weekend(ish) update

Re: the job search--the last position decided to revise and re-recruit in the fall.  I was invited to reapply then so I'll think about it.  This paragraph has a lot of 're' in it!  This is the first time I've interviewed for a professional position without getting the job (twice!!), which was a bit of a blow to my self esteem but I'm not sure I was entirely ready to pack up and move.

It's interesting how my perspectives have changed when it comes to looking for employment since the kiddo came along.   When visiting with people in 'informal' settings during the interviews I had to ask questions regarding day care, insurance benefits, flexible schedules, and the like while still trying to project a professional image.  It's hard.  I tried to keep it out of the formal interview sections of the day as much as I could.  Hopefully I did a good job--no one said I didn't get the job because I was a parent, ha ha.  But I feel like it might have been a factor in the more 'academic' of the two positions I interviewed for.  Nothing overt, just a feeling.

I just read this morning yet another article about how people in academia generally and women especially choose not to have children, and if they do they're pressured to minimize any discussion of it in the workplace.  It's funny because back when I was pregnant they trotted me out in front of every interviewee in the library to show how family friendly they are here (at least that's how it felt--I did get a lot of nice free dinners out of it though!).  As for actual family friendly policies, there is NO paid leave here, NO day care, not much reduction in teaching and research demands, but at least there's a flexible schedule.

I have noticed since I got back from leave that I am not being asked to do as much at work: I'm not heading up committees like I used to, I'm being assigned fewer projects, and most conversations co-workers have with me have to do with my kiddo.  I think it's a combination of things.  It's definitely an easy conversation starter to ask me about Lorelei, so I think people do that.  And I think our library is just not doing as much outreach or as many projects as we used to, and that people think they're doing me a favor by not asking me to be as involved.  But at the same time I feel like I have to prove my commitment to work and the profession more than others who have no children, in order to be taken as seriously.

So, along with the more prosaic concerns of day care and pediatricians in a new place, I have to wonder if I'll be viewed differently if I come into a work situation as a parent.  How much of a factor would it be in a new environment where no one knew me before?  Would I have to work harder to prove myself, or would it be taken more as part of who I am?  I could see how it might be difficult to get established in a new position with a 13 month old baby at home.  Lots to think about!