Marissa Mayer becomes the first pregnant woman to lead a major company and predictably her appointment is being hailed as a big step towards gender equality. I was stunned in silence for some time. I bow down to the US spirit of equality.
In India pregnancy is a valid excuse for taking leave without any notice, coming late and leaving early. Once a woman reaches a certain age (read early 20s) in India it is understood that she would be taking a long leave to get married and then to have kids. Job interviews for a woman in India are painful and I believe intrusive. During my mid and late 20s I was regularly asked if I am married; if I have kids; and if I had who is looking after kids etc etc. It became obviously clear to me that my personal life would be a key factor in getting a job.
And then I was single for some time in early and mid 30s. The tone of the questions suddenly changed. It would start with `what does your husband do?' My reply, "I am a single mother." The interviewer would suddenly look up from my CV or computer screen and, "Ohh I am sorry. How old is your kid?" My reply, "My daughter is *** old and she is studying in *** school." The interviewer, "Ummm who looks after her?" My reply, "Family infrastructure." The interviewer, "Ahh ummm I am sorry to be asking this but I need to know if you are planning to get married this year? It is important to know because this is a new project and you would need to put in long hours..." My reply, "ummmm (stunned silence) I really can't predict this...(smile)." I am not exagerating or making it up...this has actually happened. And yes, I did get this job :).
This also brings us to the eternal question whether a woman's personal life affects her professional life in the manner it is made out to be? This is a subject of a separate blog entry and will definitely write a post on this soon...
Now that I am married again I am not sure what might be the questions in my next job interview but for sure I would be asked about my personal life. Nevertheless I hope and pray Marissa Mayer happens soon in India.
In India pregnancy is a valid excuse for taking leave without any notice, coming late and leaving early. Once a woman reaches a certain age (read early 20s) in India it is understood that she would be taking a long leave to get married and then to have kids. Job interviews for a woman in India are painful and I believe intrusive. During my mid and late 20s I was regularly asked if I am married; if I have kids; and if I had who is looking after kids etc etc. It became obviously clear to me that my personal life would be a key factor in getting a job.
And then I was single for some time in early and mid 30s. The tone of the questions suddenly changed. It would start with `what does your husband do?' My reply, "I am a single mother." The interviewer would suddenly look up from my CV or computer screen and, "Ohh I am sorry. How old is your kid?" My reply, "My daughter is *** old and she is studying in *** school." The interviewer, "Ummm who looks after her?" My reply, "Family infrastructure." The interviewer, "Ahh ummm I am sorry to be asking this but I need to know if you are planning to get married this year? It is important to know because this is a new project and you would need to put in long hours..." My reply, "ummmm (stunned silence) I really can't predict this...(smile)." I am not exagerating or making it up...this has actually happened. And yes, I did get this job :).
This also brings us to the eternal question whether a woman's personal life affects her professional life in the manner it is made out to be? This is a subject of a separate blog entry and will definitely write a post on this soon...
Now that I am married again I am not sure what might be the questions in my next job interview but for sure I would be asked about my personal life. Nevertheless I hope and pray Marissa Mayer happens soon in India.
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