HANDS up if you know someone who is planning a career break or who has just come back from one?
The chances are that you do. According to a survey by Direct Line Travel Insurance, more than six million Brits have taken a career break. The rest of us are plainly envious: three out of four employees are also thinking about it.
With so many valuable staff demanding time out, leading employers have recognised this trend and are adding career breaks to their list of employment benefits. If you work for Accenture, Marks & Spencer, BT or Lloyds TSB, you may already know the benefits. But don’t expect such enlightened policies from everyone: the majority of career-breakers still end up resigning from their job to take a break.
So why are so many people prepared to put successful careers on hold, trade their briefcase for a suitcase and swap their season ticket for a round-the-world airline ticket? For many it is the realisation that work really isn’t everything and that it is equally important to find time to fulfil dreams or to pursue your innermost passions.
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As finance director of Hotel du Vin, Peter Chittick, 47, had a thriving career at a successful company. But he wanted to spend time creating life-long memories with his young family. “We had talked about doing a trip like this for several years. Our aim was simple — to have an adventure together as a family that we would all remember forever. Then the sale of my hotel group suddenly made it all possible.”
Many career breakers are driven by the need to change their lives. Amanda Ribbins, 33 (see panel below right), worked for an investment bank, but says she was “suffering from ‘irritable trout syndrome’ — generally tired, stressed and uncharacteristically demotivated. I wanted to get off the treadmill for a while, learn something new in a totally different environment, travel and have some fun.” So she learnt to sail.
Others take a career break to change their career. “I volunteered as a staff member with Raleigh International in Ghana and Costa Rica,” says Michelle Hawkins, a 36-year-old former publicist. “I hoped this would give me the experience I needed to change jobs and move into the humanitarian voluntary sector when I returned home.” And it did: Michelle is now communications and fundraising officer for Médecins du Monde UK.
To maximise the chances of a successful comeback, remember that evidence of a constructive career break is what future employers want to see. This means that you need to spend your time wisely — learn new skills, use existing ones to help others, experience different cultures and countries, or live and work abroad.
So, if you’ve ever dreamed of learning Spanish in Peru, volunteering in a Nepalese orphanage, sailing around the world, or teaching English as a foreign language in Japan, this is the time to do it. Often a career break will comprise several of these elements, linked together by high adventure and independent travel.
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The most rewarding career breaks are about far more than seeing the world. For instance, Sally and Paul Beilby, both engineers in their mid-thirties, volunteered as teachers in Tanzania with the career break specialist MondoChallenge. “We lived in a remote mountain village,” says Paul “The setting was breathtaking — banana and maize fields on steep slopes, picturesque streams and each family with their smallholding of chickens and goats. In two months I only ever saw one car in the village.
“I taught physics but the facilities were so basic that I had to make use of objects I found locally to demonstrate the principles — sticks for levers, elastic for springs and our bicycles for gears.”
Career breaks come in many shapes and sizes. You don’t have to go for a whole year — many career breaks lasting four months or less are just as fulfilling. In the words of Amanda Ribbins, the most important part of a career break is making the decision to go. “I stopped thinking about why I shouldn’t do it and thought about all the reasons why I should,” she says. “It has changed my life.”
Page 2: Case studies ()
A firm base for adventure
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Names: Peter Chittick, 47, Carolyn Fairbairn, 43, Emily, 10, Anna, 8, and Tom, 6.
Occupations: I was finance director of the Hotel du Vin group, Carolyn was strategy director at the BBC.
Timing: Seven months.
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Our career break: We bought cheap round-the-world tickets, in business class. We had a routine of renting a house or staying with friends for a couple of weeks, where we did most of the kids’ schooling, followed by a week or two of adventure. We had bases in San Francisco, Tahiti, Sydney, Bali, Singapore, Japan, Kenya and Cape Town, and travelled independently around Papua New Guinea, Thailand, China and Indochina. In New Zealand we rented a motor home. In the Whitsunday Islands (Australia) we hired a bareboat yacht. In Tanzania we went on a week’s safari.
Our top tip: Make sure your house, jobs, etc, are completely sorted so that you don’t spend all your time worrying about what’s happening at home.
Haul up the sail
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Name: Amanda Ribbins.
Age: 33.
Occupation: Head of European event management, US Investment Bank.
Length of time: 13 months.
My career break: I went sailing. I did a 14-week yachtmaster basic traineeship with Flying Fish and became a qualified yacht skipper. The first month was in the UK, the rest in Sydney. It was such fun. I then did a sailing holiday in the Whitsunday Islands, off the coast of Queensland, before heading back to England to take my sailing instructor exams. Next, I worked in the Mediterranean for the activity holiday company Neilson, and had a great season teaching guests to sail and taking them out on flotilla.
Top tip: No one ever said: “I wish I hadn’t taken a career break.” Making the transition from wanting to do it, to deciding to do it, is the only difficult part.
Page 3: Before you go and coming home ()
BEFORE YOU GO
Consult your financial adviser: Discuss how your career break will affect your pension and short-term investments. If away for a full tax year, you can receive gross interest on your savings accounts by registering as a non-UK taxpayer (R85 form).
Tax: You might be eligible for a tax rebate if you begin your career break before the end of a full tax year.
Make/update a will: Always a good idea, career break or not.
House and garden: Decide whether to sell or let your property and check when your building’s insurance runs out. If letting, consider swapping to a flexible mortgage.
Possessions: Ask friends/family to look after your valuables and personal items. Professional storage units are best for big-ticket items. Boost your career-break fund by selling your car.
Ongoing bills: Switch the majority to direct debit (particularly important in the case of your credit or charge cards). In case of emergencies, open a joint account with a friend back home.
Limited power of attorney: This gives someone at home powers to make decisions on your behalf about your property, finances, etc, when you’re away. You never know when you might need it.
Mobile phone: To cut the cost of calls, get your phone “unlocked” and use local SIM cards while away. Consider switching to pay-as-you-go.
Your post: Redirection costs £33.60 per surname for 12 months.
Goodbyes: Start two months before you depart — these take longer than you think.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The Career Break Book (Lonely Planet; £12.99).
Cactus TEFL (0845 1304775, www.cactustefl.com) is a registration service for TEFL courses around the world.
MondoChallenge (01604 858225, www. mondochallenge.org) sets up volunteers with projects in the developing world.
Raleigh International (020-7371 8585, www. raleigh.org.uk). Volunteer as a staff member.
VentureCo (01926 411122, www. ventureco-worldwide.com): programmes for language learning, a volunteer project and an expedition.
Caledonia Languages (0131-621 7721, www.caledonialanguages.co.uk).
Flying Fish (0871 2502500, www. flyingfishonline.com) trains watersports and snowsports staff.
COMING HOME
Money: Don’t return to an empty bank account: put aside at least £5,000 to see you through your first months at home.
ETA: Don’t leave your “estimated time of arrival” to chance. Come home at a time of year which is professionally and personally positive for you. For instance, if you quit your job, return home in time to attend a big trade fair or during the season when your profession normally recruits.
Communication: Three months before you return, step up contact with your professional pals and if you’re looking for work make sure they know this. Some career-breakers even set up interviews while away for when they’re back.
Goals: Beat the coming home “blues” by giving yourself a focus: aim to learn up to three new skills in your first 12 months at home.