At a certain time of our career, we go through a phase where we doubt the career path we chose or we feel exhausted and unable to give anymore. Some people can overcome this feeling and continue to achieve career growth while others can’t.
Due to many reasons, some people decide to go on a career break; some do it because they want to shift their career, while others do it because they need to catch their breath! Taking a break sounds interesting and scary at the same time and it is a hard decision to make.
So, if you’re thinking about taking a career break, here are the pros and cons of this decision.
The Pros:
It Is A Physical and Mental Health Booster
Taking a career break will definitely enhance your overall health.
You will be spending time without going through any stressful situations or responsibilities or deadlines. When stress is reduced, you will find yourself in a better mental health state and your physical health will be better since your mental health always affects your physical health.
You Will Rediscover Yourself
You will be surprised when you start focusing on yourself.
When you take a long break you will be able to know yourself properly; you might find out that your passion lies somewhere else, you might even consider changing your career. Some people actually take a career break so they can focus on some other things they love and want to improve.
Also, a long break can make you realize you have skills that need to be developed that will help you in your career in the future.
Learning and Developing New Skills
This will give you a lot of free time to actually work on yourself.
Taking a sabbatical will make you develop skills that will benefit your career later on, but aside from your career, you will be able to improve other skills.
Work won’t allow you to use all of your skills and creativity; the challenges you face at work require certain skills, but when you’re on a career break you will face different challenges that will require new skills and will make you discover skills you didn’t know you had!
So, this will allow you to develop them and even learn new ones.
A True Freedom
You only experience this feeling for a short time during your career, but when you take a career break, you will be able to feel it for quite some time.
At some certain point in our work life, we need some time to sit and do nothing, not to worry about a task or a client, or how the business is going! A career break will give you that for as much as you need! You have the freedom to do anything and even go anywhere without worrying about leaving something behind.
The Cons:
It Will Affect Your Financial Status
You have to know how you will be managing your financials during this period of time.
A career break means there’s no monthly income and you will have to spend from your own savings. In order to make things work, you have to plan this well, because if you didn’t you will struggle with the financial status as you might run out of money while still on a sabbatical.
It’s Hard To Explain On The Resume
Explaining gaps is hard when you’re doing an interview for your next job.
When you decide to end your career break and apply for a job, it might be hard for you to explain the gap between your last job and the one you’re applying for. Some employers dislike gaps on resumes and wonder if they affected your skills or performance or not; so, they might avoid hiring you.
You Will Feel That You Are Far Behind
You will watch everyone achieve their goals while you’re still in the same place.
During your sabbatical, you will watch your colleagues achieve career growth and get promoted, while you’re still where you are; so, you might feel that you’re far behind and you’re not achieving anything. In fact, you might feel that you should use this time to build your career and reach a high position.
Difficulty In Finding A Job
When you decide to return, it might be hard to find a job.
You should put in mind that you might not be able to find a job once you decide to get back on track. People are always looking for a job and it will be a competition between you –someone who took a career break- and someone who just wants to switch companies.
So, don’t expect it to be easy to find a job, you might struggle for some time till you find one.
Taking a career break is definitely beneficial but risky, you have to plan it well.
