Guide to Taking a Career Break
This guide offers a concise introduction into all aspects of taking a career break.
The guide is broken into 5 sections, examining all elements from what is a career break, to what you can do, and how to go about beginning your career break.
1. i What is a career break?
Quite simply a career break is the chance to get away from the office for a period of time, longer than that of a holiday, which gives you the chance to have time to do what you want to do and without any constraints.
1. ii Are there many career breakers?
Yes, a recent Mintel Report found that 1.5 million people currently take time out every year with an increasing number being career breakers. Because of the increasing popularity, many companies both large and small are now, growing increasingly receptive to the idea of career breaks, such as BT and Tesco’s.
2. Why have a career break; do you live to work or work to live?
- Life’s too short – Its clichéd but its true.
- Groundhog Day – Break from the norm, do something different.
- Changing jobs – If you’ve got some spare time before a new job, use it to see and do something you’ve always wanted.
- Sort things out – Some issues are easier to solve from a different angle, use a career break to give you that angle. Time is a healer, but time out is the best healer.
- Change the world – You’ll be amazed at what you can do: use your skills to help other people.
- Realise a dream – Be it trekking along the Inca Trail, or tasting chardonnays in California, do something you’ve always dreamed of.
- The big five O – Use this as a juncture from which to assess where your going and where you want to go.
- Breathing space – Get out of the rat race, for a while and relax.
- Material meltdowns – Have a break from west, see how other cultures live.
- Careerbreakcafe.com – Take a look at our site to see what you can do, and then read our advice on how to do it.
3. From an idea to action!
Unlike school leavers who head off on their gap years with not much to worry about other than catching their flight, the career breaker has numerous hurdles to jump before the day of departure. For this reason it’s useful to draw up a plan so that your transition from career to career breaker is as relaxing as the break itself. We at the Café would assert that there are three core aspects to deal with before your break, along with a number of other elements which should fall into place once the big three are sorted.
3.i Job
This arguably represents the largest hurdle for those thinking of a career break; the fear that they may lose their job or come back to a lesser position, because of their decision to break, often plays on the mind of those desiring time-out. However, provided that you can place your break in the right light to your employers, then there’s more than a good chance that your future prospects will not be hindered by your desire for time and space away.
When negotiating with your boss about a career break, make sure;
- You have a clear plan worked out
- That you maintain a good relationship throughout
- That your pervasive, but not pushy
- Take on board the needs of the company, show that rather than losing an employee for 3 months, that they’ll gain actually gain a better one in the long run, because you’ll have;
- Increased independence
- Improved flexibility
- Developed your language skills
- Less chance for stagnation
- Improved your personal clarity
- Increased out-of-office experience
- Lastly, just stay chilled during the negotiations and flexible, and make sure that you get the terms of your break in writing, before catching your flight.
In sum, your boss needs to know that your time-out is more than just 3 months site seeing, but a real break which will be beneficial in the long run, for all parties concerned.
3.ii Finances
When thinking about how to finance your career break, it’s important to ask yourself 5 questions, as the answer to these questions will correlate to the funding you’ll need.
- Where – Because different things cost different amounts in different regions, it’s important to budget for the area that you are travelling to.
- When – It’s a good idea to think about when you’re travelling, as different times of the year will often mean different prices due to high tourist periods and the possibility of high demand caused by national or religious holidays.
- What – Depending on what you’ll do while your on a break will also affect for financial situation, so its important think about the large costs that may have to be paid for while your away asides for your day to day living expenses, such as learning to scuba dive.
- Duration – There’s obviously going to be a positive correlation between the length of your break and the amount you’ll need to finance it, so factor in the above three points when considering your finances, with this one.
Once you have a rough idea of the amount you’ll need for your break, you can then work out if you need to save for a few months, sell something (house, car, cd’s) work extra shifts or fundraise. It’s a good idea to give yourself a clear target to aim for so that you can see yourself getting close to it and your break. We would also advise that you add another couple of hundred pounds to your budget for unexpected costs.
3.iii House
If you’ve decided on your break, your boss has given it the thumbs up and you’re ‘in the black’ then you have only one more hurdle to leap! The length of your career break will impact on what you do with your residence, if you’re only in a flat then you can give your notice and a way you go! However, if you’ve got a house then you should look at the five ‘its’:
- Sell it – If you really want to break away, the prospect of selling your house will fuel your dreams of living a new nomadic lifestyle, where you have no worries about ‘home’, because you don’t have one! It should also provide you with a valuable source of capital to fund your break. There are a number of things you should be aware of when selling:
- You’ll need to find a place to stay on your return
- You may have to down-size when you return
- There are a number of costs to factor-in, when selling, which can amount up to £10,000.
- What will you do with your cherished possessions
- Let it – Find great tenants and your problems while your away are sorted, you’ll have a steady flow of cash and the knowledge that your property is safe. However, if you intend to ‘let it’ you need to get your home up to scratch and also check that letting is allowed with your mortgage lenders.
- Sit it - There are many companies now that offer house sitting services. This basically equates to reliable and mature people moving into your property for the desired period of time and tending to the up keep of your; house, garden and pets. You could even ask a relative for a cheaper option, however, check these websites out if you want to find out more:
- Swap it - If you fancy living and working in a specific location abroad, or even in the UK, swapping your house, represents a great option to pursue. Check out www.geenee.com for more info.
- Leave it – You can always leave your property uninhabited while your away, if you do make sure its safe from both nature and man, by getting a mate to check on it every so often.
Once you’ve bounded over these hurdles, sorting out what to do with your car is a simple task, getting inoculations are nothing, packing your bag is fun. Provided that you allow yourself enough time preparing for your career break this period is as much fun as the break itself, the excitement will build as you progressively tick the things off you need to do before departure!
4 What on Earth?
4.i Travel
Arguably the most common thing career breaker’s do is to travel, as it gives them a great chance to see more of the world, experience new culture’s and visit magical locations. You could buy a round the world ticket to contrast Central Park in New York to the Savannah in Kenya, and then contemplate it all on a beach in Fiji. For those with a desire for adventure you may wish to take on large overland adventure through Africa where you’ll have to navigate your way through many African countries – check out www.safaridrive.co.uk
4.ii Volunteer
It’s a great ways to put something back. Of course money makes a difference, but by devoting your time and skills to people and projects you can make a priceless difference. If you opt to volunteer you’ll gain a real incite into that community, it enables you to get off the well trodden tourist route, by seeing and taking part in a community rather just observing it. Many companies now offer a range of different volunteer projects, to suit a variety of wants, but make sure you feel happy that they’ll be just as beneficial to the community as they are to you.
- Build – If you feel like getting hands on, check out:
- Teach – It can be a bit daunting teaching, however, the fun and rewards you get from it are immense.
- Coach – Have you still got something to offer the game?
- Conservation – Get those green fingers off the keyboard, and immerse yourself in a variety of ecological settings
- Medical assistance – Discover how different life is without an NHS or basic medical care
- Learn – Spending sometime away in a different culture is an excellent way to discover; new attitudes to life, how to cope with new scenario’s and also improve those language skills be they French or Quechua!
- Create – For me personally and others I’ve spoken to, when they’ve taken time out of the ‘system’, it’s allowed them to indulge their creative side which had been slightly suppressed by their previous hectic lifestyle. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing down the adventures I had on a dhow off the coast of Kenya, or capturing the new sunrises that I discovered everyday on my travels, my sister even develop a penchant for making friendship bands! You dream, you decide you do it!
5 Where on earth?
The short answer to this question is anywhere, although the Foreign Office may disagree! When you take a career break the choice is yours, you’ll have the opportunity to decide if you want to; kip under a palm tree in the South Pacific, stay in a 5* hotel looking onto Sydney Harbour, or emerge from a tent in Rockies. There are 7 continents, with a variety of different vehicles to get you between them, all manner of accommodation to house you, with an endless range of things for you do when you get there, it’s up to you!
6 Back to the future
As the saying goes ‘all good things must come to an end’, not necessarily. The memories, skills and experiences accrued will never leave you, so when you return put them to use, don’t just bore friends with your photo’s, make your career break work for you.
- If you’re looking for a new job on your return, emphasis the fact that you’ve picked up a new language, you can work to a budget, or that you’ve dealt with tricky scenarios. It’s likely that you’ll have developed more skills from your career break than you would have done on a management weekend so show it and prove it.
- It may seem slightly odd, to be returning to the office that in the past you’ve wanted to escape from, however, if your bosses were nice enough to keep your position open for you, show them that it was worthwhile for the company. It’s possible that during your absence things may have changed, you’re a bit behind with ‘what’s new’ at work but don’t worry you’ll soon get back in to the swing of things. Try not to mope about and think of time’s gone by, plan your next adventure – a weekend walking in the Lakes or a salsa lesson down at your local bar. Work maybe an unfortunate part of life, but we can’t always be on safari, so look to embrace your job on return, see it as a challenge not a chore.
- Just because you have a return flight, doesn’t mean you have to use it. If you’ve found a lifestyle that suits, while on a break and you can support yourself sufficiently, then it’s worth considering breaking from your break and starting a new life. It may seem radical, irrational and crazy but what’s crazy about doing something you enjoy isn’t it crazier to not do something you enjoy? If you do think you’ve stumbled across you new life, have a chat to those at home to see what they think, having another perspective other than you own may make you appreciate some elements that you hadn’t considered. However, if you plan to stay away it’s more than likely that you’ll have to come home to cut those lose ends once and for all, if and when you do, see this as a break and try and use it as a period of reflection to thoroughly consider your choice.
Most of all enjoy whatever you do, because life’s to short!
“You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.”
Richard Bach
“If there were dreams to sell, what would you buy?”
Thomas Lovell Beddoes
“Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it”
Samuel Smiles
“Works a bummer, have more fun than just in the summer”
Christopher Jackson
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