Job interviews planned but just found out...

[newtothispage]

I'm pregnant!

I have 3 job interviews lined up for full time hours over this week and next, I have a 2 year old son so this is the perfect time for me to get back to work.

They are my dream jobs, however, this morning I took a test and I'm pregnant!

Would I be unreasonable to take on a job (should I get offered one) knowing I would be going on maternity leave in 8 months?

Sirrah seriously? Until a man is the one popping the baby out of his... well, not sure where from that would be, you can't compare men and women in pregnancy related matters.

Post a thread about a man stating that "we" are pregnant and see how that goes

So, with my first I took 9 months mat leave, I plan to do the same this time however my partner feels he missed out the first time round and would like to share the 9 months with me.
I appreciate everyone's views!

Unless you will be in a very important role or a role that they will be training you for your going on maternity leave is unlikely to have much of an effect on your employer. I really don't see why it would matter. Certainly not cheeky. It's not like you are planning to just disappear without giving notice or something.

Go for the interviews.

Don't mention you have a 2 year old and don't mention you're pregnant.

@Myheartbelongsto
Sorry, off topic.
At 6 weeks check up!!!
I have a colleague who has children born in Jan and Nov of the same calendar year, and on the same day (like 6/01/2013 and 6/11/2013). He always has to clarify "same mum" after he gets the look, or silence on the phone, from whoever fills in the form.

Myheart 6 weeks you go girl !!!

Yep, couldn't believe it myself!

My son was born at the end of the July and my daughter was born the following June. They are both now 11. To be fair my 6 week check up was slightly later that 6 weeks. When my second was 6 months old I found out I was pregnant on my third. When she was born my eldest was 2 years and six weeks!

I wish I had spread them out more and enjoyed them.

Go for it, for one you don’t have to make the decision until your offered one.

Also If a company is planning to relocate or change structures they don’t tend to let candidates know when offering jobs. You can’t count on anything & have to do what’s best for you.

The company will have to follow employment rules. The OP would take the risk that she would have blotted her copybook almost immediately with her new employer if she was not upfront about it before the employer had no choice but to smile and say of course that is fine to go off on maternity leave - what else would you expect an employer to say who is looking down the barrel of employment laws?

YANBU. Pregnant women are as entitled as anyone to get jobs they are suitable and qualified for! You may not be entitled to much maternity leave is the only thing - but that will be true of any job so no reason not to go for it!

100% go to the interview and don’t tell them (about your pregnancy or DC) Why should you not go for your dream job just because biology means you have sole responsibility for growing a human?!

You should go for them! You may not get an offer! (Hope you do) If you do, they've chosen you for a good reason.

I think its pretty crappy accepting a new job without telling them. I would be really cross to have so.eone start in a new job and go off 6 months or so later. Recruitment for us takes bloody months and involvesso much paperwork its unreal. And while legally there would be absolutely nothing I could do about it I would be bloody cross.

I had a new job found out I was pregnant after 4 weeks there.
I had terrible sickness throughout so had to tell them after two months of being there.
They kept me for my probation period and let me go. Bad times and I found it embarrassing getting JSA when pregnant. X

Okay, let's talk about the worst that could happen:

You don't take the job. You get no maternity pay (the government expects you to look for work while pregnant, regardless of what employers think) You try going back to work in another two years (nine months pregnant, a year with baby) and get the snotty down the nose look from employers who think your skills are out of date. You end up taking a job way below your skill level because it's what you can get. You can't ask for part time because very few places offer part time to new people.

You take a job. Employer gets snotty at you when you tell them you're pregnant. As long as you're with them 26 weeks before birth you still get maternity pay though - depending on how long the recruitment process takes you might be okay. Worst case scenario: they are either awful to you or find a paper-thin excuse to lay you off when you go back. But.. you've been working, so you have an employment history that covers you until the end of maternity leave. It's a hell of a lot easier to find a new job with that.

At absolute worst you might blot your copybook with that employer, so if it's an absolute dream job because of the company (IE if you've always wanted to work for IBM or something) then maybe hesitate -- but most dream job employers will understand such things happen, or they wouldn't be dream job employers.

If you got a new job with most employers, regardless of whether you turned down five other good offers to come to them, regardless of whether it screwed up your life, they would lay you off in a heartbeat in probation if they decided they changed their mind -- even if that mind-change was down to "oops, we don't need that job-role after all". This is your life. Don't hobble yourself because of loyalty to companies who will give you not

Def go for the interviews
You don't need to tell any employer about pregnant till about 25-28 weeks when you hand in your mat b1 form.

Now I know most people do tell before then, butvthete us no obligation and I have worked with a few people who have waited till around 20 weeks.

(Not something I could do, as I was HUGE pretty early)

And while legally there would be absolutely nothing I could do about it I would be bloody cross.

This is the crux of it. What's your aim here? If it really is your dream job, you may want to enter into it in a different spirit from the way you'd approach a "it'll do for now" sort of role.

I know someone in similar circumstances to you. Multinational company, so they played it with a straight bat and to the letter of the law. But her boss was pretty openly pissed off about the whole thing and, surprise, surprise, her career never really took off. So while she gained in the short term, it may have been detrimental to her in the longer term.

If you got a new job with most employers, regardless of whether you turned down five other good offers to come to them, regardless of whether it screwed up your life, they would lay you off in a heartbeat in probation if they decided they changed their mind -- even if that mind-change was down to "oops, we don't need that job-role after all". This is your life. Don't hobble yourself because of loyalty to companies who will give you not

All I've just said notwithstanding, this is a very fair point too.....!

regardless of whether it screwed up your life, they would lay you off in a heartbeat in probation if they decided they changed their mind.

Yeah, I think some people here need to remember that an employer is just an employer. They don't own you.

Employers don't own you and they can also suddenly decide not to keep you on beyond probation or stall your career whilst papering it all to look legal. Employers know how to play the legal card with employees who play the legal card, as advised by their HR team so no charges stick.

Does OP really want to go into a company and play this sick game?

The problem is, blueshoes, that no matter what an employer does to you it still doesn't look worse than a long gap on your CV. And if the OP has a 2 year old and is only just pregnant you're talking a 3-4 year gap minimum which is a killer. Even if this company give her a black mark she's likely to come out with an okay reference which means she's employable. The same is not necessarily true of a 4 year CV gap.

And yes, I've been the person wading through paperwork to hire people before, and yes it's rough if the new employee gets pregnant. Or leaves after a week because they hates the job. Or lied, knowing full well they were going back to uni in three months because there were no summer only jobs and they didn't care about the reference. It's part and parcel of hiring and should be taken as such -- no-one is guaranteed that the person they pick will actually stick around.

swg I accept your point about taking the job just to not have such a long gap. If the OP makes it past probation and is prepared to tread water and not advance, then she has little to lose at the company.

As others say, if it is her dream job, she might want to do this at another company rather blow her chances with this one. It is better to put as many pregnancies on one company with a view to reinventing themselves at another company once they are ready to gear up again.

Naturally people do these things - it is very common advice on mn. I suspect managers are more forgiving when it comes to junior staff (one month's notice). At a more senior level (3 month's notice), this will be noted.