I wore high heels exactly twice during my pregnancy. Once on our so called baby-moon (you know, that last trip you take together before you are never alone again) and once for a job interview. Both times were extremely uncomfortable.
More uncomfortable was the idea of job interviewing at all while I was pregnant. I felt exactly like this woman who recently wrote to Motherlode to ask whether or not she should tell prospective employers that she was pregnant. It was a confusing time and the mere idea of job searching while I was pregnant made everyone I knew nervous. There were the people who were sure I needed to keep it to myself, because being pregnant would cost me the job and the people who said I had to tell, that keeping it to myself was unethical.
But what was legal? And what could I live with?
See–I had to go back to work. When I found out I was pregnant I was in culinary school and paying Cobra. My health insurance was due to run out around the time the baby was born and I needed to secure health care, fast. But because I was in school, I had to finish first which meant I didn't start my job search until I was 5 months pregnant. I was showing so I never had that moment of "Do I or do I not bring it up?"–as far as I was concerned the jig was up.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act prevents you from being fired for being pregnant. It is illegal for a prospective employer to ask you if you are pregnant so you are under no obligation to tell. Common wisdom is to wait until they offer you the job and then explain.
If I am being completely honest, I think it is a shitty thing to hide it until you start the job. Maternity leave is something that employers need to plan for. It does, after all, cost money to pay you and pay someone else to cover for you–and in some cases it can set you off on the wrong foot with co-workers–especially if you work with WOMEN. I know of several stories of women being bullied and just flat out disliked for not disclosing their pregnancy until after they started. You know women love to hate on each other, especially in the workplace.
I can only share what I did. I wore something that made me look obviously pregnant (ya know, that picture says a thousand words thing) but didn't discuss it during the interview. When I was offered the job (not this one), I laid out my due date and plans to my new employer before I actually accepted.
It was both what was legal and what I could live with. And it worked out just fine.
What do you think? How should you handle job searching while pregnant?
