The Career Gap Isn’t a Red Flag Anymore – It’s a Power Move

Just in case you needed another reason to consider a travel sabbatical...

At least, they can be.

Here’s the deal – It’s rare to find a candidate with no career gaps these days. I’ve looked at thousands of resumes as a hiring manager and rarely find candidates with a “perfect” record. So, if you have a career gap that looks interesting and intentional (like a travel sabbatical), you get to differentiate yourself as a candidate instead of blend in with the pack.

All that being said, you need to learn to sell your sabbatical career gap the right way, and you have to avoid a few pitfalls. For example:

· Staying out of the job market for too long once you’re back: Potential employers may begin to make assumptions that don’t work in your favor. “Hmm, s/he returned a year ago, but no one has hired him/her since then. That’s concerning…”

· You flub questions about your own sabbatical: If you can’t answer the standard sabbatical questions (“How are you feeling about coming/being back?” and “What did you do on the trip?”) without raising alarm bells, you can really do yourself a disservice.

Here’s my playbook for avoiding these pitfalls so you can present your sabbatical as the power move it is:

1. Prove You’re in Demand:

Set yourself up to be employed quickly once you return. For us, this meant a few things:

a. Resumes: We updated our resumes (and secured referrals) before we even left so we had all the information and data to make them powerful assets.

b. Keep Your Network Warm: We made a huge point to reach out to our networks and share what we were doing before we left. It was an excuse to catch up, but it also served as a critical touch point. If we needed to ask any of those friends and colleagues for help during our job search, we wouldn’t be emailing out of the blue. It’s not exactly a great look to reach out to a former colleague for help after 4 years of no communication. But, if you shared a life update with them just a year prior, that connection will be warm!

c. Line Up Referrals During Your Trip: We used the last 6 months of our trip to network and secure referrals for companies we wanted to target. This is a gamble – since you can line up referrals only for the company to never post a job description that matches your skills or interests – but it’s well worth the time for top companies. This meant that when we started applying in the last few months of the trip, we had a leg up.

2. Prepare for a Resume Filler:

Make your own backup plan in case you don’t land a position right away so you have something current on your resume. That could mean launching your own consulting company, volunteering, taking on fractional work, or taking classes relevant to your field. The point is to make it clear to future employers you’re using your time productively.

3. Prep for Standard Questions:

I get the same questions anytime someone wants to know about my sabbatical. In an interview, my answers can help sell my candidacy. I’m interesting! I’m well-informed! I’m definitely not going to do this again if you hire me! (OK, I will, but not for a while.)

Prep some stellar answers to the below questions (which I can virtually guarantee you will get 1,000 times):

a. How are you feeling about coming home? Do you think it will be hard for you? (I’m sure it will be an adjustment, but I’m excited to have a routine again. There’s plenty I’ll miss about the trip, but there’s a lot I miss at home.)

b. How are you feeling about working again? (I’m thrilled! This break was great, but I miss earning and income!)

c. What was your favorite country? (Use this to talk about a particularly interesting experience that reflects well on you.)

My husband and I proved a travel sabbatical can be a power move. We returned to the US with job offers in hand, and neither of us has ever – not in an interview or while networking – had a colleague or boss criticize our sabbatical. (We do have an uncle who still doesn’t quite “get it,” but that’s family for you.)

When planned for appropriately, a travel sabbatical can be a major selling point on your resume. Do the prep work to make it so!