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Job Search and Menopause: What to Do, with Tatiana Graham

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Menopause is not merely a personal journey; it also affects your career trajectory. It’s estimated that 25% of women will refuse a promotion due to menopausal symptoms. Find Your Dream Job guest Tatiana Graham says these symptoms can last for 7-10 years and impact the way you show up in interviews. She suggests finding strategies that address your new stage of life, such as taking more notes, writing down your questions, and depending more heavily on your support system. Tatiana also suggests being honest with potential employers about your menopausal journey and understanding the value you bring to a company. 

About Our Guest:

Tatiana Graham is a certified leadership and transformational coach.

Resources in This Episode:

Transcript

Find Your Dream Job, Episode 510:

Job Search and Menopause: What to Do, with Tatiana Graham

Airdate: July 16, 2025

Mac Prichard:

This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life.

I’m your host, Mac Prichard. I’m also the founder of Mac’s List. It’s a job board in the Pacific Northwest that helps you find a fulfilling career.

Every Wednesday, I talk to a different expert about the tools you need to get the work you want.

Looking for work can be tough for menopausal women.

Common menopausal symptoms include hot flashes, brain fog, and fatigue.

And these changes can slow down your job search and affect your performance while networking or interviewing.

Tatiana Graham is here to talk about job search and menopause: what to do.

She’s a certified leadership and transformational coach.

And Tatiana helps you find your voice and lead a wholehearted career and life.

She joins us from Portland, Oregon.

Well, Tatiana, let’s start with definitions. Tell us about menopause and its different phases.

Tatiana Graham:

Most women do not know that we are in this phase in our life for a very long time.

It can start as early as 40ish and last for 7-10 years, if not longer. And we don’t necessarily know, as well, that there are three distinct phases.

The first one is called peri-menopause. That starts, like I said, in that middle age. And that’s when we start seeing the first symptoms. That can be emotional, physical, or psychological.

Then we transition to the second phase, which is really the one that will give us the diagnosis of menopause, which is very interesting because it’s 12 months without a period. But that diagnosis cannot happen until you’ve gone through the 12th month. Which means it’s a hindsight diagnosis.

And then once you hit that very important milestone, then you become post-menopausal.

What we forgot, or what we don’t know, is that the symptoms don’t stop the moment you have gone through menopause, the 12 months without a period. But you continue to have symptoms way beyond that moment, for several years.

So, if we think about it, we are in this for about a third to half of our working years.

Mac Prichard:

And how does this experience affect your career?

Tatiana Graham:

Well, you said it in the introduction, Mac, where our symptoms can be really disturbing and really significant. It goes from, most women start having issues with sleep and being very tired. We have brain fog, we have pain in our joints. And it can really impact our performance at work.

Mac Prichard:

And in your experience, do employers understand that impact, Tatiana?

Tatiana Graham:

No. I think in our, in our societies and our culture, we do not talk about menopause. It’s not like really that it’s taboo per se, but it’s this thing that happens that nobody wants to talk about it.

I think there is some shame, but there is also a huge amount of misunderstanding. Including with women themselves. It’s about 16% of the population that knows that menopause is a thing and that they will have some symptoms. And it’s about 7% of the population that actually understands what the symptoms look like.

So there is a huge amount of misunderstanding and lack of consideration. We are now seeing a new generation that is way more in tune and way more willing to speak about it. So we are witnessing a fabulous transformation in my mind. But employers need to be aware that if they value the work of women and they really want to retain their talent, we need to make sure that this is a topic that is being addressed in the workplace.

There are some, some, some data out there that shows that about 20% of women will leave the workplace because of the impact of the symptoms.

So, if we think about a career and a company, how much of institutional knowledge will leave with these women? As well as, it’s about 25% of women will refuse a promotion, will decline a promotion because of the impacts of the symptoms.

So it has a really big impact on the career of women.

Mac Prichard:

What about job search, Tatiana? Why is menopause relevant in job search?

Tatiana Graham:

Absolutely. It’s, what worked yesterday will not work today. When you’re searching for a job, you’re in your 20s, 30s, you’re gonna show up a certain way, and you have some tools during the, during the interviews.

When you are entering this phase, you might realize that what worked yesterday is not going to be able to apply. So this is an opportunity for job seekers to really take into consideration their current state. And to really realize that they need to adapt. There is a change management, an integrative change management process, that people need to go through to be effective, to tell a good and effective story during the interviews.

But also, this is probably an opportunity to really seek jobs in companies that are aligning with your own values.

Mac Prichard:

I wanna talk more about that.

Before we do that, say more about what people, what women are doing in their 20s that worked when they’re looking for work, that won’t work when they’re on their menopausal journey?

What were they doing in the past that no longer works? And then let’s talk about what they should do instead.

Tatiana Graham:

Yes, I think that there is an aspect when we are younger where we will demonstrate maybe a little bit more energy in the interviews. We will be a little bit more performative.

It is also possible that we are not going to show our complete true selves, having conversations, just for the right reasons, right? You really wanna learn the job, so you’re gonna really, I almost wanna say present a mask or that, that performative aspect.

That when we are getting later in our career and with age, first off, we might not be willing to do that anymore, because we don’t wanna, we don’t wanna put a mask on anymore. It’s no longer part of who we are.

And then this, this notion of value alignment. Sometimes we don’t necessarily think about values earlier in our career, and that comes a little bit later with age. And with our desire to really do work that is the right one for us.

Mac Prichard:

Well I wanna pause here, Tatiana. We’re gonna take a break.

When we come back, let’s talk about what you should do instead.

So stay with us. When we return, Tatiana Graham will continue to share her advice on job search and menopause: what to do.

We’re back in the Mac’s List studio. I’m talking with Tatiana Graham.

She’s a certified leadership and transformational coach.

Tatiana helps you find your voice and lead a wholehearted career and life.

She joins us from Portland, Oregon.

Tatiana, before the break, we were talking about job search and menopause: what to do.

And we talked about menopause, the different phases. How it affects careers and job search.

Let’s talk, dig in more about menopause and job search.

And how important is it to have support from others when you’re going through this experience?

Tatiana Graham:

Absolutely. It is very important to know that we are not alone.

So there is 35 million women going through this in 2025 in the workplace.

So if you are experiencing a few symptoms and you are looking for a job, you are likely to have somebody in your community that is experiencing the same thing.

And there is the research that really demonstrates that having support from the community, from people who are going through the same experience as you are, is incredibly helpful from a, from a mental health state.

In addition, I will say, I really wanna validate the fact that some people, some women, are going through the menopausal journey, and it is painful. It is a very unpleasant experience. It doesn’t have to be all that, but sometimes it is.

And for people to really go seek medical attention, and then if you’re not getting what you need, just go seek somebody else. You are valid in your experience, and you should not necessarily suffer through it.

Mac Prichard:

It’s important, of course, to get this support for your own personal health.

But what difference can it make when you’re doing a job search, especially if you’re not getting this kind of support, Tatiana?

Tatiana Graham:

Well, we know, no matter what, we know that doing job search in cohorts, doing job search with friends and holding hands with other people is really helpful to not necessarily, to not get burnt out on the search. To be able to know we are in community.

Job searching in itself can be really difficult or very draggy, very long.

And when you add some layers of the menopausal symptoms, like the brain fog or the anxiety, the depression, that can make it even worse. Which then means having the support, having people with whom you can talk and share your experience will help you feel validated and actually continue your job search more effectively.

Mac Prichard:

Support matters.

What about practical tips for women who are experiencing menopause and doing a job search?

What advice do you have for women who are looking for work right now?

Tatiana Graham:

Yes, so I think I mentioned it earlier, where what worked yesterday doesn’t work today.

So if you are showing up to an interview and in the past you would show up in an interview very prepared, but just no notes, etc. I would say note-taking will probably change for you.

You’re gonna need to bring your questions in writing. You’re going to need to take notes about the answers your interviewers are presenting. Because there is this thing, we talked about the brain fog, but also the, the tiredness, makes it, us less effective in having some conversation and retaining the information that is shared with us.

So that’s one example is, is transitioning your note-taking to something that actually works for you and that’s going to help you be successful.

Another one, look, hot flashes, we know we hear about hot flashes. They can be really disruptive. And so dress in layers. That’s another thing. If you’re gonna have an interview in person, actually even virtual interview, to be dressed in layers. To be able to remove maybe a cardigan, or remove some clothing, that will still allow you to look professional but without you boiling completely, is going to be really helpful.

I will always, always encourage people to tell their truth. And if you’re in an interview and you’re having a really disruptive moment with a hot flash or something else, to actually speak it. And to say, look I’m sorry, I’m having a hot flash here. And I understand how uncomfortable that could make the people in front of you, to be like, what, what are you talking about?

With that said, you might actually be talking to somebody who has gone through it and who has, who truly understands what you are going through. And might create rapport.

And that also might present you as an opportunity to know if the company you are interviewing with is an inclusive company and will take you with what’s happening in your life.

And I think, a fan. That’s another one, another small tip. Having one of those fans, you know that you can unfold in your bag, that you can actually help yourself cool down, become my best friend, honestly, in my work bag. I have it all over, all the time, with me.

Mac Prichard:

What would you say to a listener who worries that if they do share that they’re having these experiences, it might jeopardize their chance to get a job?

Tatiana Graham:

That’s such a good, that’s such a good question. I think that if it jeopardizes the job opportunity, maybe that’s not the company for you.

Maybe being able to work in an environment that can understand that, that life transition, which again is a normal, natural life transition, in the life of somebody born with ovaries. And if your employer cannot understand that, maybe you don’t really wanna work for them.

And I know that might mean you need to go back to the drawing board and looking for other jobs. But this podcast is Find Your Dream Job, and I really believe that the dream job is the job that can take you with who you are, the way you are, with your strengths and your areas of opportunity.

Mac Prichard:

In your work, Tatiana, you say that when you’re going through the menopausal journey, it’s not all doom and gloom. What do you mean by that?

Tatiana Graham:

It is not all doom and gloom. So some things can be a little bit painful, I’m not gonna deny that.

But there is this phase, this is a phase of life where we tend to come really to our own as humans. We, being women, or people born with ovaries, we come to a a phase of alignment with our own values.

We are no longer willing to, to compromise with who we are. This is called self-authorship. The psychologist Robert Keegan wrote about it; he did work on adult development phases.

And that self-authorship is really amazing. We are out there saying this is who I am, and when we think about the job search, that really helps us land the job that aligns with ourselves.

Either the company’s gonna love you for who you are and how you show up, or they won’t. But that is a promise of really finding more fulfillment in the workplace.

Mac Prichard:

Well, it’s been a good conversation, Tatiana. Now tell us, what’s next for you?

Tatiana Graham:

Yes, so more workshops. So, workshops in companies to do menopausal awareness and empowerment. More webinars.

And we continue the group coaching and individual coaching for anyone who is interested.

Mac Prichard:

I know that listeners can learn more about you, your work, and your workshops and webinars by visiting your LinkedIn page. When you do reach out to Tatiana, I hope you’ll tell her that you heard her on Find Your Dream Job.

Now Tatiana, given all the great advice you shared today, what’s the ONE thing you want a listener to remember about job search and menopause: what to do?

Tatiana Graham:

You’re valid. What you’re experiencing is valid. And it requires integrative change management.

So go seek out help. Seek out what you need in order to go through it with a smile.

Mac Prichard:

Next week, our guest will be Elona Landau.

She’s the principal of the Department of Practical Sunshine.

Her company helps managers, boards, and teams set and reach their goals.

Finding jobs that lead to a rewarding career doesn’t happen by chance.

Elona says to get the work you want you need to take three steps.

Aren’t you curious to know what they are?

Join us next Wednesday when Elona Landau and I talk about the secret to career fulfillment.

Until next time, thanks for letting us help you find your dream job.

This show is produced by Mac’s List.

Susan Thornton-Hough schedules our guests and writes our newsletter. Lisa Kislingbury Anderson manages our social media.

Our sound engineer and editor is Matt Fiorillo. Dawn Mole creates our transcripts. And our music is by Freddy Trujillo.

This is Mac Prichard. See you next week.