Reading Comprehension Questions
1. Why did Mark Perriton decide to take a career break?
2. How did Amanda Turnbull fund her career break?
3. What positive outcomes can career breaks have for employers, according to the article?
4. What does Dan Clements suggest about the relationship between sabbaticals and entrepreneurial growth?
5. What does the article suggest about the stigma of taking career breaks?
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Soon after he turned 50, Mark Perriton realised he needed a change.
“I was pretty miserable,” said the former managing director of an office refurbisher. “I was turning up for work ... not feeling fully engaged ... going through the process of working and living. Eventually I looked in the mirror and said I want to change something.”
That change came in the form of several months off and a nearly round-the-world cycling trip taking in parts of North and South America and South East Asia.
“I have come back and now I am much more enthusiastic and focused than I was before,” Perriton said.
He now works as a consultant in the same industry, making as much money as he did before but working just eight months each year. He uses his free months to pursue his passions, skiing and cycling.
Perriton is just one of many senior executives who take time off work, often to rethink their careers or sometimes simply to recharge their batteries, eschewing the idea that if you’re gone from the game, you’ll quickly be forgotten.
Indeed, career break numbers are rising according to Susan Griffith, author of Gap Years for Grown Ups, partly because “50- and 60-somethings are feeling far more fit and adventurous than in previous generations”, she said.
She predicts that reports of recovering job markets “will inspire more to step off the treadmill” because people will have less fear of joblessness upon their return. Dan Clements, author of Escape 101: The Four Secrets to Taking a Sabbatical or Career Break Without Losing Your Money or Your Mind, agrees.
He said, anecdotally, economic growth is leading to a rise in so-called 'elective sabbaticals' where executives choose to take a step back from their careers – just like Perriton. What’s more, people who are more established in their careers and have risen the ranks in their industry are more likely to have the financial means to take a break, often funding them with savings and investments built up over the course of a successful career.
A break, not a break down
Others such as Amanda Turnbull, a film and TV producer from Australia, fund their trips by undertaking work projects during their travels. While she pre-funded much of her trip's cost with savings, working during her travels has helped keep costs down.
Turnbull is half way through a two-year career break with her partner Alan, a graphics designer. She has spent time in central and eastern Europe as well as Mexico. They now plan to travel to Asia.
A career break does not have to mean career break down, according to Turnbull, who feels she has “considerable transferable skills and a significant amount of work experience already” to be able to secure a job when she returns to Australia.
To keep her resume current, Turnbull is working during her overseas travels, but not always for pay. In some cases, the thirty-something Turnbull offers her media skills in exchange for free room and board.
“I think whilst it's a scary thing to do initially, people don't completely forget who you are just because you're gone for two years,” Turnbull said, adding that she’s gained new skills on her break, including a more entrepreneurial outlook.
Unintended career break?
Of course, not all career breaks are by choice. Sometimes, as jobs are culled, time off is forced upon workers. This was particularly true during and after the financial crisis, when thousands of executives, notably in the banking sector, took unintended career breaks after losing their jobs.
John Burr, a partner at Boyden Global Executive Search, a firm of headhunters based in New York, recalls one senior banker who took eight months off to sail a yacht from Hong Kong to the UK. This executive has another senior position now. Another banker moved to France, became a ski instructor and now runs an extreme winter sports school.
Annalisa Bicknell, a former head of sales for a US bank, decided to take a six month break to work for Earth Watch, a Boston-based environmental charity, with the blessing of her employer in 2008. But when she decided to return, just weeks after Lehman Bros collapsed and the US was entering a brutal financial crisis, her employer could not offer her any position.
“That was quite a shock and I was very angry and disappointed,” she recalled.
Bicknell worked another six months for Earth Watch unpaid and also used the time to pursue her sporting interests and write a book about her family tree, using savings to stay afloat and sometimes staying with relatives to keep a lid on living costs.
“I do not regret a single day or minute as I got so much out of it,” she said. “I now know I can take risks and I take them. I'm not too frightened or caught up in the 'we've always done it like this'.”
Now as head of sales and relationship management at BNP Paribas Securities Services in London, Bicknell said she “would look favourably on someone who has taken a sabbatical” when hiring.
“A career break is not a big deal if [the individual] has something to bring to the table,” Burr said. “If you can say you've become a tri-athlete or an iron man, that's explainable. Some employers see that as [implying] some other kind of driving force in their life.”
Career breaks can also benefit employers, particularly when a person returns to the same company, experts say.
“Leaving behind a functioning business requires you to make some serious changes in how you see and operate your business. When you return, those changes are still in place, and they continue to pay dividends,” said Dan Clements, author of Escape 101. “For business owners, a sabbatical can be the step that actually frees them enough to grow their business to the next level … which is counter-intuitive to many entrepreneurs.”
For employees, career breaks can mean they return to work refreshed with new ideas, bringing new zest and perspectives to their jobs.
Just don’t be tempted to embellish sabbaticals on your resume. Karoline Vinsrygg from executive search firm Egon Zehnder in London said there’s still a stigma about taking breaks and advises those who do so to be “open about what it was rather than trying to camouflage it.”
3. What positive outcomes can career breaks have for employers, according to the article?
4. What does Dan Clements suggest about the relationship between sabbaticals and entrepreneurial growth?
5. What does the article suggest about the stigma of taking career breaks?
👉點我看全文
Soon after he turned 50, Mark Perriton realised he needed a change.
“I was pretty miserable,” said the former managing director of an office refurbisher. “I was turning up for work ... not feeling fully engaged ... going through the process of working and living. Eventually I looked in the mirror and said I want to change something.”
That change came in the form of several months off and a nearly round-the-world cycling trip taking in parts of North and South America and South East Asia.
“I have come back and now I am much more enthusiastic and focused than I was before,” Perriton said.
He now works as a consultant in the same industry, making as much money as he did before but working just eight months each year. He uses his free months to pursue his passions, skiing and cycling.
Perriton is just one of many senior executives who take time off work, often to rethink their careers or sometimes simply to recharge their batteries, eschewing the idea that if you’re gone from the game, you’ll quickly be forgotten.
Indeed, career break numbers are rising according to Susan Griffith, author of Gap Years for Grown Ups, partly because “50- and 60-somethings are feeling far more fit and adventurous than in previous generations”, she said.
She predicts that reports of recovering job markets “will inspire more to step off the treadmill” because people will have less fear of joblessness upon their return. Dan Clements, author of Escape 101: The Four Secrets to Taking a Sabbatical or Career Break Without Losing Your Money or Your Mind, agrees.
He said, anecdotally, economic growth is leading to a rise in so-called 'elective sabbaticals' where executives choose to take a step back from their careers – just like Perriton. What’s more, people who are more established in their careers and have risen the ranks in their industry are more likely to have the financial means to take a break, often funding them with savings and investments built up over the course of a successful career.
A break, not a break down
Others such as Amanda Turnbull, a film and TV producer from Australia, fund their trips by undertaking work projects during their travels. While she pre-funded much of her trip's cost with savings, working during her travels has helped keep costs down.
Turnbull is half way through a two-year career break with her partner Alan, a graphics designer. She has spent time in central and eastern Europe as well as Mexico. They now plan to travel to Asia.
A career break does not have to mean career break down, according to Turnbull, who feels she has “considerable transferable skills and a significant amount of work experience already” to be able to secure a job when she returns to Australia.
To keep her resume current, Turnbull is working during her overseas travels, but not always for pay. In some cases, the thirty-something Turnbull offers her media skills in exchange for free room and board.
“I think whilst it's a scary thing to do initially, people don't completely forget who you are just because you're gone for two years,” Turnbull said, adding that she’s gained new skills on her break, including a more entrepreneurial outlook.
Unintended career break?
Of course, not all career breaks are by choice. Sometimes, as jobs are culled, time off is forced upon workers. This was particularly true during and after the financial crisis, when thousands of executives, notably in the banking sector, took unintended career breaks after losing their jobs.
John Burr, a partner at Boyden Global Executive Search, a firm of headhunters based in New York, recalls one senior banker who took eight months off to sail a yacht from Hong Kong to the UK. This executive has another senior position now. Another banker moved to France, became a ski instructor and now runs an extreme winter sports school.
Annalisa Bicknell, a former head of sales for a US bank, decided to take a six month break to work for Earth Watch, a Boston-based environmental charity, with the blessing of her employer in 2008. But when she decided to return, just weeks after Lehman Bros collapsed and the US was entering a brutal financial crisis, her employer could not offer her any position.
“That was quite a shock and I was very angry and disappointed,” she recalled.
Bicknell worked another six months for Earth Watch unpaid and also used the time to pursue her sporting interests and write a book about her family tree, using savings to stay afloat and sometimes staying with relatives to keep a lid on living costs.
“I do not regret a single day or minute as I got so much out of it,” she said. “I now know I can take risks and I take them. I'm not too frightened or caught up in the 'we've always done it like this'.”
Now as head of sales and relationship management at BNP Paribas Securities Services in London, Bicknell said she “would look favourably on someone who has taken a sabbatical” when hiring.
“A career break is not a big deal if [the individual] has something to bring to the table,” Burr said. “If you can say you've become a tri-athlete or an iron man, that's explainable. Some employers see that as [implying] some other kind of driving force in their life.”
Career breaks can also benefit employers, particularly when a person returns to the same company, experts say.
“Leaving behind a functioning business requires you to make some serious changes in how you see and operate your business. When you return, those changes are still in place, and they continue to pay dividends,” said Dan Clements, author of Escape 101. “For business owners, a sabbatical can be the step that actually frees them enough to grow their business to the next level … which is counter-intuitive to many entrepreneurs.”
For employees, career breaks can mean they return to work refreshed with new ideas, bringing new zest and perspectives to their jobs.
Just don’t be tempted to embellish sabbaticals on your resume. Karoline Vinsrygg from executive search firm Egon Zehnder in London said there’s still a stigma about taking breaks and advises those who do so to be “open about what it was rather than trying to camouflage it.”