Will a Career Break be a Wonderful Choice Or a Confusing Limbo?

From the day we are born we are programmed to live like we are climbing a ladder one step at a time and every step is in continuity with the step before and the step after. We graduate from high school and resume our studies in college then into the chosen career. We think of transitions as part of building and developing a career and a solution for not wanting a career break. In a previous post, we related to career transition and what it takes to make big career changes whether by choice or necessity to escape the terrible mistake and trap of being stuck in the wrong job.  We also listed four career transitions that every person encounters during life and the corresponding resources required to survive those transitions. Today’s workplaces are not just dynamic but they are highly collaborative. For this reason, they require highly-collaborative employees and promote fast movers who build their network and scale it by showing value in what they do. Career transition is one game that you must master after you have mastered a completely different game that is: career break.

A career break is any timeout from employment from 2 to 24 months. I’ve had friends and colleagues get into career breaks that include volunteering for an abroad church mission, volunteering as a consultant for social work in Africa, Yachtmastering and sailing across seas, training and racing Paris Dakar. No matter the purpose of the career break, the dilemma starts the moment you decide to return especially if you have been on a break for over 12 months. Among the worst things that can happen because of a career break are that you may halt your career progress, lose touch with your field, experience significant financial loss, lose touch with your colleague, have to adjust back to work, and need to explain your career break to future employers.

You will have to decide on the level to return to after the career break; your apprentice may very well become your superior after you return. While career level is an issue in corporate Optometry it is less of a concern if the reentry is in private practice. The main issue in private practice would be the patients. If the returning practitioner’s role is well defined as a specialist. He will have to go through a fast internship-like program that will help him regain confidence and refresh his experience and then start seeing patients within his specialty. If he is a general practitioner it is preferred he starts seeing new patients and builds his customer base all over again. Since he has the required experience and he has had a great amount of health boost during the career break, he will build an important customer base in no time.