Traveling between jobs (Gap in Resume)

Water Cooler Careers
#1

I recently switched out of a job I was in for 2 years to come to Latin America and be closer to the “field” in a very similar job. I’m quickly finding that this specific industry is not for me, and I will likely do a year here and go back to the US next year (still focusing on EM investments). My Qs are:

  1. Since I went straight from my last job to my new one (moving my entire life out of the country), I never got time off to relax for a bit. I’m thinking that before my next move, I want to take a few months off to travel before starting another high demand job where that won’t be possible. Does anyone have experience as to how this gap is perceived, and how hard it may be to find a job once I’m back (in NYC)?

  2. Is one year in the “field” enough to make my resume stand out, especially if I’m looking for jobs that focus on Emerging Markets? Should I look to stay longer at my current position?

Thanks!

#2

No need to worry about this gap. Taking a few months off to travel is nothing to get defensive about. It is a great way to broaden your worldly perspectives. I had taken a few months off to travel and volunteer abroad before business school and this was one of the most personally rewarding experiences of my life. If a prospective employer doesn’t understand the value of this, perhaps you don’t want to work for them anyway.

#3

The reason that an employment gap is bad is that these gaps usually occur because the person was fired / laid-off from their job.

High-performing employees are rarely fired or laid off, so any employment gap is a major red flag in hiring.

If you can come up with a convincing way to demonstrate that the gap was chosen by you and not by your employer, it should not be a big problem.