Have you had a spell out of work? Do you need to find your ideal job again and don’t know where to start? We have some tips to help you sell yourself despite a spell outside of the workplace.
Increasingly, sabbaticals and paternity leave have meant that taking a significant break in your career in order to settle down or pursue projects is less frowned upon than before. Furthermore, maternity leave is simply a fact of life for many women and, in most countries, is taken into consideration.
How do I go back to work after a long break?
The first thing you need to do is assess where you are in your life plan and career. You should be prepared to write a CV and answer questions that are going to concern the break you took. But more importantly it will help you set expectations when looking for work immediately after a long break.
You may also want to consider whether you want to change sector after your break or not. You need to conceptualise what you want to be working on, how many hours you will dedicate per week and the location of the jobs of your choice.
Address the gap and the change of sector if applicable in both your CV opening statement and especially your cover letter. Your CV should have a skills-based functional CV format.
Your cover letter should emphasises how you can’t wait to return and are excited about the challenges. You need to make it clear that you have zero doubts about returning : one of their fears will be that you plan to leave again.
How to manage the interview
If you have taken a break out you need to ensure you can dominate the agenda of the interview around your skills and prior experience as opposed to the gap in your CV. Just answer any queries about your gap very briefly and return to your motivations.
It’s important you demonstrate that you understand the industry better than the other candidates who have been working continuously in it. Make sure you do your research and show you are able to seamlessly blend into a professional team again, being able to understand what goes on in the industry and offer insight and reflection.
Are career breaks a good idea?
Career breaks are less and less frowned upon. Young professionals often find it harder to find continuous work than previous generations so a gap year travelling is seen as far less important than previously in terms of your career development.
Some other reasons for taking a break can include :
- Learning a new skill that you wanted to have in your repertoire.
- Looking for a new location to settle due to dissatisfaction with your previous workplace
- Reducing stress due to burnout or lack of inspiration.
Overall, you should try to frame taking a spell out of the workplace as something positive that you can sell yourself on later.