Meet other Career Breakers who have taken time out of their careers, and on occasion, changed their careers on their return, due to what they experienced, how it impacted them and what they learned about themselves. Here are their stories:
Gary Davies, 30, from Somerset, England, took a three-month career break to go travelling. Prior to travelling Gary resigned from his job working in an accounts payable department for a kitchen firm as he was fed up and wasn’t concerned about losing it.
On his return, Gary secured a job in just over two months. To prepare, he up-dated his CV, researched the internet, read newspapers and registered with recruitment agencies. Gary now works in Credit Support for a waste management company. He said one of the challenges, when transitioning back to work, was that it meant his travels were officially over. However, says that he feels more enthusiastic about work after travelling and a little more driven. Gary set himself long-term goals in order to remain positive and motivated.
Rebecca Smith, 24, worked as a Beauty Therapist in London prior to taking a year off to travel. On her return to London it took her just under one-month to gain employment back in the industry after using her previous contacts. This time round she was even earning more money. Rebecca didn’t feel there were any real challenges returning to her job, though, believes that due to her travels she now has better communication skills when talking to her clients.
Doug Kington, from South London, now 28, was 25 when he took his first career break travelling through South America, Borneo and South East Asia. Doug stayed away for an extended period of time due to the recession, as work opportunities in London were somewhat limited. Once back in the UK, Doug returned to this line of work as a retail manager, however, not before speaking to recruitment agencies, directly approaching companies and also completing a couple of computer courses to further his skills in order to become a more a marketable candidate. Whilst Doug took a pay cut, he also appreciates that his level of responsibility is not the same as when he left.
Ideally, Doug was keen for a career change, however, as the market was so volatile he felt he had to return to retail, for the time being, as in his own words “Bills still need to be paid”. Whilst he dreams of his impending trip to Australia, he also understands he needs to settle down and focus on work for a while. Doug says he settled back into work life too quickly and it was almost as if he’d never been away.
Debbie Norman, 52, took a six month Career Break at the age of 50 after working in banking for over 35 years. Debbie’s company supported her taking a career break and her job was left open for her return. She found that her new-found knowledge of the countries she visited helped her when speaking with clients as some of them had travelled to where she had visited. However, Debbie struggled to re-adjust to the 9-5 routine and travelling on public transport up to London and a year later left the bank and took early retirement.
Debbie has now set up her own business called ‘Vintage Vamps’ selling Vintage clothes. Whilst she doesn’t earn the same level income she did in banking, she is now doing something she loves and vows never to go back to banking.
Ann Sullivan, 39, from Gloucester, England, has taken two career breaks. The first when she was 35, for three months, and the second when she was 38, for seven months. When Ann took her first career break she was working for an insurance company in human resources where she had been working for over 10 years. Her job was left open so she slipped right back in on her return. A couple of years later Ann took voluntary redundancy and made the decision to take another career break travelling through South/Central America and Cuba.
On her return she took her time seeking employment and six weeks later starting a contracting assignment, earning more money than her previous role. Ann says that some of the biggest challenges of transitioning back to work included settling back into a routine, the working hours, deadlines, responsibility and the people. She says she was able to transfer her new skills of being more patient, having more confidence and being laid back into the workplace.
Ann didn’t settle back into working life in Gloucester and quickly signed up to complete a TEFL course and is shortly bound for Thailand to take up a teaching position in a school in Bangkok.
