WWYD re: pregnant and job searching

My company has been struggling financially for years and things do not seem to be getting better, in fact they seem to be getting worse lately. Is it a complete waste of my time to look for jobs being 4 months pregnant? Would any company bother hiring me at this point? I'm not sure what to do but am really starting to get nervous with how things are going.
TIA!

Re: WWYD re: pregnant and job searching

I can tell you my experience. I was hired at 7 months pregnant.
The timing was right for them and they didn't mind that I was pregnant. They knew I planned to come back after having my daughter and I had no intentions of not working.
The downside was I had ZERO time banked for "maternity leave". So they loaned me one week of PTO and I had to pay that back (we accrue time here each pay period so it was several pay periods before I was back out of the negative on time off).
Other than that one week they fronted me I was unpaid.

I only took 8 weeks off. I couldn't afford to be home with no pay any longer than that.

WWYD re: pregnant and job searching

Hmm, alright so maybe I might as well look and see what happens. Maybe I'll get lucky! Thanks for sharing!

WWYD re: pregnant and job searching

I'm in the same boat and I've thought about it but right now it's not feasible for me... I won't be entitled to fmla or disability when I'm out after the baby is born so it worries me right now.

WWYD re: pregnant and job searching

I'm interviewing for a job on Thursday, in CT. It's my husbands company he's been at 12 years, yes he commutes to CT, do they are well aware that I am pregnant. I'm not sure how it would all work out. I think if we're both working up there we'd have to move, but I'm not even willing to think about moving until after DD is here and were settled. But well see how Thursday goes and go from there.

Re: WWYD re: pregnant and job searching

If you are OK with possibly not getting paid during maternity leave then go for it.

WWYD re: pregnant and job searching

I thought about it when I was about 6 months pregnant, and opted agaisnt it because I wouldn't be eligible for the time off etc. Good luck, its not an easy decision either way.

Re: WWYD re: pregnant and job searching

It's pretty easy to hide a pregnancy at 4 months pregnant, especially with a flowy blouse and suit jacket. It's illegal for a company to not hire you just because you're pregnant, so I would wait until you get the offer, and then let them know. You'll have to be comfortable with only taking a very short maternity leave that will be unpaid, though.

Just for some perspective, with my first pregnancy, I was in an unstable job but decided to ride it out and start looking for a new job on my maternity leave. My goal was to take my paid maternity leave at my current job. Well, I was laid off a few weeks before I gave birth. Was it stressful at the time? YES! But, I started looking for a new job when DS was around 4 months old. I returned to a new job when he was 6.5 months old. Those are 6.5 months I got to spend all day, every day with him. I wouldn't have traded it for the world.

Plus, the 6 month gap on my resume is easily explained by the layoff + childbirth. Nobody thought any less of me when I was interviewing.

WWYD re: pregnant and job searching

I can say from experience that I wish I would've stayed at my job and wasn't unemployed when pregnant. I know you said you are still working but if you get laid off towards the end of your pregnancy, are you really going to look then (say at like 9 months pregnant)? I got laid off and didn't look because I became pregnant right away. I figured I would stay home and then I ended up staying home after LO was born for over a year. While I LOVED being home with LO, I missed working and financially it was very hard. Looking back I would have looked right away and went back to work, pregnant or not.

Good luck!