Is Job Sharing Right For You?

1)	Imagine you are sharing your job. In your absence, your partner has to make a quick decision about a project you've been working closely on. You totally disagree with your partner's decision. Would you:

	Change the decision.
	Ask your partner to call you at home before making such decisions in the future.
	Live with it.

2)	You and a co-worker want to share a job. Your employer says, "OK, you can share the job and share the pay, but you'll each have to accept reduced benefits." Your reaction is:

	I can live with that.
	Let's renegotiate.
	No way.

3)	Instead of offering reduced benefits, as in number 2, your employer says only one of you can have health insurance. Your spouse has full coverage, so your potential partner asks you to be the one to go without insurance from your employer. Your reaction is:

	I can live with that.
	Let's renegotiate.
	No way.

4)	Imagine you are sharing your job. It's your day off and you have a great day planned. But you get a phone call asking you to come to work because your partner is out sick. Would you:

	Refuse, pointing out that when other people are sick, their jobs go unfilled that day.
	Cancel your plans and go to work.
	Try to negotiate to get at least half the day off.

5)	If you shared your job with a partner, what would you say to people who are used to working only with you?

	I'll be in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Call me then.
	When I'm out, call my partner. She knows how to reach me if necessary.
	My partner has total responsibility when I'm out. You can work with her as confidently as you do with me.

6)	Research shows that, at performance evaluation time, job sharers are best evaluated as a team as well as individually. That means you'd share some responsibility if your partner screwed up. Can you live with that?

	Yes.
	No.
	Let me think about this a little more.

7)	If you share your job you may discover that, in addition to your half-time workweek, you have to put in several hours of work at home -- on the phone and catching up on paperwork. How do you feel about that?

	I hadn't thought about that.
	That's about what I expected.
	If that's the case, what's the point of job sharing?

8)	If your job-sharing partner turned out to be a slob who left piles of work-related materials all over the desk and floor, would you:

	Demand that he leave the office in the same condition he found it.
	Jointly work out a filing system you can both live with.
	Try to get a separate office of your own.

9)	If you shared a job, how would you expect to share the work?

	Both work on everything.
	Divide it down the middle and each work only on your own projects.
	Negotiate the division of work to best match the skills and interests of each.

10)

If you share a job, your partner will get equal credit for your brilliant work. How do you feel about that?

	I've thought about that and I'm fine with it.
	I don't think that will bother me.
	Frankly, I'm too competitive to be comfortable with that.

If you are looking for a way to reduce your work hours without relinquishing your spot in the organizational hierarchy, job sharing may be your solution. But it's not right for everyone.

Is job sharing right for you? This quiz provides three simple answers to that question: Yes, No, and Maybe.

To see if you are ready for it, take the quiz below.

Click here to start this assessment!