Taking 6 months off (not maternity leave - moving)

Tayrose1

Has anybody taken 6 months to 1 year off while your kids were young? My kiddos are 4 and 1.5.  I'm thinking about taking 6 months off till my youngest turns 2.  We may be relocating and think this would be a great opportunity to spend some time with my kids.  I currently telecommute but the kids go to daycare.  So I wouldn't need to switch jobs when we moved but I feel like the move will require some extra special time with the kids.  I feel that it is important to help them through the change.

I'm just concerned that if I take time off, I'll have trouble getting back into the workforce.  Anybody have any experience with a similar situation?

jf198400

Does your company have a policy on personal leave of absence? My former job had a policy where you could request up to a year off, problem was there was no guarantee that you'd still have a job to come back to. I wanted to do this to take a longer ML but at the time the company was facing budget cuts so it was extremely likely that I wouldn't have a job. If your company is open to it, or if you are planning to look for a new job anyways, than I would totally go for it. Personally I would need time off to deal with relocating as well, it's a big transition I'm sure. I don't think taking 6 months off would hurt your career when you explain that you were relocating at the time.

djm31012

i think it depends on your field and more specifically your company policy. it sounds like you want to go back to that same job so i think your best bet would be talking to HR about policies around this. Like we are moving cross country, I want to stay with the firm and keep my job but will need a few mos to adjust. And then see. If you need to quit and find something else, I would recognize that while your plan to be out is for 6 mos, it may take quite a bit longer to find something. In the field I am in...if you quit...its very likely you arent going to come back. Too many people out of work and way too few positions available. If i left...someone would jump in my seat that day.

APendola

I had a year of maternity leave.  It was really great to have that time with my daughter.

I don't think six months would hurt your career.  It's not a long time.  Many people have gaps of a few months in their resume.  I think it's more of a challenge to return to the work force if you were to take several years off to raise children.

Mustardseed2007

This is SO dependent on your field that I think it REALLY depends. Taking 6 months off would be difficult in my field, though I'm sure not impossible if I really wanted to do it. There is no way I could count on my current job being there for me, though. Odds are I would be doing something in my same general field (law) but maybe not in the industry in which I currently work. Especially if I moved to a different state.

Tayrose1

Thanks for the feedback.  I actually work in HR so I'm familiar with my company's leave policies.  We currently don't allow employees to take leave unless it is medical related.  I'm not sure that I would want to return to my current position because I don't want to continue telecommuting.  I think their is a chance I could return to our department in 6 months/1 year but would probably want to find something local.  I'm just scared that a gap would prevent me from even getting interviews.  Maybe I have heard too many stories in the HR world.

My mind is telling me I will not regret taking the short time off to spend with my kids while they were so young. BUT it does set us back financially and pauses my career. 

litzo27

I think if you are relocating that's a great excuse to take some time if you want. People understand that moving is complicated logistically with house stuff and finding daycares, etc. Plus when you do start interviewing people may assume that you have been looking for several months so the gap, given the move appears very reasonable. But I would start to check out opportunities right away - never know, a dream job might pop up and you would miss it if you weren't open to the possibility of starting a bit sooner.