My partner has accepted a job 500 miles away, which starts next month. I work in education, and was planning to see out this academic year before joining him. That means moving without a job, which scares me somewhat since I am not FI. I recently applied for a position at an institution just under 20 miles from the property we are going to be renting, and was surprised to be selected for interview. The post is one step up from what I currently do, and is also in a different department. There is some subject overlap, but not so much that I expected to make the interview shortlist.
The problem is that I have only been given a week's notice of the interview, and it is a long way to travel when my partner has not moved there yet. My educational job has great holidays, but the downside is that I can't get any holidays except at the set times: so I can't take time off to attend the interview. I have never pulled a 'sickie' in my life, and my guess is also that I am not the preferred candidate for the job. In my cover letter I clearly indicated the fortnight I would be available for interview, but they have scheduled them for a couple of weeks before those dates. I would also be setting myself up for a horrible commute if I was offered and accepted the job.
I already have the offer of work at my partner's new employer, but that is very part-time and would pay about 25% of my current salary. We think we can survive just on his salary, but while I love the idea of being able to cover my share of the expenses with a 200 hours/ year job (really about 500 hours - the 200 hours is class contact time over 20 weeks a year) giving me plenty of time to work on projects, have a bit of a sabbatical and explore my options, the other part of me is paranoid about burning bridges with one of the few local employers that could provide work for me, and I like the idea of being able to save most of my salary rather than treading water investment-wise or even worse dipping into savings slightly.
The other complication is that given the short timescale they are probably keen to get someone in post before the end of the session. This would be problematic for me as a) I would hate to leave my students before the final hurdle and b) my current employer will be offering enhanced voluntary severance packages soon which could be worthwhile financially, but one of the conditions would be to stay until the end of the current session, and they also withdraw offers if you get another job before they pay out.
Does anyone have any advice as to my best course of action, or what they would do in a similar situation?