A new feature for your LinkedIn profile lets you highlight career breaks and provide more context about skills and experience gained from the workplace.
In a statement from LinkedIn, the feature was said to have been rolled out in response to users asking how to highlight the positive aspects of a career break.
The life experience and skills people build on their breaks can sometimes match what employers are looking for in open positions.
This feature is designed to encourage open discussions between candidates and recruiters about time away from the traditional workplace.
You can now indicate whether time off between jobs is for full-time childcare, bereavement, caregiving, gap year, layoff, or other reasons.
LinkedIn data shows that the number of career interruptions is increasing, but stigma against them still exists among employers.
According to a survey of 23,000 employees and more than 4,000 hiring managers:
- 62% of employees have taken a break at some point in their careers.
- 35% of employees want to take a career break in the future.
- 20% of hiring managers say they would reject candidates who take a break.
Given the stigma around career interruptions, why does LinkedIn think it’s a good idea to highlight them?
Why Highlight Career Breaks on Your LinkedIn Profile?
Professionals whose careers have been interrupted often sharpen their skills or develop new ones, according to LinkedIn.
- 56% of employees say they acquired new skills or improved existing skills during a career break.
- 54% Women who have interrupted their careers say their jobs are better than before.
Employers’ sentiment about career disruption is starting to turn in a different direction.
- 46% of employers view candidates with career disruption as an untapped talent pool.
- 51% of employers may call candidates if they know the background of why they are taking a break.
The new Career Break feature for LinkedIn profiles gives you the opportunity to initiate discussions and address issues that may be of concern to employers.
Additionally, you can highlight how time away from the job makes you more valuable as a candidate now.
As this feature rolls out, and more and more people add it to their profiles, recruiters will be able to search specifically for candidates whose careers have been interrupted.
How to Highlight Career Breaks on Your LinkedIn Profile
You can do this by navigating to your profile LinkedIn profile and clicking add section.
From there, select the option Add career breaks.
LinkedIn will ask you to fill in some fields, such as the start and end time of the break, the title and description of the break.
The form asks for the “type” of rest and allows you to choose from the following options:
- bereavement
- career change
- care
- full-time childcare
- gap year
- Layoffs/jobs eliminated
- health and wellbeing
- personal goal pursuit
- professional development
- move
- retire
- travel
- voluntary work
Once you add a career break, it will appear in the Experiences section of your LinkedIn profile.
resource: LinkedIn
Featured image: Daniel Constant/Shutterstock
