Job hunting while pregnant
Whether to search for a job while pregnant can be a difficult decision for many women and their families. Experts say that pregnancy shouldn’t discourage a woman from going on a job search if she needs and wants to work. In this article, MedZilla offers job candidates information about their rights and how to handle some of the potentially difficult issues of interviewing while pregnant.
For Immediate Release
Job hunting while pregnant
Marysville, WA
(PRWEB) October 3, 2003-– Whether to interview for jobs while pregnant is a
difficult decision for many women. If you’re showing, you wonder if you can
overcome the drawback of an employer knowing that you’ll take a leave shortly
after starting the job. And if you’re not showing, you might struggle with
whether to be honest about the situation.
All interview situations are
different, so all job seekers must use their instincts to decide whether to
reveal their pregnancy. Still, it helps if the job seeker is prepared to address
the issue and has a plan as to how she is going to protect the employer’s
interests if she gets the job. “Ethics and conscience come into play for both
the candidate and the hiring manager,” says Frank Heasley, PhD, President and
CEO of MedZilla.com, a leading Internet recruitment and professional community
that targets jobseekers and HR professionals in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals,
healthcare and science. “A responsible, honest job seeker shouldn’t interview
for a job unless she plans to work there after her delivery. A responsible,
lawful hiring manager should not base her decision on hiring a person if she
finds out the candidate is pregnant.”
HR expert Liz Ryan says that she
hears about the issue often on the women’s email discussion network Ryan
founded, Worldwit.org. According to Ryan, as daunting a thought it is to job
hunt while pregnant, women are landing jobs up until about six months of
pregnancy.
The first step is to weigh your career options. Many
variables come into play, says John A. Challenger, Challenger, Gray &
Christmas, Inc., an international outplacement firm. Putting off a search might
not only create financial constraints, but also unattractive gaps in one’s
resume. “So certainly someone who is pregnant and feels the need to go out and
look for a job should feel no compunction not to,” he says.
On the other
hand, a woman who is pregnant might not feel physically like putting up with all
the running around often necessary in the interview process or the extra stress
of interviewing. She might have morning sickness and can’t show that to the
world, Challenger says. Or she might have to cancel an interview and that is
never good policy.
What is the right time, if any, to talk
openly?
In this uncertain job market, women are getting laid off and many
are in their early stages of pregnancy. Ryan hears from those who can't afford
to go without work until their babies were born.
Experts say that women
should be careful about mentioning their pregnancies to hiring managers too
early. Some say women should remain mum until the pregnancy shows. Ryan suggests
waiting until the pregnant woman feels comfortable about revealing her pregnancy
to friends—when it’s no longer a guarded personal issue.
Women shouldn’t
feel badly about not sharing their pregnancies before they show. First, personal
health information is legally not something employers can ask about. And
employers don’t usually indulge complete and pertinent information, either. For
example, Ryan says that employers don’t usually reveal during an interview that
a company is having a rocky financial time or that sales are a little soft and
layoffs might be six months down the road. “Are they in possession of that
knowledge? You bet they are,” she says.
Ryan, who has 20 years HR
experience in corporate America, makes the point that HR people might not want
to know. “The only reason that they would benefit from knowing is to influence
the hiring decision. Being influenced in the hiring decision by the fact that
you’re pregnant is unlawful in 50 states,” she says.
Instead, a good
hiring manager will deal with the situation as he would any other leave when the
time comes. It’s not the end of the world. “I took three maternity leaves while
working in corporate America,” she says.
At around six months, when a job
candidate is obviously pregnant, the job hunt gets tougher, says Ryan. “What I
recommend around the six-month point is that they talk to the prospective
employer about being a contractor and say, ‘Look, you get the best of both
worlds. I’ll be a contractor for you. You don’t pay anything towards my
maternity leave. But if you like the work I do, hire me as an employee [after
the baby is born].’”
Another tip when showing: be prepared and confident
to address your situation. The good news, Ryan says, is that even when wearing a
maternity business suit, women are being hired. But if a job candidate who is
obviously pregnant goes in and gives the impression that she “hopes” everything
will work out, chance are she’ll go to the bottom of the pile. If she exudes
confidence, lays out her plan of when to return and how she plans to handle the
workload, it works wonders, Ryan says.
Being upfront before the interview
if you’re obviously pregnant might not be a bad idea, Ryan says. If you send in
a resume and get a call from a recruiter or hiring manager six or seven months
into your pregnancy, consider saying, “I’m delighted that you want me to come in
for the interview. I don’t want anyone to be surprised I am six months pregnant.
Is this something we can talk about in the context of a contract?”
LaShika Howard, senior account executive, The Datafinders Group, an IT
recruiting consulting firm, says that job candidates who know they are pregnant
should consider talking about it to third-party recruiters. The third-party
recruiters can help them by investigating employers’ policies regarding employee
leave. This can help recruiters and job candidates decide whether to pursue
certain jobs.
“If employers hire the people they think are the best for
their postings and job candidate’s interview with a sincere desire to do good
jobs for employers, the process should be a win-win for everyone
involved—regardless off pregnancies and other issue. It’s when ulterior motives
come into play that the process falls apart,” Dr. Heasley says.
About
MedZilla.com
Established in mid 1994, MedZilla is the original web site to
serve career and hiring needs for professionals and employers in biotechnology,
pharmaceuticals, medicine, science and healthcare. MedZilla databases contain
about 9,000 open positions and 13,000 resumes from candidates actively seeking
new positions. These resources have been characterized as the largest, most
comprehensive databases of their kind on the web in the industries
served.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2003/10/prweb82784.htm