職業生涯中休長假的意外好處2

Slacker label?

懶惰者標籤？

Explaining a year off on your CV doesn’t haveto be a bad thing, said Payne. “Taking the time off can highlight to anorganisation that you want to further your skill set and try new experiences,”he said. “It could also mean that you’ll come back from your break with adifferent perspective, which is likely to aid your job performance.”

解釋簡歷上一年的空窗期未必是件壞事，佩恩說。“休假是向一家公司強調你拓展技能組合和嘗試新體驗的意願。”他說，“這還意味着休假回來之後你擁有了不同的視角，這很可能有助於你的工作表現。”

Taking the time off can [show] that youwant to further your skill set and try new experiences.

休假可以表明你拓展技能組合和嘗試新體驗的意願。

Of the 500 people interviewed for RebootYour Life — a 2011 book which offers practical advice on career breaks — not one person regrettedthe decision to take a break (which lasted anywhere from one month to two years),according to Jaye Smith, co-founding partner of New York-based careerconsultancy Reboot Partners, LLC, and co-author of the book.

根據紐約職業生涯諮詢公司Reboot Partners的聯合創始合夥人、《Reboot Your Life》（重啓你的人生）一書的共同作者傑伊·史密斯（Jaye Smith）的說法，在接受《Reboot Your Life》——2011年的職業生涯休假實用建議書——採訪的500人中，沒有一個人對休假的決定感到後悔（休假時長爲1個月到2年不等）。

“Everyone reported that their careers were enhanced as they wereenhanced in their attitudes and work ethic,”she said in anemail.

“所有人稱他們的職業生涯有了新發展，因爲他們的態度和職業道德有了提高，”她在電子郵件中寫道。

Try something new

嘗試新東西

If you’re thinking of taking a mid-careerbreak that boosts your outlook and skills, consider going abroad, where youcould try undertaking informal paid work or volunteering, either of which couldgive you a fresh perspective on things upon your return, according to experience could also improve your basic competencies.

佩恩認爲，如果你想通過職業生涯中的長假來拓展眼界，提升技能，你可以考慮出國，嘗試非正式的有償工作或志願工作。在回來工作時，你會發現這些經歷賦予了你新的視角。這份經歷還會提高你的基礎競爭力。

Be ready to let a job go if an employer isnot at all open to the gap option.

假如僱主對間隔年並不開明，就要準備好離職。

“Who knows what you could learn from working alongside professionalswho’ve been developed and trained in a different way to you,” he said. “In moregeneral terms, taking this sort of break also allows you to develop lifeexperience, which can contribute to building better ‘soft’ skills likecommunication and people management.” Plus, volunteer work can give your moreinsight into how to solve problems differently. By nature, volunteers have tobuy in to what they are doing and work with limited or no resources.

“與成長經歷、培訓方式不同的專業人士一起工作，說不定會學到很多意想不到的經驗，”他說，“在更廣泛的意義上，這種休假可以拓展你的人生經驗，並有助於提高你的軟技能，比如溝通和人員管理。”而且，志願工作可以提高你用不同方法處理問題的思維能力。當然，志願者必須相信他們所從事的工作的意義，在有限的資源或沒有資源的條件下工作。

Always a risk

風險總是存在

Of course, not all employers will be opento the idea of a gap year – but there are ways to make it more appealing tothem, according to Holly Bull, president of Princeton, New Jersey-based gapyear consultancy Center for Interim Programs, LLC. “Lay out what [you have] inmind to an employer and see how much time away they might agree to if there isa clear commitment to return to the job,” she said in an email. “Enrol theemployer by outlining the benefits of taking this kind of time; most people arereinvigorated by gap time and return with more to offer in their jobs.”

新澤西州普林斯頓的間隔年諮詢公司Center for Interim Programs的總裁霍利·布爾（Holly Bull）認爲，當然並不是所有的僱主都對間隔年持開明的態度——但是有一些方法能提高間隔年對他們的吸引力。“把你的想法告訴僱主，如果你明確承諾會回來工作，他們可能會同意的休假時間最長是多少。”她在電子郵件中寫道，“列出休假時間會帶來的好處，以吸引僱主；大多數人能夠在這段時間中恢復精力，當他們回到工作時能給企業帶來更大的回報。”

Bull recommends being very clear about whatis most important, and only then going to your employer with your intent andrequests. “See what happens,” she said. “I think one has to be ready to let ajob go if an employer is not at all open to the gap option.”

布爾建議把最重要的事想清楚，然後再去和僱主溝通你的打算和請求。“看看結果會怎樣。”她說，“我覺得假如僱主對間隔年並不開明，就要準備好離職。”

But don’t be surprised if there is pushbackabout the idea. “Many employers are not so keen to see someone take off for ayear because of the need for business continuity and consistency,” said RebootPartners’ Smith. Have a plan showing how they could cover you in your of Smith’s clients pointed out to their manager how much money they couldsave in the budget for that year by not having to pay their salary, yet notsacrificing the investment they had made in training them over the years. “It wasa win-win for the company and the employee taking the break,”said Smith.

不過，當你的想法不被接受時，也不必驚訝。“很多僱主不希望看到有人請假一年，因爲這會影響業務的連續性和一致性。”Reboot Partners的史密斯說。你要有一個計劃，向僱主表明在你不工作的這段時間他們如何填補工作上的空白。史密斯的一個客戶向他的僱主指出，因爲這一年不用支付他的薪水，所以僱主能夠省下一筆預算，同時這些年爲了培訓他所花費的投資也沒有浪費。“休長假對企業和僱員來說是一個雙贏。”史密斯說。

Time to move on

是時候換工作了

The year off may prove the stepping stoneto your next job. “I think it's reallyimportant people ask the question about whether their work is fulfilling. Ifit's not, it may be scary to make a change, but it's invariably better to riskit to find something that really does light them up,”said Bull. “Gap optionsprovide landing pads and a way to test the waters without making a fullcommitment to another job.”

休假的一年可能會成爲你下一份工作的跳板。“我覺得自省是否對工作滿意是一件很重要的事。如果你感到不滿，較好的選擇是冒險去找能讓你心動的工作，儘管作出改變會有點讓人害怕，”布爾說，“間隔年給你提供了緩衝，也是一種試水的方式，因爲你不需要完全投入到另一份工作中。”

For some people, it can be as short as afew weeks to learn if something suits them or not. For Bull, it took a month ofaquaculture research to realise that she didn't have the patience for that kindof methodical work.

對一些人來說，瞭解某種工作是否適合他們，只需要幾周就夠了。但是對布爾來說，在水產業從事了一個月的研究工作之後，她才確定自己沒有耐心去做那種按部就班的工作。

Unexpected results

結果出人意料

In Chen’s case, he developedan app just “for fun”during his time away. But it became his new career —and theprecursor to voice-based mobile app company, Voice Dream —when hereturned to Boston a year later.

在溫斯頓的案例中，他在休假期間“爲了好玩”而開發了一款應用。但是，當他在一年後回到波士頓時，這成爲了他的新事業，也成了基於語音的手機應用公司Voice Dream的前身。

“It's not necessary to think of being away as a way to start abusiness or go to a new career,”he said. “The point is: What would you do if, for a while, you don't have tothink about making money?”

“不必把休假視作創業或開啓新事業的方式，”他說，“關鍵是當你一段時間不需要考慮賺錢時，你願意做什麼？”