Explaining Your Career Break
Taking a break from work can be a difficult and nerve-wracking thing to explain to prospective employers during your job search. Here are a few tips to help you explain why you took a career break and how it can be beneficial to your next job.
Be upfront about the reason for your break
It’s important to be honest about why you decided to take time off. Some common reasons may include:
- Personal health reasons
- Caring for a family member
- Exploring a new career path or business venture
- Lack of suitable work opportunities in your area
Whatever the explanation, be clear and concise but also ensure you don’t give too much information away, as you don’t want to open yourself up to potential discrimination.
Highlight how your break has added to your skillset
Although it can look like a gap in your CV, don’t be afraid to point out how the things you’ve done on your break have added to your skillset, even if they’re not related to your profession.
This could be anything from taking a course to learn a new language to volunteering in your community. Not only could this show potential employers that you haven’t stopped developing your skills, but it also demonstrates interests and passions away from work.
Talk about what you learned
When explaining your break to employers, you can use it to your advantage. Talk about the insights, experience and knowledge that you gained during this period of unemployment.
This could include anything from learning a new language or gaining a greater understanding of the labour market. Using your break to learn something new not only shows employers that you’re motivated and proactive, but also that you can handle change and challenging situations.
Focus on the future
When explaining why you decided to take a career break, focus on your future goals and ambitions, rather than dwelling on the past.
Make sure you demonstrate your commitment to the job, your industry and your goals for getting back into it.
By discussing your goals for the future, potential employers can get an understanding of how serious you are about returning to your job and how the break has brought you closer to achieving those goals.
