A new job?

kristynachicago

Not sure how to navigate this and wondering if anyone has any personal experience or ideas/input...

I work M-F, 9-5 in a job that is ok.  My pay is decent and my benefits are really good.  I get 30 days of paid vacation, a nice 401k match, great insurance (which I carry for our family) and when I had my daughter 6 months ago, I got 12 weeks of fully paid maternity leave.  The thing is that my job is kind of a dead-end.  I've been here 6 years, have been promoted once and have no opportunity for advancement.  My boss is not going anywhere as she is very comfortable.  

I have also recently found out that my peers who work at other firms in the same position are out earning me (by anywhere from $25-50k+,depending on their firm).  I'm the first of my friends to have a baby so none of them are concerned about maternity benefits.  

Here are my questions/issues - I have been approached by a couple of firms to interview for a few different open positions.  The pay would be more than I make now and there are more opportunities for advancement, but here's the thing, I'm considering trying to get pregnant with my second baby in about 6-9 months from now.  Given how good my maternity benefits are at my current job, I'm not sure if it's worth considering leaving...is it possible to find out what the maternity benefits are prior to accepting a job?  I feel like the potential of me getting pregnant is holding me back from pushing myself in my career (hello, the antithesis of "Lean In.)  

Thanks for your thoughts!  

Amelia4

That type of information can be easy to find out, or hard, depending on the profession.  Some big companies have their policies online for anyone to see.  Generally, I'd first ask around to people I know that work there.  If I have a friend that works for a company, I'm likely to ask her/him about the policies first.  If not, then perhaps you would need to interview and ask questions to see if you think the fit would be good.  You don't have to accept an offer and you can always use an offer to negotiate at your current place of employment.  Of course, if you are thinking about sticking it out where you are for a couple more years, then leaving, it might not be the best course of action to interview just for a leveraging offer.

Also, something to consider - if you make $25-50K more in a new job, is 12 weeks off paid really a benefit or do you come out ahead anyway? I'd be sure to look at hours and flexibility and company culture as well as bottom line money and benefits.

TheBorg7of9

Definitely go for it. I got started a new job when ds1 was 6 months, started ttc#2 4 months later and then took maternity leave for ds2 after being there for 1 year and 4 months.
12 weeks is nice, but I think the other firms will probably have something comparable.