Q. My live-in boyfriend and I are both journalists (we actually met working together a few years ago). He works as a weekly newspaper editor for a company that has somewhat of a monopoly in the area we live in. I've been out of the business for a little while, but I'm trying to get back in. It would be virtually impossible for me to do so without at the very least applying to, and most likely eventually working for, the same company he works for.
The way his company is set up, each of the weekly papers are mostly autonomous in that people from different papers are aware of one another but spend almost no time actually working together. The only slight chance of the two of us actually working together would be if we both ended up getting promoted to the company's dailies, and even then we'd have to somehow manage to get promoted to the same one, as the company owns two.
So my question is: If, in my pursuit of a new job, I end up interviewing with this company and am lucky enough to get a job there, how much do I need to reveal about my relationship, and when and how should it be explained? What makes it harder is that we are discussing getting married, so it would be difficult to keep it a secret forever. Is it completely taboo for me to try to get a job at my boyfriend's company?
WaitingA. You are in the clear.
The only real barrier to working for the same employer is if you are married and the company has a policy against nepotism.
As you are not yet married, even a nepotism policy would not prevent you from being hired there.
There is lots of conventional wisdom about why it is not wise to work with or especially for your partner, but workplaces that employ couples seem to be more the rule than the exception.
As you seem to have few other choices, I would fill out the application, and I would not bring up my relationship until after an offer has been made. Give the employer a chance to consider you on your own merits, not as part of a couple. Bring it up during the offer stage to help the employer determine the best area for you to work in.
The employer will certainly know about your relationship when it becomes clear that the two of you have the same address, so it might even be noticed at the application stage.
Coming Tuesday: This reporter has not won any large awards recently. Is it OK for her to put awards from her own newsroom on her resume?
