Interviewing While Pregnant

I was 8 months pregnant when I interviewed for my teaching job. I went in maternity clothes and obviously had a baby on the way. Nothing was mentioned during my interview but when I was asked what my goals were for the next 5 years I made sure to talk about continuing to teach in the classroom and to continue learning more about the area of education I was entering (teaching gifted and talented students). After I was offered the job I spoke to human resources about maternity leave. That is something I wish I had asked about during the interview and been more vocal about when I did talk to HR. I ended up not getting any maternity leave because new staff orientation started 3 weeks after my daughter was born. I wish I had tried harder to negotiate that. A lot of the orientation was either not applicable to my position, or was information I could have gotten through another source. An employer does not have to grant you any maternity leave until you have been employed with them for one year (family medical leave act). I would suggest asking about maternity leave either in the interview or maybe even calling HR before the interview to ask. Advocate for yourself!! If I had been going into a full time position instead of a 1/2 time position I wouldn't have survived going without maternity leave. Good luck!!

Just wanted to say Good Luck!! I actually interviewed while pregnant, went to the interview in maternity clothes and nothing was asked. When I arrived for my first day of work, I explained why I didn't have maternity scrubs on as I had ordered them and they hadn't come in. The boss had the nerve to say he didn't know I was pregnant....it was SO obvious that I was pregnant...oh well. It ended up being a problem and I quit. I should have sued them, but I didn't know any better then.

The next interview I went on pregnant, when I was offered the job I came right out and asked if my pregnancy was an issue and she said No.

I was at the end of my second trimester when I interviewed for a job. When asked if I would need any days off within the first six months for anything that had been pre-planned (such as a vacation, anniversary, etc) I said I'd need at least eight weeks for maternity leave. They had no problem with that and said that even though my benefits wouldn't start by then, they'd see if I could get a paid leave instead of unpaid. They were really supportive. :) Good luck on your interviews!

I looked for a job while I was pregnant, but I never actually interviewed.

How they react in the interview will tell you A LOT about whether or not you even want to work there. After the usual interview questions, when it comes to Q&A, I would just bring it up. Say something like, "I'll need to go on maternity leave from x to x. Would that be a problem?".

I've actually interviewed an applicant that I guessed was pregnant, but I wasn't allowed by law to ask - now that was uncomfortable (is she just fat??? lol). She didn't confirm her pregnancy until her 2nd week of work and we had to shuffle things around to accomodate - it would've been easier to do earlier. Being upfront is the only way you'll find out how the company deals with time off and whether the company culture is welcoming of parents with family obligations.

Good luck!

My friend just interviewed for a job during her 3rd trimester and got the job! She works in HR, so I asked her how she handled the situation. First she did the interview. Then, during the time when you are expected to ask questions or add anything, she talked about her intentions to return to work after maternity leave, reassuring them that she fully intended to continue working after the birth of her child. I remember her saying something like, "as you can see I'm expecting a baby . . .". She started her job a couple weeks ago.