Burnout and job dissatisfaction weren't the only reasons people decided on a break, the research found. Photo: Unsplash
A career break can be integral to helping us achieve personal growth, a researcher says.
Patrick Mazzocco, currently midway through his PhD at the higher education development centre at the University of Otago, is researching the motives, experiences, and outcomes of those who decide to take career breaks.
His research looked at people who left their jobs without any kind of financial support from their employers or agreement they would then return to the role at the end of the career break, he told Summer Weekends.
"These are not sabbaticals, and these are not people who were forced out of their roles for any particular reason they could have otherwise continued quite happily, but they chose to enter an uncertain, liminal period without their career and without knowing what exactly it might lead to," he said.
The people in his research is based come from varied backgrounds, he said.
"There's really not one type of person. My participant pool is very diverse. They have a wide range of ages, from their mid-20s all the way up to their 60s. They are from countries all over the world.
"They have varying education levels. Some have secondary education, and some have tertiary or even advanced degrees."
They also come from a variety of professional fields, he said.
Common reasons emerged from the research as to why people were taking career breaks.
"Burnout, job dissatisfaction, work-life imbalance. But that doesn't really describe everybody."
A number of people taking breaks however described being in their dream jobs, he said.
"They love their co-workers, their day-to-day routines, and so they're not in any kind of trauma filled environment. This is very much something that they could continue on for an extended period, and it's very fulfilling to them."
The break served to fulfil more fundamental needs, he said.
"This idea that our careers are a very defining thing of who we are and how society sees us. It's how we get our external validation and our acceptance.
"What this career break research has shown is that maybe we need to stop framing careers as this end all be all, and this way of us finding meaning and purpose in our life."
Given jobs and careers are often tenuous, attaching validation to how we earn a living is risky, he said.
"It's a very insecure identity attachment, and my folks kind of grapple with that through their career break of who am I when I don't have this thing, and then they come out of it the other side with a more secure sense of self that allows them to say, I know who I am, and that's enough."
He offered tips for those considering career breaks gleaned from his research. It's better when you don't set rigid or hard expectations for the break, he said.
"I had some people who spent two years planning their career break down to every minute of every day, and the first time that plan was disrupted during the career break it kind of sent the whole thing into turmoil."
The second tip is to be true to the career break, he said.
"Once you've identified the why for the career break, or what you hope to get out of it, don't let go of that. It's really common during the career break to experience some sort of guilt or shame in not working."
Stick with the plan nevertheless, he said.
Finally, if you're thinking about taking a career break, just tell somebody, he said.
"Tell a stranger, tell someone you trust, tell anyone, because once you put it out into the world, it becomes a real possibility."
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