Want To Take a Career Break? Here’s How To Make It Work

Need to take some extended time off from work? You’re not alone: The term “career break” was created to describe the phenomenon of people removing themselves from the workforce — usually for at least a year — to focus on important personal matters like full-time parenting, caring for elderly parents, or even philanthropic efforts like mission trips. But anyone who’s taken one knows they can be complicated, especially when it comes time to return to their career.

For generations, career breaks were often seen as a negative — there was an assumption that candidates who’d taken significant time away lacked ambition, or wouldn’t be able to keep up with changes they missed in their industry once they came back.

But recently, these attitudes are changing, and with good reason: According to a 2022 LinkedIn survey, about two in three people have taken a career break at some point, and one third of respondents plan to take one in the future. Many of these people are highly motivated and excited to get back to work — they just need to hit the pause button for a bit.

If you’ve taken or are considering taking a career break, you need to prepare yourself for how to manage time off before you take it — and figure out how you’ll frame it to current or future employers once you’re ready to return. To help us figure out how to navigate these tricky conversations, we turned to some folks who know exactly what hiring managers want to hear: professionals who work in these roles themselves. We asked two Procter & Gamble (P&G) leaders — Senior Director Human Resources Lisa Thorner and President of Global Business Services April Cielica — how to prepare for a career break, how to maintain connections during it, and why time off may be an asset when you do reenter the workforce.

Why do people take career breaks?

There are many reasons people may need to take more time off than a traditional leave provides. Thorner reports an uptick in employees leaving because they’re part of the “sandwich generation”: “More and more, we’re seeing people take career breaks because they need to care for both their children and their aging parents,” she explains. “But there are other reasons I’ve been seeing, including taking a mission trip, or to follow a spouse who’s a member of the military. So many people are taking breaks that aren’t only about childcare.” While the majority of employees who take career breaks are women, Thorner says it’s becoming much more common to see men opt for them as well.

Make a financial game plan

While you might be lucky enough to love your job, the truth is that most of us work for the same reason: to earn a paycheck. So while you may need a few months off, your checking account might end up stretched thin as a result. “If you need to take a break but haven’t done the appropriate financial planning, you could be forced to come back to work before you’re ready, and that’s a terrible scenario,” Thorner explains. “Before you leave, give your finances a serious look. Think about how much time you’re realistically going to need to take off, and make a concrete financial plan to keep you afloat while you’re out.”

Stay connected

Both women we spoke with agreed that the best way to make sure you get a job, either at your old company or a new one, is to keep in touch with your network. Thorner shared a story about one employee who made an especially positive impression while away: “I knew this talented young woman who took two years off when her partner was relocated to a job in South Africa,” she explains. “She would reach out to me every once in a while, just to say hi, and send me little updates on her life. When she came back, she called me to ask if we had anything available she might be a good fit for, and I told her, ‘Absolutely.’ She had proved during her time away that she was completely committed to the company and was so grateful that we took a chance on her. She’s now been with us for years and was so thankful for the opportunity. I think she’ll be here forever.” Thorner also says employers shouldn’t worry about what an employee might have missed in their industry while they were out, because those skills can be taught. What’s much more important is for employees to show that they’re eager and hungry to get back to work — and that they’re excited to learn.

“Relationships matter, probably more than anything else,” Thorner said. “We get stacks of resumes from highly qualified applicants every day, but if a current employee tells me someone they know would be a really strong candidate has applied, I’m definitely going to make time to look at that resume, regardless of whether that person has taken a career break.” And you don’t need to significantly disrupt your time away to keep in touch: taking a few minutes a week to check in with old coworkers is hugely beneficial. Landing an interview is the hardest part of the job search for anyone, but keeping a strong network will help push your resume to the top of the pile.

Focus on what your break has taught you

The reasons why people take career breaks are often stressful, like illness, relocation, or parenthood. But the experiences employees gain from these big life changes can alter the way they think about leadership. There are two magic words anyone coming back from a work pause should remember: growth mindset.

“When we’re hiring someone straight out of college, they don’t have a lot of experience for us to review, so we seek out people with an aptitude to learn,” explains Thorner. “Right off the bat, if you address and demonstrate your ability to continue to grow, we’ll welcome you back in any stage of your life.”

The same holds true for mid-career employees who take time away. “We’ve seen people who’ve taken career breaks come back hungry and highly motivated,” says Thorner. “They want to come back and they want to learn and grow, because they’ve already taken care of what they need. That’s much better than trying to juggle everything at once while you’re also trying to focus on a career.”

When it comes to discussing your time away with a potential employer, focus on the leadership skills you gained.  “Leadership isn’t just something that happens at work — it happens in the home,” explains Thorner. “You could be a leader by advocating for a parent’s elder care, or by wrangling kids all day long. Talk about how you’ve learned to balance and juggle stressful situations, because that’s hard to do. Think about the new experiences you’ve had during your career break, how they’ve helped you become a better problem solver or advocate, and how you can translate those to skills that’ll apply in the workplace.”

Turn a negative into a positive

Thorner suggests addressing your career break head-on, since some interviewers might feel uncomfortable asking about it, and could make assumptions that aren’t correct. “Open the door for a dialogue that might not otherwise happen,” she explains. “This will give you the opportunity to explain how you’ve maintained a growth mindset, highlight the skills you’ve developed, and reiterate how excited you are to get back to work.” 

Employees won’t perform their best if they’re concerned about factors outside of work, so knowing an employee has already addressed any issues and is ready to come back with full dedication is a major plus. “When people take career breaks and come back and tell us they were focusing on their well-being — whether that’s financial, mental, family, or physical — we know they’re going to approach a new role refreshed and ready to give it their all,” Thorner said.

See if your company can help

P&G offers a unique program called ReLaunch, which is specifically designed to help those who’ve taken career breaks — either at P&G or elsewhere — reenter the workforce. It’s designed to provide mentorship, guidance, and a network to support those returning from time away.

Cielica, who pioneered ReLaunch, explains why it’s been so beneficial to employees and companies alike: “We have a need for talent, particularly people with technical skills. I have a special passion for breaking down barriers in hiring diverse STEM talent, so we started ReLaunch to provide hiring opportunities for individuals who’ve taken breaks from their careers,” she explains. “It’s an untapped pool of great job candidates, and we saw an opportunity to take advantage of that.”

Cielica once considered taking a career break herself, but thought it would be too difficult to come back to work afterward. She opted to reduce her hours instead, but later realized the importance of allowing people to choose for themselves how to balance their personal lives and work, without having to worry about consequences. “I spoke with our HR leader about how to recruit more female talent at P&G, and he suggested a program to help people transition back into the workforce after a career break,” says Cielica. “My first thought was, Why didn’t I think of that?! It’s silly to disregard someone’s extensive experience and education just because they took some time off.”

She saw firsthand how important P&G’s program was in reassuring candidates that their skills are not only relevant, but necessary in the workplace: “One ReLauncher told me, ‘I was getting ignored for jobs I was clearly qualified for. I was later advised to hide my career gap by removing the dates and years I was employed.’” Cielica’s goal with ReLaunch was to help shift negative attitudes about work pauses, in order to retain top talent.

These days, Cielica reports a general attitude of gratitude and excitement within this group of back-to-work candidates. “They’re keen to make an impact, and so grateful for the opportunity,” she says. “For some, it’s life-changing. They assumed they would have to give up leveraging the degrees and skills they went to school for. All of them are super proud to work for a company that makes this possible, and they’ll be loyal to that company for years to come.”