A Mid or Post-Career Interim Gap Year and Its Benefits

We told you this section was about "Why" a gap year, and it is. But "Why" has at least two sides. On one side there's why you are thinking about it, and, on the other, there's why you should take it.

Mid Career or Career Break

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Why are you thinking about a Career Break?

• You've gone as far in this position as you can
• Your company is cutting back; you can offer to take a break until business recovers
• It's time for a career change
• Your routine is making you stale
• You're tired of chasing after that next promotion
• Work is taking over your life
• You're exhausted
• You realize that you truly dislike your job
• You've lost your job

Then again, maybe it's personal.

• A career break may be essential/needed to stretch your working life beyond the previous norm of 40 or so years
• There's a desire to establish a work/life balance
• You'd like to spend more time with your family
• The kids are grown and you have the time
• You need to recover from an emotional or physical setback

And sometimes you just want to do more!

• Take on a new challenge, something stimulating
• Experience adventure and explore the world
• Develop one or more of your interests
• Seek possible meaning beyond material satisfaction
• Get in touch with what you truly value, become more self-aware
• Delve into the spiritual side of life
• Make a difference in the world

We may not have touched on your specific reason for looking into a mid-career gap year, but, as you can see, there are many reasons for thinking about it. Add yours to the list.

Why should you take a gap year?

Let's look at you! You are independent, mature enough to travel, and a gap year might offer you your first opportunity to stop worrying about work! A gap year can be viewed as a re-evaluation and reflection period in a culture that seriously lacks this important renewal process for adults. Your Interim Gap Year can be an invigorating break in a lifetime of work.

Life can become repetitive for many professionals, and a sabbatical or career break is often exactly what's needed to get excited about life again. Yes, you have responsibilities and, yes, you have ties, but reinvigorating your life will make those responsibilities and ties more vital and less trying. And even though gaining a career advantage is not usually a reason for taking a mid-career gap year, consider these career break benefits that could boost your career.

• Gain experiences outside of the normal or standard work environment that can lend a fresh outlook
• Add new tools to one's skill set (communication skills, a broader social perspective, a degree of independent thinking)
• Add a valuable area of competency such as learning a language
• Develop your expertise in a specialized area of your profession (the classic sabbatical)
• Find a new career
• Find a new business opportunity

We have worked with many men and women who flourish when they explore new and different opportunities. They come home again feeling refreshed and focused.

The fact that we now, much more than just 10 years ago, inhabit a global village makes it important for adults to be more familiar with other cultures. Experience abroad can help break down the limited, and often unconscious, "we-they" mentality that invariably generates personal and global conflict. Some of you who aspire to or are in leadership roles will be able to use your new-found multicultural awareness and respect for the rights of others to help foster positive international relations. This same point can be made with respect to programs that bring adults into meaningful and sustained contact with different socio-economic levels of American society.

You can develop your interests. You can experience adventure and explore the world. You can delve into the spiritual and become more aware. And you can make a difference!

Review our sample programs for ideas that may pique your interest.

Post-Career Professionals

For those who have retired an Interim few months or Gap Year is often one of reflection and reassessment, a time to consider what later life can hold. After all, there can be much more to life than leisure activities. Americans are living longer and healthier lives. Adventures in later life can be pleasing for you and beneficial to the world around you.

Many of the reasons that your mid career compatriots have for looking into a gap year also apply to you. For example:

• Your routine is making you stale
• It's time for a change
• You're ready for a new challenge, something stimulating
• You'd like to experience adventure and explore the world
• You'd like to take the time to develop one or more of your interests
• It's time to look into life's meaning beyond material satisfaction
• You can get in touch with what you truly value, become more self-aware
• Delve into the spiritual side of life
• Make a difference in the world

Opportunities for professionals are available in many areas of the world. Your skills and experiences may be in need. If, in addition to your skills, you're resourceful, adaptable, and get along with people, there are interesting and rewarding programs for you. Opportunities need not take a year. Many volunteer opportunities can be as short as a two- to four-week commitment.

Beyond your professional abilities there also lies the same fertile ground that those taking a career break can till. Think about exploring the spiritual aspects of life, developing an interest of long standing (or beginning a new one), getting in closer touch with your values, or simply exploring.

Now you have the time for any and all of these activities. Take a look at our sample programs for a taste of what's available to you.