When to tell potential employer about pregnancy?

[eliza61]

I can't see a 7 month pregnant applicant being most qualified if they would be unable to be there to complete the project. I know what you mean though.

And that's the rub Art,
We definitely work on deadlines and we ask perspective employees are the able to committ to XYZ schedule to complete the project or meet a deadline.

So if they say "yes" they can and then turn around and tell us they want to be out for maternity leave, then they lied.

I truly empathize as I'm a mom but I've been on both sides. That's one reason why employees put in avenues to dismiss people. one way is keeping our new hire "temporary" for 6 months.

AS others have mentioned it's not that hiring managers wake up and say let's discriminate, they are trying to get the best qualified applicant. so what constitutes "qualified"??

 

[bjscheel]

Agree with others to sit the year out and enjoy a more relaxed schedule with all your changes that are happening, maybe sub second half of school year if you can get into that. I was pregnant when I graduated college, so I did my usual summer jobs I had done in the past, then had my baby and stayed home for 3 more months before job hunting in my chosen field. I didn't want to start something pregnant.

 

[lauradis]

Spare the kids, the parents, staff and admin the hassles and headaches. Apply next year.

Focus on getting your family settled and make your new baby your priority. If teacher jobs are as transient in FL as you say, finding a position next year should be no problem.

please op stop min and think about your future students. be a sub for little while...

 

[lauradis]

Congrats on the move and the baby.

 

[MickeySP]

I can tell you what I did, because of discriminatory HR people like have posted here - I told them the week after I started

Maternity leave here in Canada is 12 months. Bluntly put, as a hiring manager I would simply not even consider a pregnant candidate. There would just be no way and you're right when you say that there are a million and one reasons to find someone else to be a better candidate. Good luck with your move and your job hunt.

Absolutely - which is why I (and likely any other employer) will find any one of countless other reasons to give the job to another candidate.

WOW, btw what company do you work for?

You are leaving them open to HUGE legal issues should they ever have anyone you reject find that posting.

 

[tvguy]

I can tell you what I did, because of discriminatory HR people like have posted here - I told them the week after I started





WOW, btw what company do you work for?

You are leaving them open to HUGE legal issues should they ever have anyone you reject find that posting.

While this is Canada, in the U.S. legal system a common legal test is "what would a reasonable person do in this situation?". Does a reasonable person in Canada hire someone who will be off for a year shortly after starting? I know laws can be funny, and it could very well be discriminatory, but it sure would lack common sense in my book.

 

[hereyago]

I am not in the education field, but wouldnt or couldn't the same question be asked for a sub position?'Wouldn't availability be a key component in hiring?

 

[wvjules]

Yea you should forget your career for a while and stay home. And while you stay home make sure you have your mans meal prepared when he gets home and the house is clean and the children are ready to happily greet daddy at the door when he gets home from work. Oh and make sure you vacuum in high heels as any good homemaker would do.

 

[mom2rtk]

And while you stay home make sure you have your mans meal prepared when he gets home and the house is clean and the children are ready to happily greet daddy at the door when he gets home from work. Oh and make sure you vacuum in high heels as any good homemaker would do.

Sure. Cuz that's exactly what people have suggested.

Do you really have this much disdain for women who exercise a choice to spend more time with their kids?

 

[wvjules]

I think suggesting she take the year off because she has children and is pregnant is absurd. OP obviously wants to work or else she wouldn't be applying for jobs.

 

[JanaDee]

Yea you should forget your career for a while and stay home. And while you stay home make sure you have your mans meal prepared when he gets home and the house is clean and the children are ready to happily greet daddy at the door when he gets home from work. Oh and make sure you vacuum in high heels as any good homemaker would do.

Yeah, that's exactly what people are saying.

 

[morgan98]

Yea you should forget your career for a while and stay home. And while you stay home make sure you have your mans meal prepared when he gets home and the house is clean and the children are ready to happily greet daddy at the door when he gets home from work. Oh and make sure you vacuum in high heels as any good homemaker would do.

This is a great post! I don't have children and will not be having children so I don't have a horse in this race. However, I find that all the moms on this thread who are basically telling the OP to hang it up for a year to be a little over the top. I understand she said she could afford to, but why should she have to? If she has excellent credentials and is a high performer and intends to come back, having to be out for 4-5 weeks is not the end of the world. Anyone could have an accident or an unexpected medical procedure at any time and be out that long.

I am also a boss, in a large organization. We hire people who are qualified and have the professional credentials and licensures we need to run a business. We have hired people off of campus, find out they are pregnant within the first 8 months and they miss busy season. They come back and life goes on. Is it ideal, probably not, but it is life. Heck our campus recruiter is going to be out in the fall when we recruit heavily off of campus. Guess what? It will all work out.

I look at someone as having to take a leave as one component of their potential performance as an employee. To all the people who say they would not consider hiring a pregnant person and would always hire another candidate, I feel that is just wrong.

 

[gwynne]

I am not in the education field, but wouldnt or couldn't the same question be asked for a sub position?'Wouldn't availability be a key component in hiring?

Not sure about the question. Subs are able to notify the school when they will and won't be available. They are used on an as needed basis. For the record I think that is a great idea for OP, temporarily.
A regular classroom teacher has a ton more responsibility both to the school and to her students.

 

[gwynne]

This is a great post! I don't have children and will not be having children so I don't have a horse in this race. However, I find that all the moms on this thread who are basically telling the OP to hang it up for a year to be a little over the top. I understand she said she could afford to, but why should she have to? If she has excellent credentials and is a high performer and intends to come back, having to be out for 4-5 weeks is not the end of the world. Anyone could have an accident or an unexpected medical procedure at any time and be out that long.

I am also a boss, in a large organization. We hire people who are qualified and have the professional credentials and licensures we need to run a business. We have hired people off of campus, find out they are pregnant within the first 8 months and they miss busy season. They come back and life goes on. Is it ideal, probably not, but it is life. Heck our campus recruiter is going to be out in the fall when we recruit heavily off of campus. Guess what? It will all work out.

I look at someone as having to take a leave as one component of their potential performance as an employee. To all the people who say they would not consider hiring a pregnant person and would always hire another candidate, I feel that is just wrong.

I read the timing of this pregnancy. It's quite possible she may leave mid Nov, and won't be back until a few days before Winter Holiday.
That's a lot of time at the end of a semester to expect a sub to step in and take over. Is it done with teachers that are already hired? Sure.
It may not be very realistic to think that a brand new hire would receive a ton of accommodation. There are too many folks looking for jobs that would be able to work the entire first semester as a new hire. Administrators probably consider the needs of the students to have some stability and continuity in the educational process.

 

[okeydokey]

It won't hurt to apply and show them you are interested and what your skills are. You said if you don't get the job that you will be fine too, and then you can apply again for the 2016 academic year.

Congrats on the move, I think it will be a great thing for your family.

 

[mnrose]

I hope these same suggestions about waiting another year to work also apply to OP's husband. Surely, he will be unable to work too, given all the demands of a new baby. New parents are so distracted and can't do right by their employer.

 

[JanaDee]

This is a great post! I don't have children and will not be having children so I don't have a horse in this race. However, I find that all the moms on this thread who are basically telling the OP to hang it up for a year to be a little over the top. I understand she said she could afford to, but why should she have to? If she has excellent credentials and is a high performer and intends to come back, having to be out for 4-5 weeks is not the end of the world. Anyone could have an accident or an unexpected medical procedure at any time and be out that long.

I am also a boss, in a large organization. We hire people who are qualified and have the professional credentials and licensures we need to run a business. We have hired people off of campus, find out they are pregnant within the first 8 months and they miss busy season. They come back and life goes on. Is it ideal, probably not, but it is life. Heck our campus recruiter is going to be out in the fall when we recruit heavily off of campus. Guess what? It will all work out.

I look at someone as having to take a leave as one component of their potential performance as an employee. To all the people who say they would not consider hiring a pregnant person and would always hire another candidate, I feel that is just wrong.

A 4 week maternity leave is ridiculously short. Most women are not ready to go back to full time work after 4 weeks. If the OP doesn't have to, why would she put herself and her family through that, both physically and emotionally? If she has a c-section, she can't even drive for 2 weeks post-partum. Wanting to spend time with your newborn isn't something that is "over the top".

 

[JanaDee]

I hope these same suggestions about waiting another year to work also apply to OP's husband. Surely, he will be unable to work too, given all the demands of a new baby. New parents are so distracted and can't do right by their employer.

If he's the one that is birthing the baby (funny, we haven't heard about it in the news), then my same advice applies to him.

 

[MickeySP]

While this is Canada, in the U.S. legal system a common legal test is "what would a reasonable person do in this situation?". Does a reasonable person in Canada hire someone who will be off for a year shortly after starting? I know laws can be funny, and it could very well be discriminatory, but it sure would lack common sense in my book.

It may be common sense but it is highly illegal to ask if someone is pregnant so if she doesn't volunteer you won't know. Now that is common sense to someone who needs a job to feed that child when born.

 

[mom2rtk]

My answers to the OP are about the timing of her pregnancy. I'm not supportive of hiding a pregnancy until after you are hired and leaving kids with a sub for weeks in the middle of the school year. Beyond that, it matters not to me what she chooses.

But after reading a few of these responses, it confirms my suspicion that the women's movement was more about validating a mother's decision to work than it was about validating the woman having a choice at all.