How to Take a Break Without Harming Your Career

Lawyers have been working brutal hours through the pandemic. Some feel burnt out but are rightly concerned about stepping away when the market is faltering. (See this American Lawyer on the worrying state of the market.) I liked this recent Wall Street Journal article on how to take a career break but stay in the game.

1. How to decide whether to take a break? Consider your goals: “Think about how you might view the situation in six months or 10 years. Will you wish you obsessed more over the next entry on your résumé, or spent time with family?” I also think you should weigh your risk tolerance since you can’t control what the market will be like when you are ready to return.
2. Network! While you’re off, stay in touch with a mix of people: “Carve out five minutes every morning to send a relevant article to two former colleagues, saying why it made you think of them. Ask that parent on the sidelines of the soccer game, the one with the cool job, if they have time for coffee. Explain that you’re on a break and not looking yet, but you’d love to learn more about their role and experience.”
3. Try to do some freelance work. The law is constantly changing, so you want to demonstrate you have kept up. When you want to return, your resume looks better with a line showing recent relevant work than without it.
4. When you feel recharged, tell people to keep their eyes open for jobs for you. Give them specific examples of types of jobs you are interested in. People are not mind readers so you have to tell them when you are open to new jobs and what you are considering; otherwise, they will assume you are still happily off the job market.
5. Update your LinkedIn profile to attract recruiters: “If you’re open to jumping back in for your dream job, set up your LinkedIn profile to do the work for you… The brief description right below your name should match your ideal job title… In the longer ‘About’ section, include a list of your skills, especially ones that are being used as key words in the job descriptions that interest you most, so the algorithms can find you.”

I have weathered multiple boom and bust cycles in the legal market and have seen first-hand how smart, hard-working, collegial candidates land on their feet. They aren’t lucky; they set themselves up for success.