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Career Advancement while pregnant. Advice pls!

meeshagogomeeshagogo member
in August 2022 Moms
A position in my company was offered to an external applicant but the applicant turned it down. They initially had offered it to me last month but I walked away from it because I had my concerns about company culture and feeling left out of important conversations. A little back story: I know the person they offered the position too and they asked me what I thought of the potential for growth and I was 100% honest. I admitted it wasn't a bad company but whoever stepped into that role would need to be strong-willed and be able to speak up to leadership. 

When she turned it down, I saw it as an opportunity to not only step into that role but ask that the role be made a part of leadership and the director heard me and agreed! Awesome, right? Only thing is I haven't told them I am pregnant. Granted I am only just shy of 10 weeks and it's not a condition I *have* to disclose but I feel bad negotiating all this, my salary, ect, knowing in a couple of months I'm going to have to come back and say, "By the way, can we discuss maternity leave?" 

I love my career and I think this year has a lot of potential for growth. This is my third pregnancy but this is my first while employed so I feel out of my depth here. What do you all feel are the rules here? Do I negotiate the best possible deal now, demonstrate my value over time so when the maternity conversation happens, I have that as my bargaining chip? Or am I upfront now and have the conversation about how I will continue to add value to the company even when I am on maternity leave and beyond? TIA! 
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Re: Career Advancement while pregnant. Advice pls!

  • itsme215itsme215 member
    Negotiate for it now, get what you deserve, girl! Don’t feel bad about it. Men would never feel bad about it, even if they were going to take paternity leave, or a sabbatical, or some other extended break the same year. 

    I got a huge raise for 2022 and you better believe I locked that sucker in before telling anyone about being pregnant. 
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  • ced45ced45 member
    Im going through the exact same thing right now. While I absolutely agree with @itsme215 that you should negotiate and get what you deserve, I also felt very strongly that if they were putting their faith in me to be a leader, I needed to be transparent with them about my pregnancy. #1. they absolutely cannot NOT give you the job or the deserving salary just because youre pregnant - thats straight up illegal and you could sue them for way more than your anticipated salary. #2 I have a good relationshop with these people and me springing maternity leave on them after negotiating this new role is a sure fire way to lose their trust and respect. If you want trust and transparency from them, you have to be willing to provide the same. And #3 some of the job logisitics/demands I was negotiating were absolutely influenced by my pregnancy and my new mindset/priorities, and them knowing the full story helped them to understand it. All that to say, maybe Im naively optimistic but I think you can and should be honest and transparent while still getting that $$$ :)
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  • meeshagogomeeshagogo member
    THANK YOU! Honestly I think I just needed someone to give me permission to move forward with this lol
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  • bre2022bre2022 member
    Lean in! Negotiate what's important to you and crush it!  That's why plans are made by the team ahead of a leave (any foreseeable leave, not just for pregnancy) for any associate or leader.

    If you haven't disclosed your pregnancy so far, there's a reason; should another position prompt you to change your mind and disclose earlier? In my opinion, no, since being pregnant is not going to change how I approach the new role: I would still jump in, learn and figure things out. Yes, you will be out for some time, but again..that's why plans are made by the team.

    Whatever route you go with, trust your self, your value, and your contribution to your team! 
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  • buffythevampireslayerbuffythevampireslayer member
    I agree that you can do both. I think we are in a unique position right now where employees have a lot of leverage. Presumably they already know you and know what you can deliver and are factoring all of that into agreeing to your terms for accepting the role. On top of being illegal, not giving someone appropriate salary in a negotiation because they are pregnant is very short sighted, because maternity leave just isn’t that long here in the good old USA. And, promoting from within is almost always a more cost effective option because there’s less risk from the perspective of the employer. I would do both and if you they end up being shady, I would be looking for another job. The market is just too good right now. 
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