Highlight skill development during career breaks, demonstrating adaptability, resilience, and personal growth. Emphasize how the break refined career goals and offered fresh perspectives. Mention any projects, continuous learning, or volunteer work undertaken. Be honest about the break, prepare success stories, and add any extra insights.
Crafting Your Story: How to Make Your Career Break an Asset in Interviews?
Highlight skill development during career breaks, demonstrating adaptability, resilience, and personal growth. Emphasize how the break refined career goals and offered fresh perspectives. Mention any projects, continuous learning, or volunteer work undertaken. Be honest about the break, prepare success stories, and add any extra insights.
Empowered by Artificial Intelligence and the women in tech community.
Like this article?
Interested in sharing your knowledge ?
Learn more about how to contribute.
Highlight Your Skill Development
During your career break, you may have gained new skills or improved existing ones, either through formal courses, self-study, or practical experiences. Emphasize how these developed skills make you a stronger candidate and how they can be applied to benefit the potential employer.
Demonstrate Adaptability and Resilience
Use your career break as an example to show your adaptability and resilience. Talk about the challenges you faced, how you overcame them, and what you learned. This shows employers that you can handle change and bounce back from difficulties.
Focus on Personal Growth
Discuss how the break allowed you to grow personally, which can positively impact your professional life. Whether it's improved time management, better work-life balance, or enhanced emotional intelligence, sharing these insights can present you as a well-rounded candidate.
Connect It to Your Career Goals
Make a clear connection between your career break and how it has helped you refine your career goals. Explain how this clarity and your renewed focus will make you more passionate and dedicated to your future roles.
Offer Fresh Perspectives
If your career break involved experiences such as traveling, volunteering, or working in a different field, talk about how these experiences have broadened your worldview and how you can bring fresh insights and ideas to the team.
Highlight Project or Freelance Work
If you completed projects, freelance work, or consulting during your break, describe these experiences to show you remained professionally active. Emphasize the relevance of this work to the job you're applying for, showcasing relevant skills and achievements.
Display Continuous Learning
Mention any workshops, online courses, certifications, or degrees you pursued during your break. This demonstrates your commitment to continuous learning and improving your qualifications, making you a more appealing candidate.
Showcase Volunteer Experience
If you volunteered, highlight the skills you used or developed in these roles and how they apply to the job you want. This not only shows your commitment to contributing to the community but also adds value to your professional profile.
Be Honest and Positive
Approach the subject of your career break openly and positively. Honesty about your reasons for taking a break can build trust, and focusing on positive outcomes shows you’re forward-looking and ready to contribute.
Prepare Success Stories
Prepare specific examples or "success stories" from your break that demonstrate your skills, accomplishments, and growth. These stories can be a powerful way to illustrate your readiness and enthusiasm for returning to the workforce.
What else to take into account
This section is for sharing any additional examples, stories, or insights that do not fit into previous sections. Is there anything else you'd like to add?