Job Offer Advice

[momofcatan]

XP from BMB - apologies in advance for the length

Currently I have a steady job, 15-20 min commute, with a few downsides. Management is a little annoying and ethically questionable (nothing that affects me directly). My salary is less than I would like with no raises happening, and little room for advancement. I would really like to get out of my current industry because it is a slowly dying industry so I have been on the job hunt for about 6 months. I'm also 8 weeks pregnant and in Canada.

I just received a job offer for a 6-month contract position in the industry I want to move to. According to the offer this is how they do things 9/10 times. Salary would be a minimal increase to what I'm making now (though I need to clarify whether the number she gave included deductions). Cut and paste from the e-mail I received: "The hope would then be that things work out great and after the 6 months we can look at migration to full time, or a contract extension. There would also be opportunity to re-evaluate compensation at that point. It's difficult for us to offer you anything more at the moment as, despite your experience, there will still be a big amount of training required." I've never worked on a contract before so this is new territory for me.

I'm scared that they can easily decide not to renew my contract or move to full time when they find out I'm pregnant. Even if they extend the contract they could do it until I start leave and then not hire me back after leave. Currently I have basically 100% job security and can take my year of mat leave without worry. If I choose to stay where I am I will be able to do job searching while I'm on leave and hope to find something better before I would return back to my current job. To add to the difficulty of this decision I would be trading my 20 min commute for about an hour. Not an exciting prospect, but I really feel the need to got out of my current industry.

I'm going to have a call with my contact there and have her explain things further, I'm wondering if you ladies can suggest any questions I should ask or ways for me to express my concerns. Should I just be open about being pregnant and see what she says? Should I try to negotiate for an 8-month contract so I would at least be guaranteed a job until I go on leave?

Any words of wisdom are appreciated.

[emmyg65]

Contract + commute = no

I understand that you want to switch industries, but don't get so desperate that you take something that's less than good. You have a secure job, so take your time finding a new position that's a good fit for you.

[mommyatty]

I wouldn't do this right now. Frankly, you aren't going to be at the top of your game while pregnant. Pregnancy brain is real. And it sucks. I could not have handled being pregnant, learning a new job and new industry, and dealing with with the stress of a six month long audition.

[Deleted]

I wouldn't do it right now. Life will be crazy enough with pregnancy and a LO. Plus the security of that mat leave I would not trade. And an hr. commute could get tough later in pregnancy.

[momofcatan]

I should clarify that, in the worst case scenario, if they drop me after 6 months, I would still get full (or close to) maternity leave benefits, and would be able to use that year to look for a new job. In terms of the mat leave, the only thing I'm risking is a job to come back to after leave.

[pittpurple]

I think starting a new job while pregnant isn't ideal but you know yourself best. I was miserable while I was pregnant and had tons of complications. Being at a secure job where I knew I could take the time off work I needed was priceless. And I can't imagine spending 2hrs in the car through my pregnancy, I barely could make it the 15 minute bus ride.

I'm in the UK and have the year maternity benefit as well, but I know it's really difficult on employers to manage this. I can't imagine they would extend your contract and then find someone to cover your maternity leave after you only put in 6 months - but of course, you know your industry better, would they have to cover your maternity leave or would you job just be able to wait for the year?

[k3am]

Taking pregnancy out of the equation.. I had an old boss/mentor recommend never making a job switch unless the salary increase was at least 10%. They're asking you to take on some incremental risk, you should get some meaningful additional cash bonus out of it.

Also, take commute into factor. I like to calculate salary based on a per hour basis, inclusive of all the time associated with the job. If you're going to increase your commute 40 minutes (each way? or 80 minutes per day?), I would tack that into your calculation. Is your per hour compensation really going up if you factor that in?

[momofcatan]

k3am That gave me a good perspective because when I do the math it is a 10% increase (I make so little right now, it doesn't feel like that much ...). I am doing the math to see how much of that will be eaten up by the commute, both time and actual gas cost.

[beevol]

The thing is, I'm sure it's not legal in Canada to discriminate against pregnant women, but I have a hard time imagining that they would hire you permanent knowing that a month later you'd be gone for a year on maternity leave (and I say this as someone who was hired to a new job at 30+ weeks pregnant, but in the US, in a woman dominated field, and planning to work there part-time from home during my 3 month maternity leave).

Honestly though, typing that out makes me wonder - if you still get that paid maternity leave even if you're let go from the contract (OMG, I want to live in a country where they actually care about families!) and you went into it assuming that you'd be let go, that's actually not such a bad thing. It would get you 6 months experience in the new industry, and you probably wont really want to work there long term with that miserable commute anyway. I'd say, so long as it's actually more money (as in, the increase wont get eaten by the commute and potential decrease in pay after 6 months/during your maternity year), it might not be a poor choice.

[pittpurple]

Mar 2, 2015 14:11:56 GMT -5 beevol said:

The thing is, I'm sure it's not legal in Canada to discriminate against pregnant women, but I have a hard time imagining that they would hire you permanent knowing that a month later you'd be gone for a year on maternity leave (and I say this as someone who was hired to a new job at 30+ weeks pregnant, but in the US, in a woman dominated field, and planning to work there part-time from home during my 3 month maternity leave).

Honestly though, typing that out makes me wonder - if you still get that paid maternity leave even if you're let go from the contract (OMG, I want to live in a country where they actually care about families!) and you went into it assuming that you'd be let go, that's actually not such a bad thing. It would get you 6 months experience in the new industry, and you probably wont really want to work there long term with that miserable commute anyway. I'd say, so long as it's actually more money (as in, the increase wont get eaten by the commute and potential decrease in pay after 6 months/during your maternity year), it might not be a poor choice.

That's actually a good point. So OP, if you are okay with not having a job to come back to after your mat leave, this is another way to think about it.

(I had a hard time getting and being pregnant and a slightly complicated pregnancy so I forget that it's not the norm!)

[shakinros]

Mar 2, 2015 14:11:56 GMT -5 beevol said:

Honestly though, typing that out makes me wonder - if you still get that paid maternity leave even if you're let go from the contract (OMG, I want to live in a country where they actually care about families!) and you went into it assuming that you'd be let go, that's actually not such a bad thing. It would get you 6 months experience in the new industry, and you probably wont really want to work there long term with that miserable commute anyway. I'd say, so long as it's actually more money (as in, the increase wont get eaten by the commute and potential decrease in pay after 6 months/during your maternity year), it might not be a poor choice.

This is a great point. One I'd seriously consider if you think you can handle the commute and you're not losing money on the proposition.