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Well? As the title states, could you do it? Would you do it? If you have been with someone for several years, and there was an opening at their significant others jobs, and it was better than their current situation, would it be feasible?
Also, the positions wouldn't be in the same department, nor would they be directly working for one another or with one another. Simply may see each other occasionally, ride to work together, have lunch together, but that would be the extent of it.
What sort of things in the relationship would it depend on?
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Nope. No no no no.
I worked for a couple once at an org, it was hell.
I've worked around couples, and it creates issues, even when they get along well
No thank you. No working for couples. No working as a couple. No fraternization in the workplace for my sake, and the sake of my co-workers, even if the department is different. This is true when I worked in a small start up and NGO, as well as a big four public accounting group.
When I owned a company, my wife ran the books for several years. Buddy, she did her job to perfection. After all, nobody's going to look out for you the way your spouse will.
That being said, there are caveats.
First, limit your talk about the office when you get home at night. Otherwise, you'll start to feel as if you never leave work.
Second, your spouse should not be positioned as a substitute for you, supervising employees in your absence, for that will just cause your best employees to eventually quit. MrsCPG was very careful to not step beyond the boundaries of her job, weighing in on the performance of others.
Third, especially if your spouse is working for you, you have to draw clear boundaries between your working relationship and your personal relationship. If you are in a position of authority at work, that doesn't mean you get to be in a position of authority at home.
Fourth, don't be an S.O.B. on the job. Actually, that's pretty good advice no matter what.
Well? As the title states, could you do it? Would you do it? If you have been with someone for several years, and there was an opening at their significant others jobs, and it was better than their current situation, would it be feasible?
Also, the positions wouldn't be in the same department, nor would they be directly working for one another or with one another. Simply may see each other occasionally, ride to work together, have lunch together, but that would be the extent of it.
What sort of things in the relationship would it depend on?
Different departments? Absolutely. Side by side all day? No way. Imagine bringing an argument to work. Or worse, bringing a work problem home.
Funny story.....I used to work for a small construction company and the architect (female) and drafter (male) were husband and wife. They worked with their desks next to each other all day long and then went home and spent all night with each other. Neither one was involved in a time consuming hobby or other activity. They literally spent 24 hours a day with each other.
When normal people have a disagreement at the office they go home and vent a bit about work and spend some time with their families and by the time they go back the next day they've let the moment pass and are calmer and ready to get to work. When these two would go home they get each other all wound up all night and they'd come into the office looking to fight with whomever they disagreed with the next day. It was absolutely miserable to work with them.
Unrelated but funny....in early 2009 they demanded a big raise and got it. So they celebrated with a 2 week trip to Italy and they pulled out the stops and spent big on it. When they got back and went to work on a Monday the doors were locked and they found out the company was closed. Karma can be a mean mother****er.
I don't think I could ever do it but we have had two couples who both worked at my company. One couple is still here and work side by side everyday. They make it work and there has not been any problem.
It's pretty common among small business owners. My mom was the bookkeeper for their carpentry business for decades.
I don't think it would be for me. My husband's employer has strict policies regarding married couples working closely together, not that there is any possibility of me working for my husband's employer in anything but a civilian context, anyway.
Thank you for all the good insight. I'm basically just looking for things I haven't considered. I have thought it over in depth over the last several months and she just started working with me recently. We have lived together several years and get along flawlessly. We have never had an argument where we stay mad for any period of time (period being like over an hour)..
I make more traveling than we could staying in one place combined, so she travels with me and has for years. Sometimes she is able to get jobs around town where we're working, but it really depends where we're at and how long. The last year we were in a very small town not around anything, so it was simply not feasible for her to work (which I'm absolutely fine with as well)
Anyways, they had a base level job at work and they came to me asking if she would be willing to work as they know she doesn't work, we have no kids, and she travels with me. She loves it so far as it keeps her busy and she feels much better about being able to contribute to expenses. Also, with her helping a bit more I'll be able to pay off debt faster so we can get engaged/married sooner. The only reason we aren't already is that it's a decent sized expense for the ring/wedding I want, and I would like to be debt free prior to that happening, or at least very close.
As for our relationship, the only way in which it's "suffered" is that now our nights are spent cooking, laundry, grocery shopping, etc, all things which she used to do while I was at work and we didn't have to worry about. Working 50-60 hours it was pretty nice. Either way, we are working together to get these things done quicker so we have more free time and just planning it out. In regards to working together, I only see her a few times a day and we eat lunch together. I used to kiss her goodbye every day, and as soon as I get home, but now that kind of gets missed as we ride to work together and obviously none of that at work. I'll have to make an effort to do such in the morning before we leave
What you are experiencing is the same thing we military spouses often experience. Moving around at the mercy of someone else's career, frequent picking up and going, sometimes not staying in a particular place long enough to establish professional roots, and dependent in many cases upon work that is available through one's spouse's employer. I've done it both ways. The first six months we were together/married, I stayed home, and then I got an on-base job. Suddenly, no time during the day for all the things I did during the day to get done, so they either get done after work as a team, or don't get done. Meals aren't ready upon arriving home unless we do crock pot prep work in the a.m., dogs don't get walked until after work hours, routines are different, rather than one of us managing the home, we both do it part-time. Those are the tradeoffs. It's nice to bring in money, though, outside of what my spouse brings in, and I like the structure having a job outside the home adds to my day.
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