* Leaving the workforce for a year or more is a sacrifice that may compromise your future career
Most professionals recognize that leaving the workforce for a year or more is a sacrifice that may compromise your future career. According to a survey from the Association of Executive Search Consultants, 66% of senior executives believe that leaving the workforce for one to five years hinders their ability to land a new position when they re-enter the job market.
The professional association for retained executive search firm polled 465 executives, asking “Would taking extended time off (1 – 5 years) between jobs have a negative effect on your ability to rejoin the work force?” Among the respondents, 66% said yes, 21% said no, and 13% were unsure.
Not surprisingly, even more executive search consultants recognize that taking an extended leave diminishes future career opportunities. In a separate survey of 296 of these professionals, 80% agreed with the question posed above.
“When executives take extended time off from work, they face the challenge of proving to their next employer that the time was spent productively, and involved activities – even if they did not take place in the context of the traditional business world – that enhanced the person’s expertise, skills or productivity,” says Peter Felix, president of the Association of Executive Search Consultants. “In short, the executive returning to the workplace after a significant leave needs to demonstrate that the time away enables them to add even greater value to their next employer.”
For more information on the organization, go to http://www.aesc.org.
