Make the right break – how to take time out to change careers
Bored witless at work? Struggling to stay focused? Watching your deadlines whoosh by? Daydreaming about doing something totally different? Driven to distraction by colleagues or clients? Wrestling with a gnarly personal or professional problem? Considering career change?
Maybe it’s time to take a break.
Start with a circuit breaker
If you’re bogged down or bored or frustrated or furious at work, taking the briefest of circuit breaking ‘time outs’ can start to get you sorted. First up, try freeing up enough calm, clear brain space to consider the kind of break you need. Put aside some weekend downtime, or an evening for journaling, list-making or talking with a trusted friend and ally. Ideally, schedule this time in an ’off-site’ environment you enjoy. Choose somewhere away from your day to day responsibilities. A park or a café, for example.
If you’re struggling to swap grumpy, angry and anxious for curious and calm, try some of these tips for rerouting negative thought trains and dealing with shouty inner demons.
Once you’ve made a bit of mental shush, ask yourself, ‘what’s not working here?’ Your answers will help you figure out the kind of break that’s likely to generate the energy and insight you need to move things on.
If you’re cross with a colleague or stuck on the summary for your monthly report, try taking a walk around the block. If you’re overwhelmed by work that’s still got hold of your head and your heart, maybe you need to book a holiday.
If your Mondayitis feels terminal, your productivity is in freefall, you’re googling volunteer roles in exotic places or dreaming of doing anything other than your current job, a sabbatical or a switch to flexible or fewer hours could give you the break you need for fresh thinking and finding out about alternative careers. You could also start by creating mini-break
Take the right break
I work with all kinds of career changers. Some of my clients want a clean break. They need a new career in a new field. Others still love their career but need to do it differently. They want to freelance or build a portfolio career or change roles and organisations in the same sector.
Once you’ve figured out the scope and scale of your career change, taking a break can be a great way to make it happen. Take account of how you feel about your current job, your employer’s attitude to flexible conditions, your finances and your plans for transitioning to a new career. Then make your move.
Take small steps - create a mini-break
If you have annual leave or overtime hours up your sleeve, think about using these hours to start or leave earlier, or schedule one day off a week. You won’t necessarily need to negotiate this time off with your employer. If you’re not ready to go public about why you need a break, this is a useful first step. If this time out isn’t sufficient to create the shift you need, or if it sparks your transition to something new, explore some longer-term options.
Research your options for longer breaks
Get to grips with your employer’s policies and procedures for sabbaticals and flexible working conditions. Talk to HR and to anyone prepared to share their experience of taking a break. Policies may permit you to ask, but culture may determine the answer. You’ll need to negotiate a long break or a change in hours and conditions, so be sure to build a brilliant case for how your break will benefit your employer. Be clear about what you’ll offer in return for their support.
Take sabbatical leave – retain your right of return
If you want or need time out with the right to return to your organisation, think about taking a sabbatical. This is negotiated and usually unpaid leave for an agreed term often between 3 months and a year. If your employer offers this form of leave, the team at career gappers have some sound advice on how to ask for a sabbatical.
Change your hours - move from fixed to flexible
Working fewer or different hours can create space for you to recharge your batteries, get better work-life balance and test out new careers. If reducing or restricting your work time would help you kickstart your career change, here’s how to negotiate a move to flexible working conditions.
Cut your ties – make a classy exit
If despite your best efforts, your job is unsalvageable then it’s probably time to call it quits. Whether you decide to go or someone else decides for you, these five tips for making a gracious exit help protect you professionally and personally from fall out that can come with pulling the pin.
6 essential moves for any kind of break
Whatever shape your break takes, doing these 6 things will give your career change direction and momentum:
1. Get curious – follow your interests and instincts, do new things with a light touch and a sense of adventure.
If you’ve got a list of intriguing recreational or professional things you think you’d love to do, cross at least one of them off now. This excellent ‘edge of your comfort zone’ practice can build your career change confidence. Here’s what happened when I finally went paragliding.
2. Follow up on things that spark your interest
If a seemingly random article, film, conversation, social media post, event flyer - anything, perks up your ears or raises your heart rate. Then look for likeminded humans who share the same interest and enthusiasm. Look up, read up, join up.
3. Have career change conversations
A break gives you time to travel new paths. Look for leads that can connect you to people willing to share their career stories and experience. Dip into this pool of generous, open people willing to chat over coffee, invite you to work shadow or volunteer or point you at other interesting angles. It’s a much larger pool than you might imagine, as you’ll discover when you take the plunge. Get off Google and start talking to actual humans.
4. Reality check careers you’re wondering about
Get out and get your hands dirty. If you’ve always wondered what a florist does, find out. Work shadow, volunteer, offer to ‘do the flowers’ for a friend or a colleague’s party. Wondering if your interest in a career in marketing could withstand hours of relentless data dissecting? Here’s how that turned out for me.
5. Get your CV in shape and be ready to write yourself into a new job
If you’re aiming for a complete career change, consider switching to a skills-based CV that highlights your adaptability as well as telling a standout story.
6. Get support
Taking a break can separate you from some of your established sources of support in and out of work. Some people in your network of friends and family may also be sceptical or uncertain about how to support you. Here are 7 reasons not to go it alone when you’re changing careers. If you decide that coaching could help, here are some tips on choosing a compatible career change coach.
I vividly remember the first time I felt the restorative force of taking a break. My choir group was struggling to master a particularly tricky piece. After loads of frustrating attempts, our teacher simply dropped it from our rehearsals. Several weeks later we gave it another go. We were pitch-perfect. A break is a breathing space. Give it a chance, and it’ll unravel the knots, refresh your thinking and set you up to hit the right notes.
A personal note
I’m currently on of life’s loveliest breaks, maternity leave. I’m planning to return to career change coaching in mid-2020. If you need career change coaching any one of these skilful, empathetic, experienced people would be delighted to help.
By Jo Green, Career Change Coach
I know that when you find what you love, heart and soul, your life changes. I work every day with people who are reshaping their current careers, starting new enterprises or searching for a new direction. Basically I help people who don’t like their job to figure out what to do instead!
As a Careershifters and Firework Advanced Certified Coach and experienced career changer myself, I can help you figure out what fulfilling work looks like for you.
