From my experiences in the past 10 years, I feel organisations need to encourage and consider opportunities for professionals taking voluntary career breaks. A voluntary departure is looked upon skeptically by many, with some recruiters assuming lack of commitment or low performance.
I have taken two career breaks in the past 12 years. My first break was to handle family responsibilities and the second one was because I was unhappy with my work environment.
During my second break I reflected on critical points where I was handling difficult situations and people at work and it helped me get clarity in my thoughts and improved my confidence and resilience. During my breaks, I worked hard on entrepreneural endeavours. I worked on security protocols for surveillance UAVs, IAM and learned about ideation, forming business case, product pitch etc. In my second break, I co-founded a pre-school in Bangalore. In this process I learned and developed skills like setting up infrastructure from scratch, influence, marketing, resource management, business operations, finance to name a few which I could not have gained experience in my regular job. To setup the pre-school I researched extensively about child psychology, various methodologies for teaching, networked with founders and principals of other schools and social entrepreneurs to understand curriculum and processes they follow and did market survey and meetings with more than 300 parents in the neighbourhood to understand their requirements and needs.
In my breaks I worked with NGOs mentoring children from vulnerable backgrounds and learned more about child psychology and counselling. These trainings taught me to listen and accept without judgements, to control myself from preaching and empathise. I am still learning but this experience was an eye opener. I also volunteered to lead technical and entrepreneural teams in Grace Hopper Conference for women in technology. I heard stories from women allover India, the achievements, the struggles, the persistence in pursuit of passion. I learnt about managing large teams, event management and networking. I networked with a large group of women in different levels of their career. All the skills that I got an opportunity to learn and practise during my voluntary break help me build a foundation for my long term career and life.
So for anyone applying for a job after a break, highlight your story and what specific skills you have build during your break and be patient, persevering and optimistic
I have taken two career breaks in the past 12 years. My first break was to handle family responsibilities and the second one was because I was unhappy with my work environment.
During my second break I reflected on critical points where I was handling difficult situations and people at work and it helped me get clarity in my thoughts and improved my confidence and resilience. During my breaks, I worked hard on entrepreneural endeavours. I worked on security protocols for surveillance UAVs, IAM and learned about ideation, forming business case, product pitch etc. In my second break, I co-founded a pre-school in Bangalore. In this process I learned and developed skills like setting up infrastructure from scratch, influence, marketing, resource management, business operations, finance to name a few which I could not have gained experience in my regular job. To setup the pre-school I researched extensively about child psychology, various methodologies for teaching, networked with founders and principals of other schools and social entrepreneurs to understand curriculum and processes they follow and did market survey and meetings with more than 300 parents in the neighbourhood to understand their requirements and needs.
In my breaks I worked with NGOs mentoring children from vulnerable backgrounds and learned more about child psychology and counselling. These trainings taught me to listen and accept without judgements, to control myself from preaching and empathise. I am still learning but this experience was an eye opener. I also volunteered to lead technical and entrepreneural teams in Grace Hopper Conference for women in technology. I heard stories from women allover India, the achievements, the struggles, the persistence in pursuit of passion. I learnt about managing large teams, event management and networking. I networked with a large group of women in different levels of their career. All the skills that I got an opportunity to learn and practise during my voluntary break help me build a foundation for my long term career and life.
So for anyone applying for a job after a break, highlight your story and what specific skills you have build during your break and be patient, persevering and optimistic
