new job or ttc... (UK)

[feerouge]

Hello!

I live in the UK where we can have I believe paid maternity leave if we have been working for at least 26 weeks with the employer.

Current job:
I work in a school 8.30am - 4.30pm.
pay is ok, managed to do a few international travels saving £300 per month.
problem: no real pay rise or promotion perspective, and not creative enough. International travel to japan once a year which is nice but apart from that, Repetitive tasks.
been working there for 3 years now.
I'm 30 years old.

new job (potentially):
Same wage
Could start in one or two month
more creative job, possibility to travel nationally.
Work in a very exciting field (children books) and use my design skills.

Now DH and I are thinking of TTC in august/september.

I am unsure if i should wait before applying for a new job, as possibly i would have to tell them 6 months after starting that i am pregnant, or if i should wait in my current job...

the problem is if i stay there it means another year and half in that same job.

Now is really the time for me to apply to other jobs if i want to match the 26 weeks at the end of the year (provided we conceive straight away!).

Again if it doesn't work straight away it means another two years in that same job and delaying my career...

Do you have any advice? Is it badly seen by employers to say you're pregnant six months after starting a new job?

Also i guess if i stayed in the same job i would be more able to take at least 9 months off.

I'm just struggling because i want to move to graphic design and i'm already 30, so quite old to get the required experience to someday be freelance...

Arrgghh i don't know

Move jobs and give it eighteen months and then try. That way the best of both worlds.

The only downside is will you want to travel when pregnant or have the child? Will you be letting them down if you fail to travel when they made it clear from the start it was part of the job?

Hello Littlemonstersrule,

We've been travelling for the past 4 years so don't mind settling down now. That new jobs only requires travelling in the UK for fairs so would be possible.

Do you mean if i take the new job i should wait a year and a half before ttc? I think we've settled on ttc at the end of this year so my job will have to work around that as it is our main priority for next year...

Thanks for your point of view :)

If you get pregnant in, say, November, you'd probably tell them in February next year, and would them go on mat leave, say, next July. That's ages after you would presumably start a job you're applying for now.

I can't see any problem. If there's a new job you want, apply for it.

I say go for the new job and ttc as planned. At the moment, you cannot know if you'll fall pregnant within the first month or a few months or longer...why put the rest of your life on hold?

As to inconveniencing your new employer, as one of my former managers once told me: people have children, it's part of life.

Good luck!

Agree with previous posters - go for the new job & ttc later this year.
Good luck with both of your ventures :)

Apply for job and TTC.

If you start the new job not pregnant, and conceive a few weeks later, you will get the same SMP as in your current job. The only exception would be in for get enhanced (occupational) maternity pay at your current job.
So I'd apply for the new job, and start ttc after you have started the job, or after you know you haven't got it.

Sort your work out first. Much harder to find work that you love once you have a child and are hamstrung by the cost of childcare.

Thank you for all the support everyone, it makes me feel much more confident about it.

We have already planned a trip to Japan in September so would not TTC before August really, but i agree...plus as it's a job in the children's book industry they might even be supportive, who knows!

I'll apply first thing tomorrow morning :)