November 5, 2008

An office with a single aim helps
dual-career faculty couples

Universities have long offered career counseling to graduates, but Yale has created another career assistance program, one that focuses on spouses and partners of ladder faculty.

“So far there hasn’t been anybody I haven’t placed,” said Shelly Lerner, manager of the new Dual Career Assistance Program. “There hasn’t been anything asked of me that I haven’t been able to do.”

In an effort to recruit and retain talented senior-level, or ladder, faculty, Yale has created a new Dual Career Assistance Program through the Office of the Provost and Human Resources to help the partners and spouses of these faculty members find jobs in the greater New Haven area.

“We have the best and the brightest people working here, so we’re not the only ones who want them,” said Shelly Lerner, Dual Career Assistance Program manager. “What we want to do is make New Haven a pleasant experience not just for the faculty member, but for the whole family.”

Since beginning her new role on September 1, Lerner has been networking with Yale recruiters, as well as representatives from other colleges and companies in the area to establish contacts she can approach when spouses and partners come to her looking for help finding a job in the area.

In particular, Lerner said she appreciates the Yale community’s open-mindedness with respect to hiring faculty partners. “What I’ve found is that people at the university want to help. When I call and say this is an accompanying partner or spouse of a ladder faculty member, they want to talk to them because they understand that it’s good for the university.”

The program focuses on providing career services needed to promote the professional growth of the spouses and partners who accompany ladder faculty members to Yale.

“Yale has lost out on some strong candidates who had concerns about what opportunities would be available to their partners if they moved to New Haven,” Lerner said. “People have said, ‘I can’t come because my spouse can’t find the right position,’ or ‘I can’t stay because my partner is unhappy here and can’t find a job they really like.’”

The Dual Career Program helps this group of jobseekers draft resumes and cover letters, prepare for job interviews, and identify websites and other resources to aid in the job search. “I can’t guarantee anyone a job, but I can help them acquire the information and tools they’ll need to go out and get the job offer,” Lerner said.

One of the program’s recent successes involved the spouse of a new Yale faculty member who had been out of the workforce for nine years. “We talked a lot about what she did and did not want to do,” Lerner said. In addition to introducing this spouse to a Yale recruiter, Lerner helped her update her resume to showcase her volunteer work and conducted some practice interviews with her. “She looked at several jobs and went out on two interviews before she got a job, which took about two months” Lerner said.

Lerner also recently helped the spouse of a new medical school faculty member to find a job on central campus. Having worked at Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Bristol Myers Squibb before coming to Yale, Lerner said she is well equipped to help job seekers from the medical side of campus. “I’ve worked with scientists and I know the biotech companies in the area,” she said.

In addition to providing career services, the Dual Career Assistance Program helps ladder faculty members and their spouses or partners with other services needed to transition to Yale and New Haven, including locating daycare centers, schools, real estate and health care. “A lot of what I’ll be doing is serving as a clearinghouse for information,” Lerner said. “If they have a question, I may not be able to answer it, but I can point them in the right direction so they can get the information they need.”

Additional information about the services provided through the Dual Career Assistance Program will be included in the introductory materials given to all new ladder faculty members. The provost, dean or chair of the hiring department may also refer accompanying spouses and partners to participate in the program.

For more information about the Dual Career Assistance Program, please contact Shelly Lerner at (203) 432-6386 or shelly.lerner@yale.edu.

You may also visit www.yale.edu/jobs for information about non-academic positions at Yale.

—Jennifer Kaylin

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