Hello everyone. I hope to be joining you soon but I have a question first.
I have a job interview on Monday for a position that I reeeeeally want. But first, some background.
I had my son in June. I graduated with my Master's degree right before he was born. Three months before he was born my OB made me choose between dropping work or school in order to avoid complete bedrest. After discussing it with my husband, I chose to stop working. My previous job was extremely flexible. Fast forward to a month ago when my boss called to check in. They wanted to know if I would be returning. In order for me to return and obtain a Master's level position I would have to be on-call 24 hours a day during the week and 1 weekend a month. I'm not willing to do that. They completely understood and I sent in my resignation.
Now. Technically I was still employed by my previous company through October. But what do I say in my interview? I understand that my kid is irrelevant to the interview so I can see that it's not necessary to bring him up. But what if they call my old boss and she says, " Well, we haven't actually seen Ms. Beaverhousen in over 9 months because she was on maternity leave". Would that raise any red flags to the interviewer? Should I just be upfront and say that I have been on maternity leave? I also don't want to be seen as a liability because I have an infant.
What would you do?
TIA
Re: WWYD: Interview & Maternity Leave
I would be upfront about it and let them know that you were on maternity leave. If they view that as a liability and don't hire you because of it, is that a company that really a company that you want to work for?
Maybe you can pitch in a way along the lines of, "Now that dc is older, I'm able to commit myself to the responsibilities of this position." Something to confirm that you're dedicated/responsible.
I was on the other side of this last winter. We had a woman interviewing who hadn't worked in a while. She had stopped working for a year or so when her second son was born. She was very up front with us and did well on the interview. We ended up hiring her and she is a valued member of the team.
I would just be upfront with them. Tell them when you started working and that you have been on maternity leave for X amount of time. I wouldn't harp on it, but the best thing you can do is be truthful.