Is it a good idea for a married couple to have the same trade?

[jm_6412]

I am curious to know if anyone out there is going down the same track I am about to? My hubby is in Comm Research and I am in the midst of joining for the same trade, now I hear that when 2 people are in that trade together that they are more likely to be posted apart from eachother. Is this true??? I would really like to hear some good news if any because I am really interested in this trade but we have a family with 3 young kids that I would hate to constantly have only 1 parent in the house.
Please let me know what you think, and be honest I am a big girl I can handle it! LOL

 

[Roy Harding]

I am curious to know if anyone out there is going down the same track I am about to? My hubby is in Comm Research and I am in the midst of joining for the same trade, now I hear that when 2 people are in that trade together that they are more likely to be posted apart from eachother. Is this true??? I would really like to hear some good news if any because I am really interested in this trade but we have a family with 3 young kids that I would hate to constantly have only 1 parent in the house.
Please let me know what you think, and be honest I am a big girl I can handle it! LOL

My wife and I were different trades.  Our situation only became awkward when I once became a peripheral part of her chain of command - a situation much more likely to occur for same trade couples.

The situation has pluses and minuses. 

On the plus side:

• Only ONE career manager involved in posting the family
• A deep understanding of each other's work - both the joys of it, and the frustrations involved with it

On the minus side:

• Possibility of being posted to separate locations is conceivably higher - most especially for small trades (I'm not sure how this works for the 291 crowd - I seem to recall extremely limited postings for this trade)
• Possibility of hurt feelings when one gets promoted before the other (don't laugh - I've seen this circumstance shake up some marriages pretty badly)

I'm sure others here could come up with extremely valid additions to both lists above.

On the whole, I would suggest pursuing the trade that INTERESTS you, without reference to your spouse's trade.  Whether you end up with the same trade as your spouse or not, be prepared for some unique challenges as a service couple, especially if you have children.

Good luck to you.

Roy

 

[Bintheredunthat]

I'm sure this will be covered by someone with more experience BUT I'm pretty sure the 2 are posted separately meaning, same Base, just not exactly same part of a unit due to conflict of interest issues.

You wouldn't want to be working for hubby if he was the troop Warrant - that's for sure.  But one wouldn't go to Halifax and the other to BC.  Not sure that's really good for anyone.

I do know of people working the in same units - I don't really like the idea when one is in Ops, and the other is in a troop.  Really though, how can you convince yourself and others around you that you got something because you worked hard for it and not because your husband/wife works directly with people who decide how it all goes down?

Bin

 

[jm_6412]

Thanks for the info guys! It really puts it all into perspective for me. I am going to persue this because I want it! I have my medical on June 6th and I can't wait to go to basic! Thank-you again for all your help
Jenn

 

[PMed]

I'm sure this will be covered by someone with more experience BUT I'm pretty sure the 2 are posted separately meaning, same Base, just not exactly same part of a unit due to conflict of interest issues.

You wouldn't want to be working for hubby if he was the troop Warrant - that's for sure.  But one wouldn't go to Halifax and the other to BC.  Not sure that's really good for anyone.I do know of people working the in same units - I don't really like the idea when one is in Ops, and the other is in a troop.  Really though, how can you convince yourself and others around you that you got something because you worked hard for it and not because your husband/wife works directly with people who decide how it all goes down?

Bin

It is entirely possible that you could be posted to different bases, as the career shop will tell you, they *try* to post service couples together but there is no guarantee.  Being a service couple certainly has some unique challenges, I would imagine that being the same trade would have a few more.  There will always be instances where you will have to make choices between career and family, being a service couple just compounds that.  My husband and I are both RegF serving members and so far have been able to make it work quite well for us but there have been sacrifices, compromises, concessions and I always try to remember that I made the decision (keeps my whining to a strict minimum  ).

Hope that helps, Good Luck to you!  ;D

 

[RetiredRoyal]

My ex wife and I were the same trade. AET, she took FRP and I got AVN before I left.

It did cause some problems after I got promoted. I was supposed to go to Yellowknife, but couldn't because it was a small unit and they didn't want her working directly for me. We were subsequently posted to the same Sqn but different area's of employment.