Melissa NicholsoN INTRO

MELISSA NICHOLSON: Once you’ve put in the front-end work to create your rewarding job share, it’s so simple in practice and will transform your life and career. You’ll never want to work any other way. But first, let’s talk about who should be thinking about creating a job share. Because as life-changing as job sharing is, it’s not for everyone, my friend. Through my years of experience, I’ve identified four main types of people who can really benefit from job sharing.

Introduction

INTRO: Welcome to Job Share Revolution. The show about job sharing—a partnership between two people to bring two minds and skill sets to one full-time position. I’m Melissa Nicholson, former job sharer turned founder of the first U.S. job share company. But it wasn’t long ago that I felt like an utter failure at work and as a new parent. Job sharing was my game-changer. I reclaimed four days a week to fully engage in my life while my capable partner handled everything. Together, we achieved more than I ever could solo. Fast forward to many lessons learned to bring you the training and support I wish I’d had to change lives and the modern-day workplace. Let’s live life and slay work.

Melissa NICHOLSON

Hello beautiful human. We are back from our summer pause and I am so excited that you are here! If you’re a parent of littles to bigs, you’re probably just coming off your lax summer schedule and some much-needed downtime to rest, recharge, and renew. You might be OH so ready to get back into a regular routine and back to focusing on your big goals, whether career goals or life goals, or a combo of the two, like job sharing is.

But back-to-school can also give you whiplash as you’re thrown into early drop-offs, afterschool activities, sports, and a whole host of obligations — especially if you are back-to-the-ol’ office full-time or hybrid with a commute.

I don’t want you grinding your teeth down to a nub stressed to the max that your unpaid labor and mental load are about to double up. I’ve been there, I’ve done that.  That’s why I’m excited for you to join the show today. 

By the way, I am right there with you! My daughter Iris—who was my WHY for job sharing—just had her first last day of school! She’s a senior in high school and my son Sam started his Sophomore year. I just can’t believe it! I know this year is gonna fly by and I’m gonna be feelin’ all the feels. I’m just…I’m such a mushy mom. And they know it. In fact, that’s the very reason I created my job share when she was 6 months old. I didn’t want to miss all of the firsts and special moments you just can’t get back.

Today we’re diving into a question that I get asked all the time. “Job sharing sounds amazing, but how do I do it?” 

And let me tell you, creating a job share arrangement can be a game changer for your career, your family, and for you. Whether you want to job share in your current job or someone else’s, or even in your side-hustle, business, or startup so you don’t have to go it alone, it’s a game changer. Now, if you’ve been with me for awhile, you know that I will shout it from the rooftops, not just because it changed my entire life,, but because I’ve seen what it’s been able to do for countless job sharers, students, and clients over my years of doing this work.. I’ve now been spreading job sharing nearly as long as I previously job shared – which is just so mind blowing to me.

If you’re anything like me, it’s hard to concentrate for all of the cute first day photos in your social media feed. It got me thinking as I scoured my phone to find Iris’s first day of Kindergarten photo just HOW amazing it was for me to have four days off every single week for all of those years job sharing. I would never have been able to spend special time with just Sam taking in the zoo or farm when she was at school or volunteer at nearly every one of their field trips, much less taken on a leadership PTA position raising money for their elementary school or a board position to protect women’s reproductive healthcare—not in the  24/7 media and advertising industry—had it not been for my job share.

My greatest honor has been playing a small part in empowering others to create their own job shares. I’ve seen it transform lives. So today I want to share some of the top reasons why you should consider creating a rewarding job share for yourself. 

But first, let’s talk about who should be thinking about creating a job share. Because as life-changing as job sharing is, it’s not for everyone, my friend.. Those who are most successful job sharing are often trusting, conscientious and flexible minded folks who are committed, collaborative go-getters. 

 Through my years of experience, I’ve identified four main types of people who can really benefit from job sharing.. So see if you can find yourself in these four different types of people.

Number one, you’re a beyond busy parent of kiddos, complete with a full roster of activities, from dance to, sports. always racing to from your job. You’ve been so intentional and have put years into your career and you don’t want to give that up. You’re someone who takes a lot of pride in doing a job and doing it well, so it feels crappy not to be able to. At times, you’ve felt willing to throw in the towel altogether, but deep down, you are dreaming about a way to reclaim your time, slow down, put your self-care first, and not backtrack in your career. 

Or number two, are you a soon-to-be or new parent who’s as committed to being the best mommy or daddy you can be, but frankly, you need your job and you need the benefits. And you like your job.. Whether you work in a 9-to-5, with or without a side hustle, or even have your own small business or start-up, you’d give nearly anything to share the load with a partner who can bring their unique gifts and talents to the job, who can take the helm half of the week so you could rest, recharge, and rediscover the joy you once had in your job and in your life..

Now number three, you’re a committed professional, whether mid career to near retirement with other areas of life you’d like to explore, be that getting an advanced degree, community involvement, like I did as a non–profit board member, joining a board, wanting to travel…whatever fills your bucket. You’ve worked hard to get where you are, you just want to do your job in less time to go live your life! There’s no shame in that. It’s worth celebrating!

And number four really has my heart. Life transitions are often the catalyst for people vigorously pursuing their job shares. If you’re returning from a career break after caring for children or aging parents, or both (like me!), making a big career pivot to a new company or industry, or you have been affected first-hand by a tech layoff in this god-awful, more than challenging job market…Believe it or not, job sharing might just be your secret weapon to landing your dream job. Finding your partner first can alleviate discrimination, ageism, and interview woes and make the process simpler by sharing your partner’s job. It’s also a thought-starter, a curious idea and might be intriguing to their boss bringing two talent to one role. Plus, you’ll get built-in on-the-job training by way of your job share partner. Ta-da!!

Beyond these four types, there are some folks who might not come to mind right away, but that job sharing could be life-changing for from military families to those with disabilies to those dealing with an illness or caring for an ill family member. 

Maybe you saw yourself in one of those examples. Once you’ve indentified if job sharing could be your work-life solution, you’re ready for the good stuff! I’m about to share 6 reasons that creating a job share is so freakin’ life-changing. Here is what you might not know about job sharing. OK – Hold onto your bootstraps. That’s what I tell my kids when I’m making like, a really sharp turn in the car or something. So, hold onto your bootstraps. Buckle up. 

Even in if you are lucky enough to work flexibly, working in a job share means you can leave work at work. As in, no more being roped into working from vacation, late nights, or weekends. Really. You will power down every Wednesday (your new FriYAY!) and never again log on into the wee hours. Why? Because your awesome job share partner will take the baton 100% so you can go rest, recharge, and return ready to hit your task checklist on Monday with the confidence that your partner got SO MUCH done while you were not thinking about work at all. You’ll never have the Sunday Scaries again! 

Secondly, you will say goodbye to the constant guilt you feel from putting work first or family first, and the worry that you’ll be seen as less committed, once and for all. In my humble opinion, this is the genius of job sharing that no other work practice I’ve found can give you. The structure of job sharing means that you are able to separate and prioritize your work and your life, so you can focus and bring your very best self to each.

Third, people get into job sharing for flexibility, but until you’ve lived it, it’s hard to fully get how much better you will actually be able to be in your job because of your job share. Think about it. You are bringing two minds, two skill sets, two lived experiences to one full-time role. Likely, one demanding, multi-faceted job with deliverables, stakeholders including employees you manage, students, patients, or clients. Having someone to brainstorm with, to play pitch, ya know? Catch and pitch. To work on big projects with and get through big challenges with, makes a difference. You can achieve better results together than you ever could solo and supercharge your career leveraging two pros in one job as a SuperTeam! That’s right. You will become a SuperTeam.

Now, fourth, who didn’t change their priorities in the past several years? Who didn’t think about how they want to work and live or reassess their personal and work boundaries? When you job share, you set clear boundaries respected by coworkers, organically. Simply working in a job share with a partner taking the baton for continuous work during your off days, makes your boundaries clear and commands respect (without saying a word). How good will it feel not to be tethered to your phone 24/7, on call because someone else is literally there doing the job when you’re not there.

Did you know that National Geographic did a global study and the #1 factor for happiness at work was a work best friend? Moreso even than the relationship with their boss? That kind of blew me away. I couldn’t believe it. I mean, your boss is so integral to being able to feel good in your job. I mean, a horrible boss can really sink a person. So it really did blow me away when I found out about this research. That a work BFF was even more important. The number one factor for your happiness. But I can totally see it because I worked with four partners in my years of job sharing. And while I got better at finding a great partner fit through the years, once I got it right, I can’t tell you how HAPPY I was every week at work with my partners. Like giddy happy. Inside jokes happy. Someone who just gives you the side eye and you crack up all at once. And you never get tired of one another because you usually only see each other once a week. It just makes ALL the difference because you know that your work bestie AKA your job share partner has your back in work AND life. They just are there for you there to support you in any way that you need it.  And maybe most importantly, they are ready to step in and save the day when life throws you a curveball. And life will. That’s life. It happens. The fact is, job sharers ALWAYS tell me the relationship with their partner is just as important as the flexibility and work-life balance they find job sharing.

Sixth, and my favorite favorite—because, at my core, I’m a social justice gal. A feminist through and through, and not afraid to say it. And gender equity matters, it to me. Probably because I’ve seen SO MANY friends suffer the Motherhood Penalty. And I avoided it altogether thanks to my job share. I’m 100% in for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Values that make workplaces better for the entire work community. Here it is: When you start job sharing in your job, you start job sharing in so many areas of your life, including your home. You learn how to give up control and trust another person to do it their way, even if it’s not your way, respecting that the outcome is the same, even if you got there differently. I know how it is! I’m a woman and it’s hard to unlearn deeply held traditional norms and socialization. It’s hard to unlearn these things. But here’s the thing: When you job share, you are working in a hyper-focused, efficient way, taking normal distractions off the table. I was the fourth person called when my baby was sick at the daycare. They didn’t even know me there. I know that seems impossible, but it’s true. Those three days every week, my husband was THE lead parent, and the other four, I was. We passed the co-parenting baton each week in my personal life, just like I did in my professional life, halving the unpaid household labor, including the Mental Load. And it didn’t happen with fighting and arguments. It happened in an organic, frictionless way. I started working this way from the start when Iris was just six months old and even though I only job shared…well, I job shared nine years. So I job shared right up until fourth or fifth grade in there, basically, through the elementary years. And now my kids are in high school and she’s graduating this year. Those roles held up. And it was that early, that early giving up and sharing the load and taking the things that I learned job sharing, and applying them to my personal life without even meaning to. It just happened.  That’s a pretty amazing thing. Not to have to sit down and work through that with someone but to just have it happen naturally. I mean, not that it’s not work to train the other people and let them know, “Hey! Mike is the lead parent on the kids’ soccer schedules. You can contact him on the text thread.” It was just such an incredible thing to witness. To see happen. It was so unexpected.  We did have to train those other folks—the teachers, afterschool folks, other parents that Mike was the lead on some things, but they got it eventually. We were consistent.  Even though I haven’t job shared in years,  those early years of equal parenting and household responsibilities, have held up for a very equal co-parenting dynamic we still have today. 

And honestly, I feel like me kids have such a strong relationship with their dad. I mean, he is so involved in their lives. And I think it has a lot to do with this.  

Before we wrap up, I’ve got something special for you, The Work Muse to Job Sharing: The Step-by-Step Blueprint to Creating a Successful Job Share. You will not only gain clarity in exactly what steps you need to take to create a job share but it includes the 11 traits of successful job sharers checklist. And it also includes so many case studies in roles and industries you may not have thought of for job sharing, with links to videos and articles even. So, go grab it by all means. Go to workmuse dot com forward slash guide to get it. Did you know you can send me a text message right from the show notes? Or you can DM me on LinkedIn.  I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can get the show notes to this episode at workmuse dot forward slash thirteen. 

If this has been enlightening to you and you’re excited to learn more about job sharing, stick with me – I’ll hold your hand through everything, friend. You’ll hear from job sharers and work changemakers. You’ll get lessons in how to create your own job share, and so much more. I’d love it if you share this episode with someone who’s life may benefit from job sharing too. I’m so excited to be back! I can’t wait for all of the conversations we’re going to have. You deserve to find a slower pace of life and to be more intentional in your life. I’m sending you so much love this week. Bye for now!