So, hi, everyone. Thank you for joining me today. My name is Nadia. I'm talking to you from Los Angeles, California. And in my session, I want to talk about the best thing that has happened to my career, which is having a career break.So when we first meet a stranger, one of the first questions that we usually ask him or her is what do you do? This question has become synonymous with who are you? Because for most of us, our job defines who we are. But for the last six years, this has become the question that I dread the most. Let me tell you why by taking you back to six years ago in 2015, I graduated from a master's degree in marketing in France. I was full of hope and high expectations for my future because I had always been working so hard to have a successful career as an Asian immigrant who grew up in Europe. My family kept reminding me that they had sacrificed their whole life for us Children. So we should at least excel at school. And this is what I did. I was a highly competitive and motivating girl who always tried to achieve her best. I got into a prestigious high school, university and then graduated graduate school. I earned scholarships to go to Argentina Estonia and then Canada. And then I started my career at research institutions, Chambers of Commerce, universities, and global corporations across Europe and North America.

So after earning a master's degree in France, I moved to Canada and I was ready to climb the corporate ladder. However, only two months after I started my job as a sales and marketing manager for an international corporation in Vancouver, my husband found a job in Boston. And so we relocated to the USA. As some of you might know, this is not an easy and fast journey for spouses of employment permit, orders to get their own work permit in the US. And so I ended up in a new country with two degrees from Europe and no work. It might sound surprising to some of you, but this is way too common in the USA. Every year, there are over 100,000 dependent US visa visas issued to spouses of work permit holders. The highlighted word here is dependent, which means that you as a visa, as a dependent visa holder, depend on your spouse to provide for you. And the vast majority of dependent visa holders are women, especially from India and with college degrees, these highly educated spouses are prevented from being financially independent and building their careers, which is which in turn impacts the US economy by billions of dollars annually.

But more importantly, these forced career breaks, take a career and mental toll on the people. Many of them never return back to work. So during my first month in the U SI went through the honeymoon stage, first feeling liberated since it was the first time I didn't have any study or work commitments. But as a workaholic, I soon started looking for volunteering opportunities to fill my time. People on dependent visas can do whatever they want except for getting a remunerated job. So I, I first took two volunteering positions. In the first one, I helped new immigrants and refugees to find jobs. While in the second one, I volunteered at the Chamber of Commerce, so I could make valuable professional and personal contacts and continue with what I had been doing previously. But a few months later, I got into the frustration stage. I thought that I should do more and that this was the chance for me to initiate my own projects and see how far I can take them. So I decided to write a book and I started collecting personal stories of inspirational women worldwide for an anthology, aiming to empower women. Also, I co-founded a global citizenship community for young Vietnamese students to help them develop soft skills, to be able to study and work abroad.

I felt like I had finally found the purpose of my life to empower and provide tools for young people to find success in their lives. And I worked on my projects passionately within the next three years, I published nine books, one of them became a best seller and won a national award. Another one was selected as one of the six best projects by the International Youth Youth Initiative based in Sweden. My global citizenship community gradually grew to more than 100,000 members on social media platforms, which gave me a chance to be featured on dozens of art of articles and documentaries in many countries. I have delivered speeches at international summits, universities and schools, both online and offline.

So from working under supervision, I now manage teams of tens and sometimes hundreds of people. Also, I have been able to further enhance my knowledge and skills by reading books, taking courses and pursuing another master's degree in education for sustainable development. In 2020 I founded my tech platform to connect global instructors with students because I believe in the power of mentorship and empowering young people. Do you remember when I said in the beginning that I dreaded the question, what do you do? It's because I no longer have an easy one sentence answer to this question. I'm no longer defined by a single job but by the number of people, my projects and books have impacted and by the level of satisfaction and fulfillment that I feel while doing what I love. So thanks to my career break. I have managed to do many amazing global projects and found my purpose in life and I trust that a break might be very beneficial to you as well. A recent report by Manpower Group shows that 84% of millennials foresee significant career breaks in the near future. And the career ladder of earlier generations is being replaced by career waves apart from not having a work permit. The top reasons why people in working age take a professional break are for traveling, for raising Children, caring for others, studying or training, recovering from accidents or illnesses or because they, they, they are considering a career transition.

Even though such breaks are becoming more and more common, professionals still face significant challenges when they try to re enter the workforce. And when they're back at work, most people resist the idea of a career break because they fear how others will perceive the break or because they don't have a clear idea of how they would spend the time away. They also fear having a long gap in their resumes lagging behind in job growth or losing a stable income. But on the other hand, professional breaks might present significant and long lasting benefits such as improving your family relationships, meeting new people, learning and developing new skills, expanding your horizons while traveling abroad, having a renewed motivation and energy, which is very true for me rethinking the career path, exploring new career options and finding what you truly love.

I believe that we all need some time for ourselves to know who we really are before taking the leap and resign from your job. You have to ask yourself the following questions first. What is the reason why I'm taking a break? Is it because I'm burned out because I want to have time for my projects or because I want to switch jobs or careers? Two, am I at the point? Career at a good point, career, career wise and financially to take a break? Because remember, you might be on your break for one year or three years or five years. So you have to take care of yourself during that time. Number three, how long am I going to take this break? So you need to have this, this question clear at the beginning of your break. Four, what am I going to do and what do I want to achieve during my break? Be honest with yourself and bright pros and cons of taking a break, talk to your family and close friends. They might be naysayers and want to talk you out of it. But this is a chance for you to defend your points and see if they make sense at all. Also find people who have previously taken a career break and ask for their advice. Feel free to reach out to me on linkedin. So my linkedin is linkedin.com/in/nadia Hoth.

I will be happy to give you advice within my capacity. Once you have a solid plan, it's time for that deserved break. And there are three pieces of advice that I want to give you for your career break. The first one is focus on crafting and building your personal brand. Nowadays, in the age of social media and digitalization, it's crucial to have a strong personal brand that people will remember you with. Remember that even if you're on a break right now, once you decide to return back to the job market, your potential employers will look you up online and try to find as much information about you as possible. Your brand isn't what you say it is, but it's what Google say it is says it is for those with long career breaks, it's especially important to self promote your personal branding and spread the word about it. There are many ways to for you to do to let other people know about you and your personal brand. The first way is through word of mouth. So spread the word among your family, friends, professional connections. Number two, by maintaining a blog, a blog, a podcast or social media page. This is what I have been doing. I have been sharing my knowledge, my skills and my career. My, my um what I want to do in the future through my, through social media.

Number three, by publishing book, writing articles and creating a course. Number four, by attending professional events workshops and conferences to network with the relevant people. Networking during your break is really important since some of the new people you meet might be those who will write a reference letter for you in the future. Number five, you may also build a community or start up or a project related to what you're passionate about. And last but not, but at least by becoming a speaker at TED E TEDX and other conferences. Building a strong personal brand, takes time, but it will pay off. My second piece of advice for you is get out of your comfort zone and let your creativity bloom during your career break, do things. You didn't have a chance to do during your school and work, for example, learn a new language or a new skill, travel to new places, volunteer, attend the course or event or even take a whole new degree. This might be your last long break from your job for the next several decades. So use the time wisely. My third piece of advice for you is stay mentally healthy and make the most out of your career break.

Keep in mind that there will be times when you regret your decision to quit your job and you will hate yourself for taking a pause from your career. So it's important to have a journal where you write down your daily progress and achievements so that you can look back at them whenever you feel low. When you're ready to return to work. The first task task for you is to figure out where you are so that you can make the transition back to work as smooth as possible, update your resume with the new skills and interests. And if you cannot fill the huge gaps in your resume with activities and projects, try to transform your resume to a functional instead of ch uh chronological one, you should have a clear head. Uh while looking for a job, you might need to apply for quite a few jobs before you receive an interview invitation. But don't panic and accept the first job that comes. Remember that you did uh remember what you did during your career break and use these details to your advantage during your future job interviews showing that you continue to advance your skills during your career break, highlights your motivation and commitment to your career.

Returning back to work after a long break is tough, but professional gaps have become a reality in our pandemic ridden high mobility world. Fortunately, career breaks are being normalized by the companies nowadays. Linkedin, for example, has recently made it easier for people who take extended career breaks to better represent that time on their profiles. 34% of the 1415 have their in-house return to work programs. So don't be afraid to take this leap. However, the workplace is still mostly straightforward career path whenever you feel discouraged and unsure about yourself remind yourself that it takes courage and strength to deviate from a normal career path and that you should salute yourself for your accomplishments. Having a time off has helped you become a more rounded individual and probably with clear goals and greater motivation than before. Also accomplishing your own plans. Shows that you have excellent time management and organizational skills and you have agreed to do what it takes to reach your goals.

I will finish my speech with a quote from the career coach and television personality Ryan Khan, who has said that starting over is the opportunity to come back better than before. So good luck to all of you. Thank you for listening.