Melissa NicholsoN INTRO

MELISSA NICHOLSON: I’ve been where you are. I was an equal breadwinner carrying the benefits for our family with a self-employed husband. I was nervous about what job sharing could mean to my income. I want you to know that while I understand that these concerns are valid since I’ve had every one of them myself. They feel very real. But I also know that they are myths.  I’m sharing not only how you not only can afford to job share, you can’t afford not to job share.

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

MELISSA NICHOLSON: Hey there, beautiful human! Welcome back to Jobshare Revolution podcast. Today, we are getting into the final Myth Busters episode. If this is your first Myth Buster episode, I’ve been sharing the five most common reasons people hesitate or don’t move forward with creating their job shares.

I’m on a mission to empower as many people, especially those struggling hard with overwhelm, stress, and burnout, in creating a job share, because I know firsthand how life-changing and career-changing that can be, and so do Work Muse clients. If you’re a working mom, family caregiver, or a sandwich gen dual caregiver—hello, that’s me—or struggling with your own health and wellness, I’m talking to you—and anybody else who would like to create a job share, for whatever reason. 

So here are the five most common reasons people don’t create a job share. Number one, I don’t have time. Number two, I can’t job share in my job. Number three, my boss or the place I work will never approve a job share. Number four, I don’t know anyone I can job share with. And number five, I can’t afford to job share. Or I can’t invest in a program to help me create a job share when I’m going to take a pay cut to do it. I don’t have the money. So that stops people in their tracks. 

Now, first and foremost, I want to share that I’ve been where you are. I was an equal breadwinner carrying the benefits for our family with a self-employed husband. I was nervous about what job sharing could mean to my income, and what it could mean to my career. I didn’t know if my boss would okay my job share or have a partner in mind. So first and foremost, I want you to know that while I understand that these concerns are valid since I’ve had every one of them myself. They feel very real. But I also know that they are myths. 

So over the last few weeks, I’ve addressed each and every one of these myths on Jobshare Revolution podcast. So, let’s dive in to dispel Myth Number Five: I can’t afford to job share, or I don’t have the money to invest in creating a job share, especially when I’ll be giving up a percentage of my income to do it.  And I want to talk about that.

In this value-packed episode, I’m sharing not only how making your investment in Job Share Academy back is doable but how you not only can afford to job share, you can’t afford not to job share. 

I think this really will be eye-opening to you if you’re hesitant to job share due to financial concerns. Maybe you think you will have to give up half of your income and benefits to do it, or that it will stagnate your career and scream that you are less committed and not a serious leader if you want to job share, which is not true. You don’t have to give up half your salary or benefits to do it, and it won’t be a career killer. At all. Or maybe you’re worried about just getting back in after a layoff or career break, you don’t have a job to share, and besides that, you need to get back to solid income and benefits with a way to progress in your career. Seems like a totally legit concern. If so, I’ve got especially good news for you, friend. And as a side note, inside of Job Share Academy, I teach my students step-by-step how to vet and find your perfect job share partner, one who’s got the expertise to elevate you and your career. 

Let’s get to it. If you’re multi-tasking, come back to me, friend. This is a meaty episode and you’ll want to listen, soak it all in, and come back to take notes. I’m going to share five ways you can save money right off the bat by job sharing First and foremost, if you’re a parent, you will be saving significant money on childcare costs by job sharing, especially if your children are in preschool, but also if they are school-aged with aftercare and summer childcare costs.

You may have heard about the childcare crisis across the U.S. with a new report showing that if you have two kids, your childcare is more expensive than rent in every single state, and in eleven states, it’s double. Gee whiz, isn’t that crazy?   Let’s say you work in the most typical job share working a three-day workweek. That means you could save 40% of your monthly childcare costs. That adds up and is likely a five-figure dollar amount yearly. Put a pen to paper. Check that out. Geez Louise.

Here are four other areas that might save you considerable money, depending on whether you are in-office, hybrid, or remote. The second highest cost savings you’ll likely benefit from is gas costs, and third, the automobile maintenance due to wear and tear on your vehicle, which you’ll use half as much. Fourth is your food costs. Not only will you be at work fewer days, but when you are there, you’ll find that you work in a whole other way—this efficient, focused way without running in and out to doctor appointments or taking long lunches anymore. In fact, except for my shared day with my amazing job share partner, I brought my lunch from home. Wednesdays were my only lunch-out day. Like a special date night, er, date day with my job share partner. We’d catch up on everything. That’s the thing about job sharing, you never get sick of your partner because you only see them once a week usually! It’s like a mutual admiration day when most people can barely get through hump day. Wednesdays are so much fun for job share partners! Okay, I digress. Okydoky, the fifth savings area is your work wardrobe since you’ll simply be there half as much.

I’m sure there are other savings areas too, so if you’re a job sharer listening, because I know we have a lot of job sharers also listening to Jobshare Revolution, you can text me through your app and let me know if there’s another one I’ve forgotten. I love crowdsourcing and connecting with my job sharers out there! I’ll share it and even shout you out on the pod.

So now that you know the five cost-saving areas you can expect by sharing your job. Let’s talk about your career and income potential. That’s right.

When I started thinking about job sharing, I mean, I admit the benefits to my career and income weren’t top of mind—a better work-life balance, work-life compatibility and flexibility, was. However, I knew from working alongside a job share team at my very first job post-college, that job sharing did not carry the same limitations part-time working could. As an equal breadwinner carrying the benefits for our family, I did worry that it could negatively impact my career and income. Lucky for me, my “why” as a new mom barely pulling it together, totally struggling and feeling like a total failure at work and with my newborn, was so strong. That was why was so strong I was able to completely compartmentalize my fears to just focus on my goal of job sharing. I really credit that and having an example of a job share team early in my career,  as the two things that just propelled me toward my job share. And I want you to think through things like that because those things matter.

What a relief it would have been to not only have considered the more obvious money-saving areas of sharing my job we’ve just discussed, from job sharing, but to have known job sharing could be a career and income booster for me. And that’s no joke. It really was.

Among others, consider these three ways that job sharing can be a career and income booster: First, job shares are a negotiation. Did you hear me? Job shares are a negotiation with the goal of prorating your salary, your sick, and PTO, and retaining full-time benefits. Like anything that you are going for in your career – a promotion, a raise, a new job, a flexible work practice, working remotely, working a condensed workweek, whatever it may be. Job sharing is a negotiation and you’ve got to approach it that way.

Second, job sharing can be a career booster with built-in professional development when sharing another person’s job, whether relaunching after a career break, layoff, or changing careers. Also, entering your arrangement in your job share partner’s job can allow you to bypass interview woes, ageism, and career stepbacks due to resume gaps. And we’ve all heard that you know. It’s really tough when women take a career break to care for children at the beginning and later for their parents because it affects their long-term retirement savings down the line. And it’s just a pace they typically cannot get back in their career. Job sharing has that unique ability to actually make up the lost gap you have and get back in at a higher level than you otherwise would be able to do on your own. Does that make sense?

Third and my very favorite little-known fact about job sharing, the majority of job sharers rise through the ranks promoted together leveraging those two skill sets in one full-time position.

Now when you first heard about job sharing, maybe you thought. ​“Job sharing sounds amazing if only I could afford to do it.” But job sharing doesn’t mean giving up half your salary. If you create your job share the right way (AKA the Job Share Academy way or the JSA way, which I show you step-by-step how to do inside the program, you’ll negotiate a prorated salary and benefits. While you’ll exchange a percentage of income for time initially, you are much more likely to be among the nearly three-quarters of job share teams who are promoted together or those who work so productively at a commissioned position, that you who make nearly as much or even more than you did working full time. I did. I’d made 90% of my previous year’s income by the end of year one. 

That’s another thing I teach you inside the program: how to rise through the ranks primed as a SuperTeam. How to work with your stakeholders and leverage your job share to progress your career, even with those who might be skeptical, have misconceptions, or even jealousy of your arrangement. I’ll teach you the systems and processes to onramp your job share with ease and liftoff from Day One. How not just negotiate your arrangement, but exactly what to put in your proposal and your agreement so it values your expertise and your job share from the start. And since your career is not a straight line, none of ours are, you’ll learn how to enter in and out of job sharing at the exact time you not only need to, but when you want to, so you’re never trapped in a stagnate job or partnership, or forced back into full-time working. Yes, that is all inside Job Share Academy.

So to summarize: Simply by job sharing, you will save money on some expenses like childcare, gas, vehicle maintenance, food, and wardrobe while you’re able to elevate your career and paycheck strategically in three ways: First, negotiating your job share, Secondly, if on the job hunt or relaunching after a career break, promote yourself and give yourself a raise and a dream job by sharing you partner’s job with built-in professional development. And lastly, promotion with your partner.

As if that wasn’t mind-blowing enough, here’s the aha my friend: What sets job sharing apart is that you won’t just be working flexibly, you’ll be working differently—in an efficient, productive team of two. Better yet? You don’t have to go it alone in this or even future jobs by charting your big career moves together as a team. In this challenging, chaotic time and job market, doesn’t that sound so good? So comforting, to know you have a 50-50 partner in it with you. The good, the bad, the ugly. You don’t have to do it alone. Now or maybe ever again.

So by now, you probably know that the doors to Job Share Academy are closing soon. Now if you’ve been thinking about joining our program, which we’re transitioning to a training plus a group coaching program for even more hands-on support, will you let me share five ways that Job Share Academy pays for itself? Now if you’ve had some breakthroughs and aha’s during our show today, I think these five ways will be a lightbulb moment for you, friend. Here they are.

Number one, you’re going to learn step-by-step how to negotiate your job share – the salary and benefits so it values both your expertise and your arrangement.

Number two, you’re going to learn how to step into the “we” as job share leaders primed to join the 71% of job sharers who are promoted together.

Number three, Job Share Academy is career development and can be tax deductible. Now I’m not a CPA so double check with your financial professional. 

Number four, Job Share Academy is professional development. Your HR Department likely has dollars set aside to spend by the end of the year, specifically for this. We even have a letter drafted to make it easy for you can give to your employer to get employer sponsorship or reimbursement for taking the program. 

And finally, number five. No, you do not have to have a partner in mind at all to take the program – but you can split the investment with your job share partner, cutting your investment in half.

Whew! I told you it was gonna be a meaty episode! I hope you find value in this training and a renewed confidence that not only can you afford to job share, but you can’t afford to wait any longer. You deserve this. Simply by being a human. You deserve to work in a supportive way that allows you to slow down and lean into what you love doing most, yourself, and the people you love most.

If you’re sitting on the fence for joining Job Share Academy, it’s time to decide, friend. We’ve dispelled all five myths – time, job, partner, boss, money – of why you can’t create a job share. You’ll have everything you need inside Job Share Academy including an unreasonable amount of support by me personally and our community of future job sharers, doing it with you! So I want you to make the decision, I don’t want the doors to close tonight at 6 pm central, and then I’ve made the decision for you. Move through your fear. Do it before you’re ready. Do it scared. Time is finite. You don’t get it back. Job sharing takes a leap of faith. Take the leap of faith, I won’t let you down. Just like your job share partner one day soon.

And if you’ve decided Job Share Academy is not for you now, that is A-Okay. I am here to cheer you on and support you in finding work that works for you and a work-life compatibility that allows you to bring the very best version of yourself to each! I’m sending so much love this week, friend! It’s all in you.