If you can "take years off from work" you must have done something extremely right at some point. The only significant time I've ever had off from work is getting laid off, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in that.
I disagree. I've worked taken two extended periods off of work (6 months and 18+ months). I was busy most of the time because I have a life outside of work.
Yeah and actually some companies allow you to have unpaid time off (like 1 year) after you've been with them for x amount years. Companies know people need a break.
I once took almost 2 years off for no good reason. I traveled, visited friends and family, relaxed and generally did whatever I wanted. It was a great and memorable time in my life.
When I started looking for work again, I simply told them that in full honesty, and explained that I had enough money to do it.
Every interviewer reacted positively. Pretty much all of them said they would love to take a long time off like that and asked about my travels and about my projects.
I just started a month-long leave from work for...exactly this reason, to the same year. Grinding it out for over a decade without stopping for even a full week of vacation catches up to you eventually.
I can't imagine not being able to take a single extra day off for two years straight.
I think the only realistic options for most people are to (1) quit and take extended time off between jobs, or (2) get approval for unpaid leave. Unfortunately most jobs don't have an option for the latter. And even if your job does offer unpaid leave, I don't think I could truly "disconnect" knowing that work is potentially piling up in the background and waiting for me when I get back.
Something nobody seems to have mentioned, which I think is actually very important, is to make sure you take time off to get away from work and not get burnt out.
It’s always going to feel risky until you do it. Once you do, you’ll see that it isn’t quite as scary as you think. An added bonus, if in the future you ever do find yourself temporarily out of work you’ll know it’s not the end of the world.
I took a sabbatical April of 22, thinking I would take 3 months off, it took a full year before I felt like I was ready to go back to work. Taking off was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve spent more time with my family, been able to pursue some hobbies I previously didn’t have time for, and have cultivated stronger relationships because I’ve been able to spend time with people I care for. In short, do it. You won’t regret it.
Not only that, but people should be encouraged to take time off entirely. IMO, if you're not taking at least 3 weeks a year off, you're probably damaging your ability to do your best work. (Are there any studies on this?)
The year off isn’t the fluffy unicorn bit. The fluffy unicorn bit is that you think your choices should have no consequences.
If you want to take a decade off work, you certainly have that right. But that doesn’t mean employers should pretend that you have an extra decade of experience, just as your choice to forgo a degree doesn’t mean an employer should pretend you earned a doctorate.
I've never felt that I was in a great situation to do that between jobs and I've never felt strongly enough about it to take leave. I have run into a few people who were able to negotiate an atypical amount of annual leave. One of them was a lawyer who basically worked about half the year and traveled most of the rest of the time. But that's very unusual and presumably isn't all that stable over the course of a career.
What's the take on people who have had a career break of 1 to 2yrs? Through travel or medical situations or whatever. A friend of mine took a year and half off after having worked non-stop for ~15yrs (burnt out), went exploring and is now trying to get back into work but is having some difficulty for recruiters to call him back after applying. He never had any breaks in his work history before the recent and only one.
I had a friend who took 4-5 months off unpaid leave every year at our large enterprise tech company. He had no dependents and was sufficiently independently wealthy that he didn't particularly care if HR threw a fit and didn't want him back. But he always came back, no issues.
I always wanted to do the same but I needed the income so didn't dare try. Which is exactly how the companies want it.
I think this is horrible advice. I’ve hired all sorts of people with voluntary time off on their resume. Your experience doesn’t ‘expire’ in a single year. Life is about more than just working, if you have the money to take time off to enjoy your life you shouldn’t not do it out of fear.
It's a lucky thing, for sure, but many upper-middle class people in the West take a few years off of work for various reasons now already. Sabbaticals, child care, travel, etc.
If human lifespans increase to many centuries, it would be reasonable to assume a productive person could take a five to ten year break every so often without losing too much ground to their peers.
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