Glossary

Career break

Apr 5, 2024

What is a career break?

A career break is a period of time away from a job for any number of reasons. An employee may want to take a career break for personal reasons, such as raising children or caring for an elderly relative. Breaks in careers can also be involuntary — sometimes people lose their jobs because their company has been sold or closed down, or they're laid off due to budget cuts at work.

Pros and cons of taking breaks in career

Looking at the career break definition, it is easy to mention a lot of pros: 

  • One of the most obvious is that you can travel, which gives per the opportunity to see the world and experience other cultures.
  •  If you have children, this can be an especially rewarding time for them as well.
  • Another advantage is that it allows you to spend more time with family members that may live far away or who may be ill or elderly. 
  • You'll also have more time for friends and loved ones who aren't close by, but whom you still want to keep in contact with regularly
  • Taking time off from work also gives people an opportunity to learn new skills and try out different career paths.

Although taking a career break can be an exciting and rewarding experience, there are also some potential drawbacks. You may find yourself facing financial difficulties, as well as losing contact with colleagues and clients. If your company offers a sabbatical program, they may not be able to pay you while you're away from work. Additionally, if they do pay your salary while on leave--and this is highly unlikely — the amount of money that they give will probably not cover all of your expenses during this time off (e.g., travel costs).

When returning from a career break after several years away from work, it's likely that many companies will not consider hiring someone who has taken such extended time off; therefore, when looking for jobs after returning from their break, people often have difficulty finding employment opportunities at all!

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