I love this story about hunting for a job post-baby:
I had a great deal of trouble finding a new job, partly because my son never slept for more than 90 minutes at a time, and I was showing up for interviews with raccoon eyes, slapped-together toilette, and a brain composed of Swiss cheese. Eventually, in despair, I consulted a professional career counselor, who attempted to hone my interviewing skills through role-playing.
“Why did you leave your last job?” she asked.
“I have a baby at home, and I need more regular hours.”
“Stop right there! You just lost the job,” she informed me. She explained that “nobody wants an employee who is more concerned with her kids than with her job.” She advised me to “forget you even have a baby” during the interview: “They’re not allowed to ask, so just focus on the professional issues. Tell them your previous job was a ’student job’ and that now that you’ve graduated you are looking for a long-term, career-building position.”
The following week, I had a preliminary phone interview for a student counseling position at a university in another state. Everything seemed to be working in my favor: my son had just fallen asleep when the interview started; the interviewer was impressed with some extra training experiences I had sought out which would prove useful in this position; we discovered some mutual acquaintances in the field. I could hear the enthusiasm in his voice.
Then my son started to whimper. Surreptitiously, I picked him up and began nursing him — and as the prolactin began to kick in, my answers became more vague and dreamy. I jerked myself back to attention, and my son unlatched — and delivered a huge, unmistakable belch into the receiver.
She didn’t get that job, but you can read the positive ending to the job search here.
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