Calling All Women: Take on the Opportunity
Anathea Ruys, Managing Director, West Coast Carat USA
Over my career — which spans over two decades and incorporates many countries and roles — I have had the privilege of speaking with hundreds of people about their career aspirations. Women and men; those just starting out and those with many years under their belt; some wondering if this was the right career for them and others who were looking for the fastest route to the top; some had an offer they were considering and others were looking for ways to make the opportunities happen — a diverse and interesting group where every single chat was as different as the person on the other end of the conversation.
But I began to notice a trend. Women would tell me that they were not going to consider an opportunity, fight for a chance, accept an offer, submit their name for consideration — essentially pursue their options — because they were planning to try for a baby in the next year or so. Not one woman. Not two, or three. Multiple women all saying the same thing. The conversations would go something like this…
Me: “This is such an exciting opportunity. When are you going to tell them you will take it?”
Woman: “I just don’t think I should. I am going to try to have a baby in the next year or so and it just doesn’t seem fair to take this role when I will need to take maternity leave. It wouldn’t be fair for the company, or the team, or the client if I took it on and then was pregnant and then on maternity leave.”
Me: *Facepalm emoji*
It’s not that I don’t appreciate the honesty and candor of these women. I think their willingness and ability to consider the company’s needs above their own is remarkable. It’s just that — well — not one of these specific conversations have been a man telling me he was planning to have a baby in the next year.
There are at least 101 reasons you would need to potentially take time off work or have consideration made to your situation that don’t involve pregnancy. Without listing over a hundred of them just think about an illness, a family crisis, the chance to explore your family history overseas, learning to dive in Antarctica, wanting some time to set up your dream side hustle, just needing a break, wanting to help a child through a tricky time at school, deciding your short term goal was to enter the weight lifting championships, hoping to travel before you get too old to get cheap student flights, supporting your parents moving into aged care, adopting a new pet, needing surgery, wanting a facelift…
Some of those reasons are real life examples people have brought to me when they have needed consideration in their work lives. But no one has ever come to me and said, “I don’t think I should take this opportunity because in the next year I might want to travel overseas for a few months / need to move my parents into a new home / support my child through SATs.”
So, my advice to women who have doubts on taking something on because they hoped to have a baby, or indeed are actually pregnant, is to check that at the door. I appreciate the consideration to the job, the company and the clients but it is 100% unnecessary to make that a factor in the decision-making process.
To the woman thinking about a family at some stage, here is what I hope you will use as a filter when you hear about an opportunity, get offered a new role, or think about growing your career while you are also planning and hoping to have a baby.
Pregnancy works in mysterious ways.
· Your one-year plan might turn out to be a five-year plan. And your career can do a whole lot in that time.
· Your plan might not work out the way you hope and dream. And your career can provide some level of comfort.
· Your plan might work out immediately and yet still there is a whole heck of a lot of time to plan with your organization to make the whole thing work out (finding great people is hard! When that happens, I will walk over hot coals to keep them and a few months of maternity leave is nowhere near as hot as hot coals!)
Long story short, it takes a village of strong women to conquer the divide and these amazing life moments do not need to be a part of making advancements in your career. If you are amazing and in the next little while you are planning a pregnancy, a facelift, an operation, moving your parents into care, travelling for a few months, helping a family member through a tough time, needing to have a break or anything like that, come and talk to me. At Carat, we are always looking for amazing people.
