Each week Dr Kirstin Ferguson tackles questions about workplace, career and leadership in her advice column Got a Minute? This week: job-hunting while trying for a baby, the out-of-reach job interview and a divided workplace.
Is it unethical to apply for and accept a leadership position while going through IVF? I am dissatisfied in my current role and have been doing IVF for two years. If it continues to be unsuccessful, I’m stuck in a job I don’t enjoy, going nowhere. Is it OK to take something new, even if it means I may end up pregnant in three months?
It is entirely ethical for you to apply and accept the leadership role. One hundred per cent. Apply for this job or any other job you might want.
You are not expected to suspend your professional life because you are trying to fall pregnant. You are also not a unit of labour that needs to be permanently available. When people become pregnant – and I sincerely hope you do – employers adjust.
You are not required to disclose your IVF treatment or a possible future pregnancy at any stage during the recruitment process. If you fall pregnant, you can tell your current employer or a new one when you are ready. The only thing I would suggest you think about is any impact changing employers might have on any possible employer-funded parental leave, since minimum service periods sometimes apply.
Accepting a leadership role does not mean promising uninterrupted availability. Leaders build teams, delegate and plan for absences, including their own. If your IVF treatment requires appointments, manage them professionally as you would any medical commitment. You owe an employer honesty about your availability, not access to your reproductive plans.
Please don’t spend a moment more worrying about this. Focus on your health and applying for the job and career you want. All the very best.
While working full-time, I completed a finance degree with distinction after not qualifying for university directly from school. Since graduating six years ago, I have applied repeatedly for finance-related roles similar to my current work but have not received a single interview. I even paid for a professionally written resume. I am too experienced – and financially committed – to accept a significant pay cut for an entry-level role, yet employers apparently don’t consider me experienced enough to change fields. I feel trapped and increasingly like a failure. How can I break through?
Six years without an interview definitely suggests something is not working in your approach. You are not a failure and you have not wasted your life. You have shown drive, commitment and resilience. But it is time to think differently.
I know you paid for a professional resume, but I suspect it may not be doing you any favours. It may not position you as well as you might hope, or it may not be persuasive to financial employers. Do you have any contacts in the industry you could ask to look at your resume you give you any feedback? Could anyone in your network let you know about roles you could be suited to that are not necessarily being loaded onto a job website?
You may need to find a role, initially at least, that bridges your current work experiences with the ideal finance role you want. At this stage, I would be applying for any finance-related projects, secondments or vacancies inside your own organisation where your capabilities are already known and respected. I know it feels like an uphill battle, but please don’t give up. It is simply time for a new approach.
Why are operational employees sometimes looked down upon or treated as a threat by office-based staff? I work for a large corporation where the office employees are polite and friendly when our work intersects, but they seem determined to prevent those relationships becoming any more familiar. There is a definite divide between the two groups, and operational staff often feel regarded as somehow less important. Am I misreading professional boundaries, or does this reflect a broader cultural problem?
Large organisations can sometimes feel like an episode of Utopia, with operational employees trying to get the actual work done, while office staff seem only to hold meetings about the strategic framework and corporate values. Neither stereotype is always true.
However, the divide can create what feels like two different tribes. Office employees often have greater access to executives, corporate language and decision-making, which can be mistaken for greater importance. Operational staff possess something just as valuable: first-hand knowledge of what actually works on the ground. Whether office-based staff are feeling threatened by operational staff in your case is simply an interpretation, not a fact.
Office colleagues are entitled to be polite and friendly without becoming friends. The real concern is whether operational employees are being excluded from information, development opportunities or decisions affecting their work. If that is happening, the workplace culture is failing.
To submit a question about work, careers or leadership, visit kirstinferguson.com/ask. You will not be asked to provide your name or any identifying information. Letters may be edited.
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Dr Kirstin Ferguson AM is the author of Blindspotting: How to See What Others Miss and Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership. Kirstin is ranked in the world’s Thinkers50 list and holds a PhD in leadership and culture. www.kirstinferguson.com.Connect via X, Facebook or email.
