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Original poster

please talk to me about your experiences (not opinions) of applying for a job when pregnant

28 replies

monkeymoma · 30/05/2012 19:09

I know they're not supposed to treat you differently, but were they peeved when you told them? how did it go? how did you cope with leaving for mat leave shortly after getting "up and running" and all trained up?

I am going to apply for a job when I'll be 9-10 weeks (applications not open yet) so if (fingers crossed) I get an interview it'll be too late to claim I didnt know yet, but still early enough to get away with not tellng at interview.

I know my rights, I'm not asking that! I only took 5 mths off with ds1 and would be keen to get back this time too and will go back full time so my conscience is fine with it, but am just wondering how it panned out for others in reality?

thanks x

OP posts:

scottishmummy · 30/05/2012 19:15

good luck with interview
and interesting question, wonder how answers will shape up

Original poster

monkeymoma · 30/05/2012 19:22

thanks , got to GET an interview first but think I am a good candidate! and it would be fab for us long term, timing not ideal I suppose but this will be my last baby and I doubt I'll suddenly be the SAHM type after this one since I was not after DS1 - I feel very uneasy if only one of us is working.

OP posts:

posypoo · 31/05/2012 08:12

I applied for a job when I was 6 weeks pregnant, and got it. I didn't tell them til I was 22 weeks. My line manager was fine, but there were a few raised eyebrows in the team. They were lovely in the end though.

Life is short and timing isn't always ideal - if you have seen the right job and you'll be in a position to go back to it after maternity leave then I say go for it.

Original poster

monkeymoma · 31/05/2012 12:47

thanks posypoo! great to hear how it worked out for you

(doubt I'ld be able to hide it for very long after starting though, 2nd pregnancy and belly is popping out already! will just about hide it for interview but would prob need to tell very soon after I got it - if I got it!)

OP posts:

BenedictsCumberbitch · 31/05/2012 12:51

I interviewed at 14 weeks and started work at about 22 weeks, I told them a few weeks after job offer and acceptance. My line manager rolled her eyes and said 'bloody hell, not another one!' and then talked to me about maternity entitlement etc and how I'd be able to catch up on my peers when I returned from maternity leave. No issues there but I work for a huge organisation (NHS) in a women centred environment (midwife) so it's a constant issue for management to deal with.

AllRiseForHerVaj · 31/05/2012 12:54

I would apply and wouldn't tell them. You have no legal obligation to, and if the ob has your name on it, go for it. I know several women who have done this.

FireOverBabylon · 31/05/2012 13:13

From a recruiter's perspective, I have recruited an obviously pregnant woman (about 7 months gone) to a post. She was just far and away the best candidate. In some ways it helps to be obviously pregnant at the interview - we recruited another of the candiates from the interview as her maternity cover as we knew that we wanted that candidate and would need to provide cover for her!

I work in the public sector though, don't know if this makes any difference.

Original poster

monkeymoma · 31/05/2012 13:53

It is public sector, a college. I'ld go on mat leave at christmas back by following sept.

OP posts:

FireOverBabylon · 31/05/2012 14:13

At least you'd be there for the autumn term then, so you'd be working the busiest stretch and back by the same time the following year. That's a positive.

thegreylady · 01/06/2012 17:18

My dd was pregnant when she applied for a teaching job.She wanted to move from a trly dreadful school to an 'outstanding' one. When they offered her the job she immediately told them she was pg and offered to stand down [she had been so demoralised by awul school she needed to know if she could get another job].The new school deliberated and then said they would like her to have the job and they would cover the maternity leave.She is still there and very happy 5 years and 2 dc later.

Spindelina · 01/06/2012 22:27

Wasn't pregnant when I applied, but was (and knew it) by the interview (felt flipping dreadful!). Offered job, I asked for 0.8 WTE which they agreed to, which reassured me they were a) keen on having me and b) flexible. Told them once I had the contracts signed (about 18 weeks). Started job at 25 weeks. One week left till M/L.

It's been fine so far - though I haven't gone off, let alone come back yet. If I'd started, then got pregnant, they'd still have had to deal with it just the same - from their POV at least this way they don't have to pay me!

Springforward · 01/06/2012 22:34

I once employed someone who was 30ish weeks pregnant. She was the right candidate.

MrsApplepants · 01/06/2012 22:34

I was in very early stage of pregnancy when applying, so they didn't know until I started the job and had to tell them! Pissed off but resigned is how I would describe their reaction. I actually felt v guilty but it was such a great job that I couldnt not apply.

MagratGarlik · 01/06/2012 23:33

With ds1 conception coincidended with my job interview and by the time I started my job, I was 16 weeks (long period between interview and job start, due to international move). Personally, I wouldn't recommend it. I told HR I was pg at 12 weeks and also told occ health when I went for pre-employment health check, but didn't tell my future line-management as I assumed HR would do that (as would happen in the country I was relocating from).

I was made to feel that I had been deliberately deceptive at interview (when I was not actually pg) and although employers have never said anything outright, I have heard rumblings from a distance. Also, the first thing you get known for in the job is being a mother, which means people don't look so much at the actual job you do.

Interestingly, dp started a new job only 2 weeks after the birth of ds1 and 3 days after the birth of ds2 and has never had a problem.

BackforGood · 02/06/2012 00:00

I was interviewed for a job when practically 6 months pregnant with dc3. I could tell it was all going swimmingly (she say immodestly ) so, come the bit where they said 'Any questions?', I told them then - I just said I felt I wanted to be totally honest with them, and hoped they were looking at the next 5 - 10 years over which time I felt I could do a really good job for them, but that, if they chose to select me, I wouldn't be able to start in September as expected, but I would start after Christmas (3 months was standard mat leave then). They pulled out all the stops to find a way to cover me until Christmas and I ws offered the job. I wouldn't have felt right - honest? - if I hadn't told them until after they'd made the job offer although wonders how they hadn't noticed as I thought I was fairly enormous at that point and I don't think that's a great way to start a new working relationship.

fridayschild · 09/06/2012 16:06

We employed someone a number of years ago who would have known she was pg at interview, and didn't tell us till she'd started work. After baby she wanted very part time hours. We are not the sort of place where part time hours are easy to deliver as employer, and this person would have known that at interview. It just left us feeling like we were being taken for a ride, frankly. I would not describe her as an exceptional candidate in any way. I can see that for exceptional candidates things might be different.

Flossiechops · 09/06/2012 22:41

I am a nurse in the public sector and applied for a promotion, I was interviewd when I was around 14 wks pregnant so not showing. At the end of the interview when asked if I had anything I would like to ask I advised them that I was pregnant but that I saw the job as a long term role (it was part time and I had waited ages for a post like this to come up), one that would fit in well with my family. I got the job and was off for 6 months, I have been there 7 years now :)

Original poster

monkeymoma · 11/06/2012 11:19

fridayschild employers only have to accept PT requests if it is viable to do so

and I don't think your story relates to mine much, I am already a mother who works full time, I'm hardly going to do a U turn on that after a second. I can see how someone pregnant with their first may change their mind about how much they want/need to work after the baby, but I've already had a baby, I know I both need to and want to work, I'm not gonna turn around and either not come back or try and reduce agreed hours. Plus it's public sector anyway

They way I feel about it now, it's been delayed in getting advertised so I'll have a bump by the time it is, and if it comes up I might make the following points:
well there'll be no surprizes with me (if jokes are appropriate)
I'm completing my family not about to start
I'm looking at long term
I already know that I like being a working mother, I only took 5 months off with DS and I currently work full time so feel I can safely say that my job will be equally important to me after my second, its not as if I have no experience of being a mother

OP posts:

tribpot · 11/06/2012 11:32

I interviewed at 28 weeks pregnant, so was in that fortunate position of not having to debate whether to tell them at interview. The fork lift truck required to get me into the interview room was a giveaway. In fact I tried to get the agency to tell the interviewers several times that I was pregnant beforehand, and I think the agency genuinely didn't know what to do, so didn't.

Anyway, I got the job (NHS), started at 33 weeks, did a week in the office and two from home (because I was living c. 200 miles away at the time) and then went on leave.

It was, in hindsight, only mildly annoying for them as the organisation didn't even have to pay any SMP for me, and they were still heavily recruiting at that stage so it didn't stop them from taking other people on - the organisation was at a relatively early stage in its development so it was all a bit makeshift and people were slotted in as needed. That said, I don't think it'd be a massive problem now either, although it'd be a bit of a pain to be looking for maternity cover for a brand new candidate. The organisation's now in decline, however, so there is little external recruitment but a number of people 'on the bench' who could help to cover.

Good luck!

spamm · 11/06/2012 11:41

I interviewed for a role at 40 weeks, two days before going into labor. I had to take my Mom to the interview as I could no longer fit behind the wheel of my car, and DH was at work. She sat in reception knitting a little outit for the baby. I had just started ML and was no longer allowed to work, but was feeling great.

I obviously did well! I got the job and they held it for 5 months while I was on ML. Still work for the same company 7 years later, since moved jobs 4 times and moved to US with the company.

FluffyJawsOfDoom · 11/06/2012 14:31

I was hired when I was 19 weeks pregnant - they didn't care :)

Original poster

monkeymoma · 11/06/2012 14:33

p.s. well done Spamm! I'm v impressed! 2 days before labour I was in antisocial hibernation!

OP posts:

FunnysInLaJardin · 11/06/2012 14:36

I applied for 5 jobs during my last pregnancy and was interviewed for all of them. Had been made redundant before getting pregnant and really needed a new job. I was offered my current job at 5 months however I did tell them before the job was offered at my second interview.

They wanted me specifically and so were happy for me to start work 6 months after DS2 was born. They waited for nearly a year for me to start. I think if you are the right person for a specific role then being pregnant is not a big issue.

DowagersHump · 11/06/2012 14:40

My friend did the other week. Very similar situation in that she was about 9 weeks when she applied and she blurted it out before actually signing anything and her line manager to be said that it changes nothing :)

FunnysInLaJardin · 11/06/2012 14:45

and OP, I was in a similar situation to you in that it was my second child and I had worked with DS1 and knew I wouldn't want to be a SAHM with DS2. Plus my family was complete too, so no risk of my having any more children. All that counts in your favour I think

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