Job sharing is becoming more and more popular as people try to get a better work life balance without sacrificing their career prospects. It is certainly worth approaching employers to see whether they are open to such a job arrangement if you are struggling to keep up with working full time but do not want to give up the role completely.
One situation where job sharing is common is in a school environment. One class of pupils is taught by two teachers whose hours of work are either divided equally or split according to the two teachers’ terms of employment. This is done with the agreement of the Head Teacher, school governors and the Local Authority. Often the teachers agree between them which subjects they will be responsible for planning and teaching and how the workload will be divided. This is of great benefit to the pupils in the class as they are getting the expertise of two teachers. It always works well if both parties have similar teaching styles and are willing to spend time discussing future planning and assessments.
Mutual respect and an equal workload are essential for a job share to work successfully and for each party to benefit by the arrangement.