So, Who Will Take Care of Your Baby When You are Working?
Things I have been told when applying for work.

Going back to work after having a baby can be challenging for many reasons. It marks the end of a period when you were home and spent every minute of the day with your little one. For many, it's emotionally challenging. But it can also be challenging due to external reasons such as applying for a new job.
Here are some of the questions I received when applying for work after becoming a mother.
“Being a mother must make you very tired. Are you often tired”?
Obviously, the hiring manager was worried that I would be tired at work and that this would affect my performance. I can understand his concern, but I doubt that he ask fathers or other applicants, who aren’t parents, whether they feel tired often. This is simply discriminating against mothers’. I’m sure he wouldn’t ask a father the same question.

“Since you are a mother we thought that you want to work part-time. You can work part-time in this position”.
It’s funny to me that people take the liberty to think for me and decide what is best for me. Although, in this case, I’m sure it was with good intentions. However, I applied for a full time job and I knew what I got myself into.
“So, who will take care of your baby if you work full time? Your husband”?
This is just none of your business. And another question that a father never would receive. It’s as if they were telling me, that I should just be home with my baby. Even though I was called for the interview, I got the feeling that they were more concerned
Does all this really matter?
Yes! Maybe you think I am oversensitive. Maybe I am, but that doesn't really matter. These kinds of questions are problematic because they imply that mothers are not as committed and capable as others. They show how some people view mothers, and it’s not pretty. The motherhood penalty and maternal wall bias is real.

Mothers are less likely to get hired and face, overall, more hardship than fathers and colleagues without children. Contrary to how some of the hiring managers I met seem to view mothers, I believe that motherhood comes with superpowers. And that being a mother actually makes you better at what you do.
Disclaimer: I received these questions during job interviews in Asia. In my home country, Sweden, these questions would have been really offensive and it’s actually even illegal to discriminate against pregnant women and parents in the workplace.
