Is anyone looking for a job while pregnant?

plumpous · December 2016

I love my job. I love the people I work with. But I am beyond underpaid. The market is at least 50% higher right now and I could even push for more. I need the money with baby 2 on the way, but is it a bad time to look? Soon enough I'll show and odds are I won't get full benefits for leave.
Is anyone in the same boat?

ladipale · December 2016

Not exactly - but I'm on a one year contract that goes from Sept - Sept and usually gets renewed in the late spring/early summer. I'm hopeful that I'll get a contract for next academic year even if I take off fall quarter next year but its not a guarantee - which is stressful.

GoogleMD · December 2016

Sort of, but I am just looking to move departments in my current company . my company often hires pregnant women if they are the right fit. What so you mean you won't get the full benefits, are uou referring to FMLA

RunRestRepeat · December 2016

I kinda was before getting ku - not really actively looking but I did consider applying for a position a friend send over where the job description perfectly matched what I wanted to be doing. I kept putting it off for some reason, then decided not to apply when I got a BFP.

While I don't love my specific job right now, I do LOVE my company and my benefits package is amazing. By the time baby comes, I should have enough vacation/sick time built up to take a full 12-weeks off - I seriously doubted that the other company could match that. Plus, at least where I am, most companies don't have to guarantee FMLA with under a year of service, so that factored in!

I think it really depends on what is most important to you - I hope you find an answer soon!

realgoodthing · December 2016

I'm in the entertainment industry, so I'm kind of always looking for a job. Specifically, trying to get a writing job - most go for about five months, so if I started in January, I wouldn't have to take baby time off. I'm also pitching two shows in January - it's all very ambiguous what would happen with those - my pregnancy shouldn't really effect it, but I'm likely not going to disclose unless I'm already showing.

plumpous · December 2016

GoogleMD said:

Sort of, but I am just looking to move departments in my current company . my company often hires pregnant women if they are the right fit. What so you mean you won't get the full benefits, are uou referring to FMLA

Yes. FMLA typically kicks in after a year.

Itsnotyourturn · December 2016

I work in a job where they make us take maternity leave at 26 weeks but you can actually go on maternity leave as soon as you turn a test if you so choose. This time I opted to go on leave immediately and I did consider getting a part time job but it would mess with my short term disability insurance (which I have paid for OOP). I am unsure if I will go back because I may not want to travel so much. So I may be looking for a new job after baby.

virginiaunicorn11 · December 2016

plumpous said:

GoogleMD said:

Sort of, but I am just looking to move departments in my current company . my company often hires pregnant women if they are the right fit. What so you mean you won't get the full benefits, are uou referring to FMLA

Yes. FMLA typically kicks in after a year.

Ooo, very tough call. Do you get any paid leave whatsoever in your current role?

I usually "err" on the side of always finding new opportunities - so in your shoes, I would probably actively look. Then if offered a new job, fully evaluate the two situations to see if the combination of compensation plus time off plus whatever else is important to you, would make it worth leaving.

You say you love your job and coworkers - that's a pretty special combination that may be worth more than money and worth hanging onto during early motherhood days.

I could probably make more elsewhere but I love my job, my boss, and I have an amazing amount of flexibility. That's important for my family right now, so enough to keep me where I'm at.

That said, a 50% compensation increase is a big deal. If you are already financially comfortable, maybe you can forego it for security. If not, maybe it's worth the risk so you can save like mad over then next several months. Or at least use the new offer as leverage to negotiate with your current employer.

Lots to consider. Good luck!!

Xath · December 2016

What about doing your market research on the going rate for someone with your experience/background and approaching your boss to ask to be compensated at (or closer to) the market rate?

plumpous · December 2016

@virginiaunicorn11 thanks for the advice. I don't get any paid leave except for the 6 weeks of short term disability which is 80%. Money right now is kind of tight. I get help from my parents to pay for the nanny (we couldn't get into daycare and we pay her much less than the going rate), but adding a kid is going to push us over the edge. DH leveraged an offer last year so it's up to me now.
@Xath my office doesn't believe that to be a valid reason for a raise. I tried. I've gotten significant raises in the past but no employer gives 50%. And 15% won't help enough.

Should I wait to look during maternity leave or just go for it now and see what happens?

tuxielove93 · December 2016

I was working as a freelance model before I got pregnant, and have been so tired and sick (and, well, my body doesn't look the same even though I'm not showing yet) that I had to stop for the moment, and my husband went to work full time. It has completely upended our finances, and I keep thinking about getting a part time job when I'm feeling better, but then I get days like today where I am just wiped out and can't imagine getting off the couch let alone getting a job. I've always been pretty sensitive to hormone changes (never could handle birth control) so it doesn't surprise me that I'm like this in pregnancy, although I'm really not enjoying it at the moment. Anyways, any advice on finding a part time job once I'm showing? I figure by the second trimester I'll be able to work, but I don't know if I'll be able to get hired.
As for the original poster issue, I say go looking, and if you get offered something, you can compare the two then and make a fully informed decision. No harm in taking a look.

lamphele · December 2016

I had every intention of looking for a new job since my current school is about an hour and a half away from home. I wanted to find a new job lot closer, but this baby will be born and cause me to miss the first few weeks of the new school year. That's going to complicate things when looking for a job.

born2runrn · December 2016

I am looking for a job and applied to a few today. I am a nurse in a hospital and am sick of working nights, weekends, and holidays. I applied to jobs to review claims for insurance companies. Sounds kinda boring but I want to work from home. If I get an interview or job offer, I'll weigh the pros and cons to decide if it's worth it to leave my current job. I won't even have enough time saved at my current job for paid leave so it probably won't be a difficult decision.

LCantrell86 · December 2016

I actually have a job interview tomorrow for a great position that pays way better than my current one. I'm nervous about not getting FMLA though. Does anyone have advice or when to mention my pregnancy to this potential new employer? I need to make sure they can give me some kind of leave.

virginiaunicorn11 · December 2016

Cait32 said:

@plumpous I would go for it now, at least to some extent, and then decide when/if you get an offer. I don't know what line of work you're in, but I've even known employers who want someone enough that they negotiate with a package with a pregnant woman to get her (i.e. They offer you some kind of leave, even though you won't qualify for fmla yet). I feel like it's worth looking and if you don't find anything great, get more serious about it closer to your leave (so ideally you could start a new job after leave). If your dream job happens to be out there right now, you don't want to miss it unless it's really impossible to make the transition work. Looking for a job isn't a guarantee you'll get one, so I vote no harm in looking ever.

Yes to all this. This is what I would do if it were me.

stokesm21 · December 2016

I am not a huge fan of my job at all but I was hesitant to look for a new job knowing we were going to try to start a family. I got my BFP and that kind of solidified my decision. I would still love to look for a new one, despite me not even showing yet, but I decided against it. I feel like it kind of spoils the relationship from the beginning. That and we generally have a standard 60 or 90 day "probationary period" here where they can fire you for any reason (without cause) so if I were to go public in that time they could find almost any other reason to let me go and I'd have no way to prove that it was because of the pregnancy. Although you'd hope that you would be working for someone who wouldn't do that and if they were upset about it, it would be a big red flag on what type of employer they are.

All of that said, it's different for me because I'm Canadian. I wouldn't be taking a 6 or 12 week leave but rather the standard 1 year maternity/paternal leave that our employment insurance offers. So it's a bit different getting a job, working for 7 months then taking an entire year off.

BMG2013 · December 2016

I could have written this post! I am extremely underpaid for the director position that I am currently in. It's also a start up so I don't get any benefits whatsoever (luckily I get them through my husband's job). My boss continues to pile more and more responsibilities on me and refuses to give me a raise of any sort and I've just had enough. I interviewed for a new position yesterday which went great- I am almost positive they will give me an offer...however, they don't know that I'm pregnant. I'm super worried about starting a new position and then revealing (my plan would be to tell them when they officially offer me the job so I'm not being too deceitful). I would probably only get 6 weeks bonding leave though at either position.

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