I met one of my college friends yesterday at a bar. She got married last year and was laying down the struggle of finding a new job.
Now, apparently in many interviews when she reached the final few rounds, the HR or the Hiring Manager enquires about marital status and whether she has any children.
When she mentions that she recently got married and that she does not have any kids, the company stops responding to her.
She elaborated that although they might have found another fit for the role but she is a T-1 grad who did her Masters from an Ivy League college and has worked for 4-5 years in both NA+EMEA and India.
It is becoming more apparent to her that, HRs and Hiring Managers have a strong bias because they are definitely presuming that since she recently got married and will likely have a child soon, that she will use up her maternity privileges leading to significant productivity drop. Meaning, that the company will likely have to hire someone else to make up for productivity loss.
She does not plan to have kids for another 3-4 years but getting married is proving really hard for her.
Especially in the Series B+ startups that she is applying to.