Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
What if you can't arrange a sabbatical?
Companies have no obligation to provide career breaks, so if you're turned down, you'll
need to think about what to do. You may decide to resign. If not, you might want to consider
how it will affect your future prospects there. It's a tricky one, and depends very much on
both you and the company: your career goals, and their hopes and plans for you.
One option you might consider if you can't arrange a sabbatical and are wary of just quitting
is arranging a job swap with someone from another country in a similar industry. You need
to consider:
•
Where do you want to travel?
•
Do you speak a second, third or fourth language?
•
Will you need housing?
•
Do you need to be paid while away?
•
How long do you want to be away for?
This may be easier in an international company where there may even be opportunities to
transfer to the overseas office. Many such companies offer formal secondment programmes
so it's always worth exploring these first.
If the above options are not possible, and you are prepared to resign, you could investigate
whether your company might agree to guarantee you a job on your return.
Even if they don't guarantee a position for you, have regular contact with the key decision-
makers whilst you are away by the occasional email
etc
. This will keep you in their minds
and make it easier for you to approach them when you come back home, to see if they have
any suitable job opportunities. Just remember, in job hunting, as in everything else, it's not
what
you know but
who
. So it's absolutely vital that you make the effort not to lose touch
with your professional colleagues, networks and contacts whilst you are away. If you do,
you'll regret it once you are back.
If you're not already signed up to LinkedIn, you might like to consider it. This website is the
business world equivalent of Facebook. It's free to use and you can link to colleagues and
business contacts and post recommendations about them and, importantly, get them to post
recommendations about you.
You can even upload your CV, and indicate that you are open to job opportunities. It could
also be useful to add your list of contacts gained
whilst
you're on your career break, thus
adding extra value to your LinkedIn profile.
