote in my supporting letter about their need to be elsewhere (somewhee very specific NYC – and for good reasons). This worked. They got a job in the greater NYC area the first year they tried. So you might try asking one of your letter writers to address it. I was also able to say what a wonderful colleague this person was, and I had even observed their teaching, which I documented in detail. You might also mention your special reasons for being in or near the location where the new job is. Do not be overly specific, or they will think you will just keep moving until you get to the exact neighbourhood you want to live in.

What do you all think?

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3 responses to “Applying to other TT jobs from a job in a non-ideal location?”

  1. Rosa

    My sense is that it is (rightly or wrongly) generally seen as bad form to apply for new jobs without having given your current TT job a genuine chance (i.e. actually being there for a year). That said, we all understand how the market works – if a job in your AOS comes up at a place you would really, really love to be at, then there is unlikely to be another job in that AOS at that school for a very long time. So if you are applying very selectively, I would frame things in that way: explicitly say in your cover letter that while you are not generally on the market, you could not pass up this particular opportunity to apply to this particular job, since that opportunity is so very unlikely to come up again.
    (Also consider really give the seemingly undesirable location a chance – my first TT job was at a place that I thought I would hate living in, but that ended up being really lovely. We’re not always great at judging what living in a place will be like before we’re there.)

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  2. Bill Vanderburgh

    As with most advice, the “it depends” caveat needs to be kept in mind. But generally I would say that already having a tenure track job is not going to count against you in applying to another. In fact, having more teaching experience can be a leg up. Where you first landed could possibly be a bit of a mark against you when applying to very top programs, since they might think “well, if they could only get a job there, they must not be good enough for us.” But mostly they’ll look at your file on its merits.
    We all understand how difficult the job market is, and we know that some places are undesirable to live in. So it won’t surprise a committee that you are applying out, especially if it is to a place that is “better” in location, prestige, etc. To slightly disagree with Rosa, I think most of the disapprobation you see online about applying while already in a tenure track job comes from other folks on the market, who understandably want you to stay out of their way. Their desires don’t determine your actions, of course.
    To whole-heartedly agree with Rosa, frame your application in terms of your desire to be at the new place, not your desire to not be at your current place. And pitch this in terms of the specific characteristics of the department and university. A need to be near family members, a spouse who has a job they can’t leave, a specific geographic preference, etc.–all those things are irrelevant as reasons why the new place should hire you. They explain why you want to leave the old place, but that’s not something you need to explain. (Along the same lines, hating your current colleagues or administration, being under threat of layoff, etc., are not a reasons a new department would want to hire you. A good rule is to not say or hint anything negative about the place you want to leave.)
    Be aware of the fact that, at some point in the search process (probably near campus visits), a committee will contact your current department to learn about you. You can ask in your cover letter that your search be kept confidential, but that is not always effective and at some point they need to contact your current place. I’d say you don’t need to (and probably shouldn’t) tell your current chair you are applying out until you have a campus visit, but they should learn that you do have one from you, not some other way.
    There’s another layer of complexity for folks applying out when they’ve been (or are likely to be) rejected for tenure, but that’s a topic for another post.

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  3. Very happy with my current position

    I wanted to provide a possible voice of dissent on one matter. As someone who was (successfully) on the market while having a TT job in a location that was undesirable for a variety of reasons my experience, contra the comment above, is that at no point in the search process will the committee contact your current department to learn about you. I had several campus visits when I was on the market, none of the relevant departments informed my then department that I was on the market (and I did not ask that the search be confidential in my cover letter– though I certainly was happy that it was treated as such!) I did not tell my department that I was on the market until I had secured a new job. Other colleagues of mine did the same, and had the same experience. If these experiences are accurate, there is no need to tell your current chair you are applying out until you have an offer you are considering. Perhaps it is different if it would be mysterious to an outside observer why you might be looking to move (if your original department is in a location more commonly seen as desirable/prestigious/having resources than the one to which you are applying), I don’t know.

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