Finding a job with two small children is not easy. After my second maternity leave, I returned to my old employer. My gut feeling told me on the first day that something was wrong. I suddenly no longer had a permanent job, my projects were all gone and the atmosphere left a lot to be desired. I soon started looking for a new challenge. I saw a job advertisement on the Internet from Netstream for the position of management assistant with a 60-80% workload. After looking at the website, I was very convinced and applied immediately.
Leandra, our HR manager, contacted me shortly after and arranged the first appointment for the interview. I was over the moon. At the first interview, I met Alexis, our CEO and Leandra our HR manager. Right from the start of the interview I realized that I would really like both the company and the job.
As a working mother of two children, it is very important to me that the company and my superiors show some understanding when I have to be there for my children and therefore perhaps need more flexibility than others. I therefore immediately mentioned in the first interview that I have a 4-year-old and a son who was eight months old at the time. I informed them that I would like to work a maximum of 60-70%, but only three days of that in the office and half a day from home. What excited me was that I could finally decide for myself whether I wanted to work four hours at a stretch or occasionally throughout the day. This flexibility was very important to me.
The second interview followed directly one day later. The members of the management team Reto and Dominik as well as the HR manager Leandra took part. I really had a good feeling after the interview. I was very impressed by the relaxed manner and the good atmosphere. I had found a potential employer who would make it possible for me to balance work, household and children. I would get the flexibility I needed for myself and my family. After the second job interview, I was accepted for the position the same day. I screamed with joy 🙂
When I started my new job in February 2018, less than two weeks had passed and my children were ill. I just thought: "No, it can't be now. Not now during the probationary period.". I didn't want them to think of me: "She's only just started and her children are already sick.". But I was lucky that my husband had time to look after the children so that I didn't have to leave work. I now know that it wouldn't have been a problem for Netstream either if I had stayed at home. I was able to work from home half a day a week right from the start, which I really appreciate. Alexis once told me: "You can work from anywhere, set it up the way that suits you best". Of course, that makes me feel really good. A feeling of trust, which is very important to me. If circumstances require it, I'm also happy to spend an extra day in the office because I want to give back to Netstream what I get from it as an employer.
If I'm needed, I'm there. If I need Netstream, it's there for me too.
I would like to thank you very much for that. Without this flexibility I would not be able to do my job and would probably have a guilty conscience all the time when my family needs me on my work days. THANK YOU!
