Your Career Break: The 'How-To' Guide

Your Career Break: The 'How-To' Guide

by Sue Hadden
Your Career Break: The 'How-To' Guide

Your Career Break: The 'How-To' Guide

by Sue Hadden

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Overview

If you've ever found yourself dreaming of doing something different in your life that will take longer than your annual holiday allowance, then a career break may be right for you. Consider these questions:

Is there something you want to achieve that isn't being fulfilled by your work, relationships, or home life?
Are you looking for something more meaningful in life?
Are you looking for more work-life balance?

Your Career Break: the 'how to' guide is a workbook designed to guide you through taking a career break and is specifically aimed to:

help you determine whether a career break really is for you and why provide you with strategies to overcome the psychological barriers that may hold you back help you get specific about where you want to go and what you want to do

"If you're still not sure if or why you should take a career break, Sue can help you make that decision. The book is full of stories, reasons and exercises to make you feel not only comfortable that you can do it but excited to take the plunge finally".
-- Jeff Jung, Author of The Career Break Traveler's Handbook and Host of The Career Break Travel Show


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781481711654
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Publication date: 04/02/2013
Pages: 246
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.52(d)

Read an Excerpt

YOUR CAREER BREAK

the 'how-to' guide


By Sue Hadden

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2013Sue Hadden
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4817-1165-4


Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

WELCOME TO YOUR CAREER BREAK


Is This Book for You?

If you've ever found yourself dreaming of doing something different in your life that will take longer than your annual holiday allowance, then a career break may be right for you. Consider the following questions.

• Is there something you want to achieve that isn't being fulfilled by your work, relationships, or home life?

• Are you thinking about taking your life in a new direction?

• Do you want to challenge yourself and step outside your comfort zone?

• Are you looking for something more meaningful in life?

• Do you flip through magazines and wonder what it would be like to experience what you see in the pictures?

• Do you like the sound of doing something different with your life?

• Do you think about contributing to society?

• Are you looking for more work–life balance?


If any of these resonate with you, then it may be that you need a career break ... now! So this book is definitely for you!

In an ideal world you could just quit your job and start planning your break without a care in the world; however, you and I both know that unless you've won the lottery, you're going to have to put a little bit more thought and planning into extracting yourself from the clutches of society and everything in your life that ties you to where you are now. But that is all part of the process and a journey you have to take, so you might as well sit back and enjoy the ride.

If you're like me, or many of your friends, you've probably got property, furniture, pets, plants, debts, and a whole host of other possessions you've collected over the years. Not to mention a career, friends, family, and maybe a romantic relationship. You may be stuck in a rut, fed up, regretting never having had a chance to travel when you were young, thinking about changing jobs and needing a break in between, wanting to contribute to society and longing to do some volunteer work or perhaps to work abroad and gain some international experience, or you might just want to travel and see the world independently. Whatever your reason(s), this book will help motivate you to turn your career break dream into a reality.


Career Break Statistics

Did you know that more and more people today are taking career breaks? Around 90,000 people in the UK each year are taking a career break or a sabbatical, compared to 230,000 young people on a gap year (www.gapadvice.org/index.php/career-breaks). Gap Year for Grown Ups, the leading gap provider, has seen record growth in bookings - up 300 percent since 2005. Traditionally, gap years have been perceived to be the domain of school leavers, but the Gap Year for Grown Ups customer base now tells a different story; 61 percent are between twenty-five and fifty, 27 percent are over fifty, and only 12 percent are under twenty-five (www.gapyearforgrownups. co.uk).

According to research undertaken by Santander Credit Cards (4 September 2010), "Britain has seen a 14-fold rise in the number of people taking gap years, sabbaticals and other lifestyle breaks since the 1970s, including a remarkable spike since the recession began in 2008." The research reveals that the number of people taking time out from work and education has risen from 270,000 in the 1970s to four million between 2000 and 2010. Interestingly, 1.2 million of these lifestyle breaks have taken place since the recession began in 2008 (www.everyinvestor.co.uk/personal-finance/savings/ recession-drives-spike-in-gap-years-and-sabbatical).

Santander go on to say that "just over one in ten (12%) UK adults has taken a lifestyle break in the past and a further four million (8%) Brits are currently planning one for the future" (www.everyinvestor.co.uk/ personal-finance/savings/recession-drives-spike-in-gap-years-and-sabbatical).

Despite being common in many countries, such as Australia and the United Kingdom, career breaks, life sabbaticals, "gap years," and other forms of extended travel are not as common in America. It seems to be a common assumption that only a small number of Americans hold passports. Reasons vary as to why this is the case, and in his article "How Many Americans Have a Passport?" Matt Stabile notes that the cost of taking a family abroad may be one of the main reasons that Americans are reluctant to travel (http:// www.theexpeditioner.com/2010/02/17/how-many-americans-have-apassport-2/).

Wikipedia also notes that, given the size of America and how far international borders exist from most states, people tend not to travel abroad, which could be attributed to the lower number of passport holders in relation to the population. The number of passports issued in America peaked in 2007, with over 18 million; however, for the next three years numbers decreased, seeing just over 13 million issued (including 1.3 million passport cards) in 2012 (http://www.theexpeditioner.com/2010/02/17/how-many-americanshave-a- passport-2/).

Some weight is also given to the theory that distance from national borders directly impacts on the numbers of passports held, as North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming held the lowest number of passports issued, and California, New York, and Texas, all states close to international borders, held the highest number.

In the period 2008–2009, issued passports dropped by 2.7 million. No specific reason is stated for the decrease over the one-year period, though it may be fair to suggest that the global financial crisis and, as noted by Matt Stabile, stricter air travel requirements affected the number of American citizens making passport applications to travel abroad. It might be worth noting that the only other dip between the years 1974 and 2009 was during 1989–1992, which may be attributed to the economic recession, more specifically, the savings and loan crisis in America, which created the greatest banking collapse since the Great Depression in 1929 (www.useconomy.about.com/od/ grossdomesticproduct/p/89_Bank_Crisis.htm) and jeopardised the financial well-being of millions of Americans [Wikipedia]).

Whilst career breaks might not be an American birthright, the founders of Meet, Plan, Go! (www.meetplango.com) – Sherry Ott and Michaela Potter are on a mission to change that. For the past 3 years they have been speaking and writing about career breaks on their website. In addition they schedule events and meetups across America aimed at individuals contemplating a career break. Sherry Ott comments on her observations of the events: "People come to Meet Plan Go! events in order to be a part of a supportive travel community, and get inspiration and advice on how to do extended travel as mid-career adult. A career breaker is different than a gap year traveller. Career breakers often have more invested physically in their life; house, kids, pets, cars, aging parents, and a career.

Therefore they have special concerns around how to put their life on hold and travel. In addition, by surrounding themselves by others who have experience or want to experience extended travel on their career break they are more likely to achieve their goals and stay motivated to work through the hard planning times".

Meet, Plan, Go! is passionate about encouraging those thinking about a career break to take the leap, give them the tools on how, and help them achieve their dreams! For more information on their events and resources, visit their website, www.meetplango.com.

As for Australia, 49 percent of the population hold passports (http://www.traveltrends.biz/ttn555-record-number-of-austra
(Continues...)


Excerpted from YOUR CAREER BREAK by Sue Hadden. Copyright © 2013 by Sue Hadden. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface....................     ix     

Chapter 1 Welcome to Your Career Break....................     1     

Chapter 2 What's a Career Break All About?....................     9     

Chapter 3 Getting Clear....................     47     

Chapter 4 Making It Happen....................     59     

Chapter 5 If You Want to Travel....................     83     

Chapter 6 If You Want to Stay at Home....................     175     

Chapter 7 Taking Care of Yourself....................     193     

Chapter 8 Pulling It All Together....................     197     

References....................     203     

Appendices....................     207     

About the Author....................     233     

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