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‘Grown-up gap year’, ‘sabbatical’, ‘career break’: whatever you call it, these days more and more people think about taking some time out from work – and more and more employers are prepared to entertain the idea. But is it a good idea, and how can you make sure that your sabbatical enhances, not hinders, your career? Here are our top tips:
A sabbatical can be a great opportunity to take a more strategic look at where your career is going. Getting away from the day-to-day pressures is a great way of giving yourself the time and perspective to think about the bigger picture. How much progress have you made at work in the last few years? What has gone well and what not so well? How contented, challenged or excited have you been? What aspects of your job would you like to change? What could you tweak that would make a real difference to your overall performance and satisfaction?
Sabbaticals are also a great chance to do some ‘blue sky’ thinking. Being right away from the office in a completely different environment can get you wondering what it would be like to do something completely different with your life. It’s good to take time every now and again to focus on what you really want from your career – and your life – and how close you are to that ideal. A complete career break is the perfect way to help you to regain your focus.
For example, if you could start your career all over again, what would you do? How realistic would it be to change direction? If you think it wouldn’t be realistic at all – are you sure about that (i.e. have you done your research)? You owe it to yourself to have a career that really suits you, and a career break can be a great opportunity to re-assess. Rather than setting off blindly into the wild blue yonder, visit a career coach before so that you are clear what you should be thinking about.
Of course, taking time out doesn’t mean you’re thinking about a complete change. It can simply be a great way of re-charging your batteries, expanding your skills and making sure you come back to your role fresh and rejuvenated. That’s why it’s also in employers’ interests to give proper consideration to introducing a policy of supporting career breaks. Apart from the benefit in terms of PR and good employee relations, it can make good financial sense: much better for a company to have someone - in whose training they have probably made a significant investment - take a break when they start to get restless, and come back to the company afterwards.
If they’re not given the opportunity for a career break, the chances are they will leave anyway, and end up going to work for a competitor after taking the break.
If you’re planning a sabbatical, you’ll need to make a good business case to your employer. Take a broad perspective of the benefits of career breaks to the company. For example, someone who’s spent 6 months travelling around a remote part of the world is likely to come back with better honed communication skills, or a stronger awareness of other people’s perspectives.