Looking for a new job is tough no matter who the job-hunter is. Between long hours spent revising resumes and waiting by the phone for a call back after an interview, searching for a new place of employment can be one of the most stressful periods of your life. However, it can be near impossible if employers are actively choosing against moms.
That’s what observers like Moms Rising, a blog that covers current issues around women in the workplace, have noticed in recent years. Told it was a “work-life issue” that they need to figure out on their own, some moms have first-hand accounts about the times they were the most qualified candidate for a position but were passed over because some employers had concerns about whether they’d be 100 percent dedicated to their careers despite their families.
Don’t put up with it
While it can be disheartening to make it all the way to the interview stage before finding out that the employer has unfair prejudices against working moms, you don’t want to work at a place that endorses those opinions anyway.
In a column for Forbes magazine, activist Lisa Quast explained that maternal profiling is very real, but it shouldn’t stop you from seeking fulfilling career opportunities wherever you can find them. Jobs don’t have to be filled with misogynist cultures and insensitive managers – you just have to dig through some dirt to find flexible staffing positions that are perfect for you and your family.
Maternal discrimination is an unfortunate reality of opting into the workforce after having kids, but as more mothers find jobs and work alongside the people who hold these views, this culture will most likely disappear.