Episode: 518

Episode Title: Making Your Career Break Work For You

A career break can be a huge asset when you’re talking to a potential employer, but only if you frame it right. Here’s how, coming up next on The Perna Syndicate.

Ep 518 show:

Hello and welcome to The Perna Syndicate! This week we’re talking about career breaks and why they’re no longer something to minimize on your resume. LinkedIn has found that employers are now more open than ever to interviewing candidates who have taken a career break. Half of employers would be more likely to call a candidate back if they knew the context of why they took time away from work. 

So that means that when you’re interviewing, you should proactively talk about your break and the new skills, experiences, and perspectives you gained during that period. You should also consider how all these things connect back to the role you’re applying for.

But I just took time off to care for my kids, you might say. That’s not a marketable skill. Oh yes, it is! You probably sharpened critical skills like resilience, compassion, patience, empathy, and problem solving. 

Or maybe you took time off to travel. You may have learned new skills like budgeting, adaptability, and cultural competence while exploring new places. Maybe you learned new things about yourself by being exposed to something so different. 

The idea is that time away from work is never lost time. If you’re intentional about how you frame that discussion, potential employers will see your career break as an advantage, not a liability. 

Tomorrow: what if you’re the hiring manager, looking at candidates who have career breaks on their resumes? What kind of questions can clue you in on how they used that time? We’ll cover that and more on the next episode of The Perna Syndicate. See you then!