A Jobshare is a Thing of Beauty!

It's a rare but beautiful thing to come across a jobshare. The benefits, other than the obvious "two for the price of one", are plenty. I am lucky enough to have this set up myself at Stopgap. The formula is unusual in a Recruitment company, but trust me, when it works, it really works! When I was full time at Stopgap I worked alongside jobshares for many years, and can safely say that consistently the numbers speak for themselves - a lot of our top performers work as a jobshare. I get asked regularly by clients and candidates about what it's like, people are often fascinated as it seems most businesses don't have such creatures. My reply is always - it's brilliant!

I returned to work after maternity leave wanting to go part-time, and I was surprised that none of the other mums I'd met were going back to work with this set up, I was certainly in the minority. With more and more people seeking a flexible working pattern, to me it's an obvious option to put on the table. If you are hiring for a full-time role and struggling for talent, or have someone in your team requesting to go part-time in a role that really needs 5 days, it really is worth considering.

What I love the most about jobsharing:

• Fundamentally, I get to work part-time in an industry that really requires me to be available all week
• While caring for my son on my days off I don't feel guilty/pressured/stressed about being unavailable for my clients - my jobshare seamlessly picks up where I left off
• I can brainstorm ideas with someone, as an external processor this is a dream for me!
• I get to grow and learn from someone else doing the same job, who sometimes does some things differently - in a good way!
• Sharing the ups and downs, the laughs, the joys, the tears, the tantrums (mostly mine) while recruiting in this mad market - being in it together really makes all the difference and this has definitely helped my sense of wellbeing at work
• At a time where homeworking is the norm, I get a sense of very regular camaraderie and team spirit in a job that sometimes can feel isolating
• the handovers are a hoooot!

To all those tentatively asking me how a jobshare works, wondering if it's a leap they want to take for themselves or their business - in this new world of flexible working, put the idea on the table! When you get a winning formula, the right kind of partnership, a jobshare really is a thing of beauty.

Shoutout to Claudine AKA the other half of sarahandclaudine - recruiting marketing superstars together in B2B Tech as a dreamteam!