Job share roles are advertised, sifted, and interviewed for in a similar way to other jobs but there are some key differences.
Job-sharing roles are advertised on Civil Service Jobs.
Most Civil Service vacancies are suitable for job sharing, and you’ll see this noted in the ‘Working pattern’ section of the job advert on Civil Service Jobs.
Wherever a manager feels that a role would not suit a job sharing arrangement, they should be able to explain the business reasons for rejecting these arrangements.
While each government department has its own process, they all have to consider if a job can be open to job sharers and explain why it might not be. Because of this, many Civil Service jobs welcome applications from those interested in job sharing.
If you’re looking to apply for a job as a job-sharing team, it’s a good idea to find a partner before you apply.
Together, you can figure out how you’ll divide the work hours and establish a process for communication and handovers. Each of you will need to fill out separate application forms on Civil Service Jobs, but make sure to mention that you’re applying as a job-sharing pair.
If you can’t find a partner before applying, you can reach out to the vacancy manager to see if there’s any flexibility to apply for the position on your own. Their contact details should be in the job advert.
Just keep in mind that if you go this route, there’s a chance you might not find a suitable job share partner by the end of the recruitment process.
When the applications are sifted, the panel will consider your evidence separately, against the criteria set in the job advert.
If your partner doesn’t meet the criteria but you do, the vacancy manager will contact you to discuss what happens next. It could include:
- asking if you want to continue to the interview stage alone and if successful consider changing your preferred working pattern to part-time or full-time
- discussing the possibility of a partner being appointed during the current process or a subsequent recruitment campaign
- checking to see if the remaining part of the partnership can be filled by an existing team member
- withdrawing your application
Your interview as a job-sharing partnership (existing or new) should reflect that you would be sharing the role.
The interview itself should provide the vacancy manager or panel with a sense of the team-working skills in your partnership, to judge the strengths and weaknesses you bring as a pair.
If the interview includes a presentation, you’ll give a joint presentation with your partner. To allow you both to participate, extra time will usually be allowed for your presentation.
The presentation will normally be followed by a success profile-based interview. More information on success profiles can be found here.
Depending on the role, some experiences, strengths, behaviours and technical/professional skills could be tested by you answering questions jointly with your partner.
Following this, you may be interviewed separately, although your overall interview time should not differ too much from a single applicant’s.
“I’d come across some great examples of successful job shares in the Cabinet Office and it seemed an ideal solution.”
May El Komy and Nerissa Steel
Head of Civil Society Research in the Cabinet Office
May and Nerissa’s advice for seeking a job share partner
- Talk to other job sharers and get their thoughts on the benefits and challenges of a job share.
- Think about what you really want in a job-share partner in terms of their skills, experience, personality, working hours, and so on.
- Consult and seek feedback – once you know that you’ll be working in a job share, talk to your prospective managers and staff so that you can address any concerns or issues they may have before the job share starts.
- Being open and honest with each other is particularly crucial. You have to be able to trust each other – your job share will get to know the professional you better than anyone, seeing the good and not-so-good!
Read about May and Nerissa’s successful partnership here
Writing your application
Applying to the Civil Service is more open and fair than it has ever been. We’ll assess your experience, as well as your strengths, and will give you the best opportunity to showcase these. See our full guide on how to write your application and showcase your skills.