Career Lifeline

If someone said to me that at 35 years old, I would re-enter the employment market and find a part-time role within the marketing sector after taking an 8-year break to raise a family, I would’ve laughed in dismay. When you search on recruitment websites for such a role, let me tell you, the options go from thousands of full-time positions to less than 10s of part-time positions.

If I’m honest, I didn’t think it would be possible for me to find a suitable part-time role to fit around my family commitments. It takes some doing to take a break from this fast-passed, ever-changing, ever-evolving industry to then slot back in again as though no time has passed. But I think that says a lot about the organisation, the management team, and the ethos of a company. If I was going to venture back into the industry, it had to be working for a company who really understands the needs of their employees. It would have to be for a company who I could trust to understand my needs and expectations, and who in turn would trust me as a person and as a professional.

I’m no stranger to MGA. I joined MGA back in 2008 after I graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Advertising and Marketing Communications. Damien, now MGA Group CEO, was an Account Director at the time, and from my first interview with him I knew MGA was the company I wanted to work for to kickstart my career in marketing. After some time working together on various projects, we parted ways, but I always kept in touch with Damien. I took on various Account Management/MarComs roles before ultimately giving up my career to have a family. Or so I thought.

Part-time, flexible working within the marketing sector is relatively unheard of. But times have changed. If COVID19 has taught us anything, it is that we are far more agile, adaptive, and flexible than we give ourselves credit for. And if I can home-school two primary school aged children simultaneously through a global pandemic, I can work part-time within an industry I trained to work in. So, my search began.

I contacted Damien in the first instance, and after that initial email exchange/Zoom conversation, I felt that he really understood what I was trying to achieve. It literally felt like I had seen him in the office the day before, rather than 11 years prior. That is something quite rare and unique. I felt like I could fit into the MGA fold again and essentially pick-up where I left off. So, to be offered a part-time position was fantastic. I really do feel like I have been given a career lifeline, and I have grabbed it with both hands!

Working from home part-time allows me the flexibility to be able to take my children to school, to pick them up from school and to run them to their after-school clubs. For me, it was always about trying to find that balance, and Damien understood this.

As a mother, you want to do what’s right for your children. As a professional, I wanted to re-start my career again within an industry that I love.

So why can’t you work part-time in the marketing industry and maintain that work-life balance? Well, my answer is, you can if you have the right support from the right people.

All I can say is, thank you to Damien and thank you to MGA Group for the opportunity.

Sarah-Jane Spencer,
Account Manager