Will taking a temporary break ruin my career?
Stepping away from a specialized career field or taking on a temporary role outside of your industry creates intense anxiety about whether you will be able to return. People worry that taking a short break will permanently damage their professional trajectory and make it impossible to get back into their primary field.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Staying on the traditional career treadmill without taking breaks
- 2Looking beyond current specialty roles into program management, partnerships, or operations to utilize transferable experience
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’ve been in nonprofit fundraising for more than a decade, and have been in my current role as a frontline fundraiser working in a very corporate and high-pressure environment for a year and a half.”source ↗
“I’m so tired. I feel constantly overwhelmed. It’s so hard to raise money right now.”source ↗
“Has anyone pivoted away from fundraising? What did you do?”source ↗
“Pretty much I am a little over a year into my career at a mid-tier public accounting firm. I was able to land a prestigious position outside of accounting that I am extremely excited about, however it will only be for 2 years.”source ↗
“If I took this position, would it fry my accounting career or would I be able to eventually return?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Can you switch accounting service lines before starting your job?
- 2How to change careers after years of training
- 43How to handle the financial and identity drop after leaving a career
- 15Leaving Big Four accounting before one year
- 13How to know if you need a career pivot or just a new job
- 2Quitting my job before finding a new one