#75 “It was my decision to have a child, and I'm not expecting any special treatment because of it….”

“I had a great year with a lot of impact and awesome feedback from my manager and my coworkers. I was working hard to get promoted, heard that I definitely deserve it, but I was the ‘next in line’ for a couple of cycles, and on the next one I was a couple of months into my maternity leave so I wasn't even considered. The next cycle was right after I came back, and the one after it was just 6 month after coming back, not enough time for a significant impact. Throughout this time I get nothing but very positive feedback from everybody. At this point I was very frustrated and I switched teams, was lucky to find an amazing manager that helped me grow, but it was still starting from scratch and it took me another few cycles to prove myself and finally get promoted. This is how I spent more than 3.5 years in a level that most people stay in for 1-2 years. It was my decision to have a child, and I'm not expecting any special treatment because of it. But this time before an after my maternity leave, was actually time when I worked hard and had contributions that I haven't gotten the recognition for.”