Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
No sabbatical? Take your chances
If you're willing to quit and take your chances, what about finding work when the break's
over?
What the jobs market will be like when you return is anyone's guess; however, you'll have
a faster and more productive job search if you work at it before you leave.
Think now about the job you should be aiming for after the gap. Your gap is likely to devel-
op new skills and ambitions so you might want something different from the current role.
In the various sections in the topic, you'll discover the vast range of things you can do on
your gap; the skills you can learn and the places you can visit. Whatever you choose, it's
likely you'll be boosting your CV in a number of ways - and not always those you'd ex-
pect.
So, it's likely you'll return from your gap with a new skills, a new sense of purpose, and a
clearer idea of what you want to do in the future.
Your target job identified, talk to the people who'll help you find future vacancies. Re-
search the specialist recruitment consultancies in that sector (
eg
Google them), then ask to
talk to consultants with at least two years experience of recruiting for the jobs that interest
you. You want to know those consultants' best guesses about the likely state of that jobs
market a year from now, what skills employers are most likely to look for in candidates and
so on.
Stay in touch with the most useful of these recruitment consultants (
eg
by sharing snippets
of your gap news with them). Keeping yourself at the forefront of their minds puts you on
the inside track for news about developments in the jobs market. Similarly, stay in touch
with ex-colleagues, university tutors and careers service advisors - they will often have
huge networks for you to tap in to.
It's also a good idea to plan your career break around the natural hiring cycles of your in-
dustry. Recruitment activity tends to fall in December and early January, the Easter break
and the weeks that coincide with the school summer holidays, for example. It may be
harder to find jobs in these periods. The busiest times for recruitment tend to be the early
spring and autumn.
Do update your CV before you go, ensuring it's ready for your return to employment. It's a
good idea to keep it available on email so you can send it to interested parties while you're
away, if an opportunity presents itself.
Finance
