It's Women's History Month, so it's as good a time as ever to talk about this.
A year ago my amazing wife was laid off from her job while on maternity leave with our first child. For the last year, she has been around the sun applying and interviewing for jobs, and unfortunately nothing has worked out.
In one interview, while knowing that my wife had recently welcomed a child and previously been laid off, the interviewer asked, "So what have you been doing with your time to enhance your professional development?" To which my wife had to answer, "raising my child."
And now, my wife is due with our second child in May. So why am I bringing this up?
Because I see on my wife's face, and hear in her voice, the disillusionment of the entire job search process and the lack of belief that someone would hire her with 9 weeks to go in her pregnancy.
Women should not have to feel that having a family is a risk to their professional aspirations. Collectively we need to stop acting as if raising kids does not count as "experience" or "professional development". Show me a mother and I'll list a thousand relevant skills she brings to the table.
The intention here is for all of us to just do better in supporting women. Yes, the flowers for International Women's Day, the speaker your company brought in to discuss women's successes, and Slack emojis for Women's History Month are all great, but actions and policies are more impactful.
If any mothers out there are looking for work, regardless of how long it's been, or if you're an expectant mother looking for work, comment below and hopefully my network can help find opportunities for you.
And if you don't mind taking a chance on a woman with two months to go in her pregnancy, knowing she'll need time off or need to push her start date a few months, check below for my wife's information.
Insurance Consultant | Independent Agency Network Founder | Distinguished Lecturer @ Fisk University
2moThank you Sara for capturing these moments during the Sisterhood Cocktails and Conversations event! #sharedsisterhood