New working mother - looking for advice from others.

43 Comments

1. AnonymousFebruary 20,2023 at 3:57PM UTC

   I am in the same position as you. I am 40 wks pregnant and just found out my company is folding. Devastated and shocked. Here if you need to chat. We will get through this!

2. AnonymousFebruary 20,2023 at 7:20PM UTC

   This is so devastating, I'm sorry this is happening to you as well. Its the worst.

3. AnonymousFebruary 20,2023 at 4:02PM UTC

   Congratulations on your pregnancy! My husband was laid off after we had our first child, and I remember the stress. It's the worst time to be going through financial stress.

   Update your LinkedIn profile and network as much as possible. Be open to contract or gig work, temporarily. I have friends that found permanent roles this way. It doesn't provide immediate stability, but it will bring in some income that will be helpful for your family in the short term.

4. AnonymousFebruary 20,2023 at 4:09PM UTC

   Really sorry to hear this. I don't have any jobhunting advice, but we were in a similar financial situation two years ago and ended up having to rent out our house and rent a much smaller and cheaper place in another city to be able to afford our mortgage on 1 salary. It was a huge endeavor but we're happy we did it since now we can afford to pay rent on only my husband's salary and there is not that horrible worry of losing our house. I never want to rely on 2 salaries to afford the mortgage ever again. Such a bad idea but banks just let you do it, crazy.

5. AnonymousFebruary 20,2023 at 7:18PM UTC

   I'm so excited this worked out for you, honestly the rental market here is terrible and rents are considerably high and pretty equal to our mortgage so this wouldn't make a ton of sense. We also have 2 dogs so rentals are not an option.

6. AnonymousFebruary 20,2023 at 4:10PM UTC

   You may want to look in to remote customer service roles, you may be able to tailor your hours better to work around your spouse's and babies' schedules.

7. AnonymousFebruary 20,2023 at 4:15PM UTC

   First of all, I want to recognize that what happened to you really stinks and in no way reflects your value as a worker.

   Second, I just want to acknowledge that you are not at all alone in the "top three" and then they went with someone else.

   This is a saturated tech market and the difference between getting the job and being a bronze medalist is subjective, not skill-based. In addition, I have noticed much more of a shift to hybrid and location preferences, which make it harder for people who want to stay 100% remote.

   That being said, an old boss reminded me that this is a cyclical nosedive in tech and a year from now they will be hiring again. He suggested that I look for contract work that I find interesting for the next year to weather the storm and get new skills.

   A lot more contract wrote is remote and async. So I registered with Robert Half (which may be a good fit for you) and they have a lot of 3-6 month contracts.

   It does mean that you will be back on the job market in a few months or at least looking for a new contract but it may mean you have a new story and will be entered the FTE market when things have settled a bit.

   So, you do what you need to do to take care of your new family but it helped me when I realized my next job does not need to be permanent, just a placeholder.

   Congrats on the twins. May they bring you great joy!

8. AnonymousFebruary 20,2023 at 7:17PM UTC

   I've had a few of these reach out, including Robert Half and the salary / hourly rates are just too low (almost half of what I was making) so I have a hard time accepting. I'm not opposed to contract work of course but seems they want cheap work.

9. AnonymousFebruary 20,2023 at 10:28PM UTC

   You are right there. They do lowball. But I have pushed back a bit and they have come back to me with better recently. But I totally understand and you do need to be mindful of your worth in the market.

10. AnonymousFebruary 20,2023 at 4:35PM UTC

    First off, congratulations on your babies! Also, I am sorry to hear this happened to you. You are not alone and your feelings/emotions are completely valid. I sincerely sending lots of positive energy your way because I know this rough patch will pass soon for you. Keep going, mama! You've got this.

    I'm in the marketing industry and I know your dilemma with finding other creative or adjacent roles at this juncture. Some of this impact that's happening in our industry is also due to the same technology many companies are planning to embrace or implement this year and beyond...AI/ML.

    Anyhoo, I agree that you're thinking is in the right place for a new role --- pivoting is key and you have a lot of transferrable skills. Have you also thought about marketing yourself as a factional Chief Marketing Officer for small business clients? You might want to explore that lane as well.

    As for places you can look for jobs at this point, especially, as a new mommy, have you heard of The Mom Project? Their goal is to get moms back in the workforce as research studies suggest that moms play a key role in driving diversity, business profitability and value.

    Also, I would look at setting up a profile on a startup called Hire Runner (https://www.hirerunner.co/). It's funded and founded by Arlan Hamilton who is working toward connecting top talent to companies. It's been a successful place for folks looking for work or have been laid off to connected to employers quickly. I imagine the work ranges from full-time to contract opportunities but it's a start.

    I agree with what someone else said is also getting plugged into other talent / recruitment agencies that work with creative talent, specifically. In your downtime as you search, and when the babies are chilling lol, I'd also explore ways you can grow your skills too. At least to give your brain a break from constantly applying!

    Also, look into virtual career fairs---FairyGodBoss has one coming up soon in March. You can also drop off your resume, in case you can't attend the session but at least let the recruiters know you're interested.

    Here's a few other remote work job boards:

    https://remote.co/

    https://weworkremotely.com/

    https://jobspresso.co/

    Good luck to you!! You will find a job very soon. Keeping going and continue to put yourself out there on every job board, digital community, etc.

11. AnonymousFebruary 20,2023 at 7:15PM UTC

    I'll check these out, thank you.

12. AnonymousFebruary 22,2023 at 11:43PM UTC

    You're welcome!!

13. LINDA E GARDNERFebruary 20,2023 at 4:36PM UTC

    DM me, I don’t know what your experience is and I need to look at your résumé, but I’m looking for two national marketing managers. I also don’t know where you live, and depending on it the right candidate, the position would be hybrid and maybe, just may be remote.

14. AnonymousFebruary 20,2023 at 7:15PM UTC

    Will do, thank you.

15. CJB62February 22,2023 at 2:11PM UTC

    Congratulations on the twins! And sorry about the timing of the layoff. I used to work in the digital marketing space. In terms of employment, I would look at working for a boutique agency or perhaps a smaller non-tech company that is hiring. The compensation may not be as high (you know what your floor is) but they may be much more receptive to WFH than the larger companies. Also - did the company that laid you off offer you COBRA? Can you extend that picking up the premiums? Also if your husband’s employer offers a decent insurance plan, you may look into whether you can be added as a qualifying event. Best of luck to you and enjoy your soon to be little ones. You’ve got this!

16. AnonymousFebruary 22,2023 at 8:34PM UTC

    I'm lucky that I was already on my spouses coverage, but yes the company did offer me COBRA as well (least they could do lol). I have been so much happier on the in-house side but I may need to start exploring the agency side again, I honestly always found the salaries to be higher but the hours to be longer which is why I moved on. I would get emails from clients nights and weekends and there was little to no boundary, but its been years since I did anything on the agency side so maybe its better - thank you for the suggestion!

17. AnonymousFebruary 22,2023 at 2:17PM UTC

    This is maybe a bit random, but depending on where you live, you may want to look into local government jobs. Marketing skills sometimes translate well to communications staff and the jobs are very stable, with great benefits. I’ve worked for three different jurisdictions in my area and all three offered flexible schedules, and I’m currently WFH full time —though I can’t work from anywhere— we have to be in one of two neighboring states. Good luck!

18. AnonymousFebruary 22,2023 at 8:31PM UTC

    What has been you impression on salaries in local government? I've looked and haven't seen many WFH but also the salaries seem very low.

19. AnonymousFebruary 23,2023 at 5:32AM UTC

    Where I’m at they’re competitive. I make a little over $100k, which is enough for me. It’s a union position and I almost never work over 40 hours in a week. I can take doctors appointments without asking for time off, and get about 26 paid days off a year, plus sick time. Also, our health insurance is amazing. The benefits are easily worth another $20k to me.

20. AnonymousFebruary 24,2023 at 9:02PM UTC

    Are you hiring!?!?!

21. CJB62February 24,2023 at 3:09AM UTC

    My daughter and son-in-law have government jobs. My daughter makes high six figures (tech job) few years out of college, extremely affordable benefits, pension plan, very little overtime and a very healthy work life balance and a lot of stability compared to working in the corporate world. I don’t know where you are but worth looking into.

22. AnonymousFebruary 25,2023 at 10:24AM UTC

    Have you tried USAjobs.gov. You can search by remote or within your area. They offer great benefits and flexible work/life balance. I would do research on building the best government resume. Congratulations on the babies! Your faith will get you through.

23. AnonymousFebruary 23,2023 at 2:19PM UTC

    Hi Mamma! As a fellow IVF warrior to twins after a very long road, I just wanted to say congratulations and remind you how wonderfully powerful you are. I can only image how stressed you must be feeling right now - especially after conquering one of the most challenging things in life (growing two babies!! and heck - even getting pregnant with those two babies!). Remember what you just went through with IVF and the uphill battle you fought to get here, and know that if you can tackle that, you can for sure tackle this next stage of life. Sending you love as you try to navigate finding a job and caring for newborn twins. I don't have any warm leads, but I wonder if it would be worth looking into virtual assistant type jobs that you can do from home. Newborns sleep so much and I know there are tons of one-off type jobs out there that pay per the job or per the hour worked and you can do it at your own leisure. Anyways.... sending you lots of love from a fellow IVF twin mamma and wishing you all the best. YOU CAN DO THIS!! Just keep reminding yourself of how strong you are! XOXO

24. AnonymousFebruary 27,2023 at 7:43PM UTC

    Thank you. I needed this reminder. Took us 2 years, 4 rounds of IVF, etc to get here. I have to remember if we can get through all that - this next part is going to be cake lol.

25. AnonymousFebruary 23,2023 at 2:45PM UTC

    Sharing two links from previous FairyGodBoss discussions, that may help as you are looking?

    https://www.market-connections.net/jobsearchblog.html

    https://www.market-connections.net/blog/real-ways-to-make-money-from-home-for-free

    https://ratracerebellion.com/job-postings/

26. AnonymousFebruary 23,2023 at 3:23PM UTC

    It is starting to be an employers market again especially in tech. You might want to start exploring options in other fields since marketing can be applied in a lot of places.

27. AnonymousFebruary 27,2023 at 7:45PM UTC

    I've been doing this as well, I have some experience in healthcare and finance - layoffs there as well. I took some consulting work recently in travel doing some web work, honestly unemployment pays better haha such a hard market anywhere I seem to look.

28. Joann S. LublinFebruary 23,2023 at 4:29PM UTC

    I totally endorse everyone else's recommendations. Here are two more possible ideas:

    *Reach out to a professional organization for marketers as they often have a job bank or at least keep track of marketers looking to hire permanent or contract staffers.

    *Consider reducing your post-leave childcare costs by sharing a nanny with at least one other family whose kid or kids are also infants.

    Doubt you have time, but you also can find other potential solutions in my latest book about working women called "Power Moms." Best of luck!

29. AnonymousFebruary 23,2023 at 7:09PM UTC

    Thanks Joann! I will add your book to my list, sounds like something I will definitely want to put some time in when I have it! I wish we had even a slight extra income for a shared nanny and hoping maybe if I find a role to be able to do that just as soon as possible. The amount we are dipping into our savings just to stay afloat now is terrible.

30. AnonymousFebruary 23,2023 at 6:25PM UTC

    Stop feeling victimized. Becoming a mother should be a happy time, especially after the IVF piece, and even if the market were better and jobs were abundant you would be stressing about getting ready to suddenly become a mother of 2 instantaneously. Be open to shifting into a different or part time role while getting into your new groove. Take the time to find others who are dealing with the same thing. There are some good mother of twin groups out there seek them out and see if you can find someone local to you who can share some of the things they have gone through and the resources. Congratulations and stay positive

31. AnonymousFebruary 23,2023 at 6:33PM UTC

    Telling anyone how to feel when they are stressed is completely out of line and conter-productive!

32. AnonymousFebruary 23,2023 at 7:07PM UTC

    Wow, I think you genuinely mean well (hopefully) but your response is completely uncalled for. I'm not acting or feeling "victimized" but I am stressed by the job market. I can honestly say I'm not at all stressed about becoming a mom, but I do wish the US did a better job at supporting mothers - and I wish I could do something about that (not a victim at all, honestly I've been wanting to use what has happened to me as a hope that someday pregnant women will have federal maternity leave, not just leave tied to your employer).. Anyway I guess good luck to you.

33. Heidi RadmaneshFebruary 24,2023 at 5:10AM UTC

    Amen sister.

34. AnonymousFebruary 26,2023 at 8:57PM UTC

    Right there with you! You should follow chamber of Mothers- advocacy group trying to get maternity leave for all & advance maternal rights. https://instagram.com/chamberofmothers?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

35. AnonymousFebruary 24,2023 at 1:00AM UTC

    Harsh!

36. AnonymousFebruary 24,2023 at 5:09AM UTC

    Hi! I know provider1st is looking for a marketing Product manager, they are based out of Irvine, CA but it’s remote work. I was going to consult for them but I am thinking it may be a conflict of interest for someone else I’m working with at this time.

    im a new mom and we have had a hard time finding help, working and taking care of a new born is really hard…it’s easier at the beginning since they sleep a lot, ha!

    keep applying. You got this!!!!! You did something hard with the IVF, you can do this too!

    also I’d still apply for FMLA they go based off the previous year at least that’s what they did for me. Not sure what state your in but try any government assistance. Baby bonding is 8 weeks of pay if you’re in California and you can get fmla if you’re in California. Also, try unemployment. That’ll hold you over till you can get a job, spend some time with your babies soak all that love in.

37. AnonymousFebruary 27,2023 at 7:40PM UTC

    Thank you. I'm not in CA - so no options there. I'm on unemployment but it doesn't cover anything so not an option and running out quickly anyway.

38. AnonymousFebruary 26,2023 at 8:54PM UTC

    First congratulations! What state do you live in? . If you’re in California you’d still qualify for pregnancy state disability) 6-8 weeks at 60-70% your pay) and family bonding time (8 weeks 60-70% of your pay). Benefits are calculated from your employer 12-18 month prior to your due date. After both of those your unemployment claim & vendors will resume. It doesn’t solve the job problem at all but buys you some time to care for your newborn twins. Being a working Mom is the US with infants is near impossible but hang in there! Keep applying for remote & hopefully something works out.

39. AnonymousFebruary 26,2023 at 11:59PM UTC

    That is not true.I am currently going through this right now with my 8 week old. I was laid off at 30 weeks and currently on state pregnancy disability. Ask to your OBGYN to put you on disability (traditionally 4 weeks b/f due date but can happen at any time). I went to my OB and let them know how much stress I was under and having terrible anxiety due to loss of job. SDI payments kicked in within a month and I will be able to claim my 6 months of unemployment after my state maternity leave & bonding benefits. If you are currently receiving unemployment from EDD or will be paused while on SDI & bonding time and will resume after the one benefits. Losing your job is always stressful but while pregnant is inhumane. If you’re in CA (or another state that lets you claim pregnancy disability), talk to you OB and ask for them to put you on disability prior to your delivery date. I’m CA you are allow 4 weeks b/f delivery and if you don’t use if you lose that paid time. Apply for any state benefits that are available.

    More info on the EDD website: https://edd.ca.gov/en/Disability/FAQ_DI_Pregnancy

40. AnonymousFebruary 27,2023 at 7:38PM UTC

    I'm not in CA, so thank you. I spoke with an attorney when I was laid off - I've confirmed there is nothing as far as STD or FMLA.. even the PFL I paid into is no longer an option since its all tied to employers and I don't have one.

41. AnonymousFebruary 27,2023 at 7:17PM UTC

    Facebook group Tywanna work from home (The Work at Home Lounge - WAHJobQueen) has multiple jobs that are legitimate. Have you applied for unemployment?

42. AnonymousFebruary 27,2023 at 7:37PM UTC

    Been on unemployment for weeks, it barely covers half the mortgage ugh!

43. AnonymousFebruary 27,2023 at 7:46PM UTC

    Wish this was an option, as I said - financially I can't stay at home unemployed. Wish I could. Thank you for the advice though. I know it's going to be a lot but being homeless with twins isn't going to make it any easier.