"Ir's an Alien Concept in America"

cross-posted in Blogher

Something to think about on a Friday as you plan your weekend "break". In the UK, employees have gotten way beyond getting excited about a two- day or even three-day weekend. They are planning their Career Break.

In fact about 6 million Brits have taken a career break (an unpaid sabbatical) -- that's from research provided by Direct Line, a British Insurance Company. The concept is so popular in the UK that

"One in five companies polled offer career breaks, and another 10% are thinking of introducing a career break policy."

Source: the Confederation of British Industry 2005 Employment Trends Survey, quoted in Wanderlust Guide to Career Breaks"

That's right 20% of UK companies include Career Breaks as part of the employee benefits package -- more about that in a minute.

Career Breaks, which CareerBreak Guru Rachel Morgan-Trimmer says is " an alien concept in America.", typically last from a month to two years. "Six months is about the average," says Rachel who started the first independent  Career Break Website last June and now writes two blogs,Pachey's Mildly Humorous Stuff and the Career Break Guru to drive traffic to her website.

On Thursday, by way of SKYPE, Rachel talked about Career Breaks and  her strategy for using her blogs to drive traffic to her website.

Rachel explained that  one reason why Britons have embraced the concept is that the GAP year( taking a year off between high school and college to travel or do community service) has long been a rite of passage.

"A lot of career breakers are people who took a gap year and enjoyed it so much that they want to do it again," says Rachel. Then she added, " there's also those who didn't take the GAP year  and now want to do it." ( In other words, there's a big market for Career Breaks)

So just who are these people who are taking career breaks?

Rachel says, "60% are women.The majority are in their late 20s and early 30s."
When I expressed some surprise at the young age of the Career Breakers( I think I said,'they seem awfully young to be sick of working') Rachel said, " most of these women have been working 10 years and want to take their break before they settle down and have children."

Rachel also explained how career breaks work as an employee benefit, " Usually you have to be in your job for at least two years before you are eligible for the break. As part of the package you are guaranteed a job when you return."

While it may not be their same job, Rachel says most companies guarantee a job at the employee's same level. There are some other considerations. "It's best to try to take a break during your company's slow period and career breakers need to remember that if they are on break when pay raises are given, they will have to skip the entire year."

Rachel says it is also very common for people to include the Career Break on their CV (resume). " HR Directors says listing a Career Break on a resume can help someone get a job because it indicates you are willing to learn something new and as Rachel says,"demonstrates you have get up and go."

The Top Ten Career Breaks, according to a survey conducted by the organizers of the  Daily Telegraph's Adventure Travel and Sports Show held in London last January are:
Top 10 Career Breaks
1. General volunteering (eg community or humanitarian work)
2. Paid employment (eg ski guide) 
3. Animal conservation
4. Teaching (eg Teaching English as a Foreign Language)
5. Environmental conservation
6. Studying (eg learning Spanish)
7. Professional volunteering (eg engineers, business administration)
8. Marine conservation
9. Charity Challenges (eg raising money by hiking the Inca Trail)
10. Special interest (eg drama courses)

Some of the companies offering Career Breaks as part of their employee benefits package include:

Accenture (management consultancy)
KPMG(professional and financial services)
PWC(accountants)
Lloyds TSB (bank)
Marks & Spencer's (department store)
BT (telephone/internet)
Barclays (bank)

As the first independent online Career Break business in England,(she provides information but doesn't arrange the financial and travel aspects of the break) Rachel is using her blogs to drive traffic to her site.

"Career Breakers are often people who are bored at work and are spending time surfing the internet.About 1/3 are thinking of quitting their job," says Rachel who decided to create blogs that would be entertaining to those bored employees.'

"The goal is they will see something entertaining on my blog, forward it on to friends and then click on the link to my website."

One of her entertainment strategies worked a little too well. She posted a paraody of a BBC story which they didn't take kindly to.

Crikey. When I created the newsmash  about the whale I had no idea it would go viral.

I originally posted it on B3ta just for fun, and also as an excuse to post a link to my career break site as well (board etiquette dictates that you can only post a link to your site under a picture you've made, or if there's something new and fun on your site). I also posted it on my other blog and sent my friends a link to it, but I didn't actually send out the picture itself, so I didn't tag it. Silly me.

Rachel says she has gotten some inquiries from American and Canadian journalists but so far there isn't enough interest from Corporate America for her to think about expanding her services here.

Have a nice weekend.