Career Breaks
Gone are the days when travelling was the excluse of students. The Gap Year has grown up and given itself a mature makeover, in the form of Career Breaks. Far from ruining your career, many companies now actively encourage their staff to take a sabbatical, and interviewers now keen to find out what more about their new employees outside of just their work. During the current economic crises more and more companies have offered unpaid leave in an effort to avoid redundancies, and those who found themselves redundant have made the most of their new-found free time and chosen to travel.
After all, in that all important next interview, which of the many candidates, all with equally impressive work credentials, will be remembered.
The one that walked with lions on the African Plain, that set up workshops to encourage Brazilian street children to turn away from the gangs, that helped Thai women out of the sex trade and taught Ghanaian woodworkers how to start a business.
Don’t let your successful career close doors for you. Make the most of your very valuable time and see the real world from the inside. Whether you choose to work in your field of training, or whether you want to do something entirely different to get away, there are projects that are right for you and where the help of a mature career breaker is invaluable.
We receive volunteers travelling alone, in groups, with friends or with family.
So sign up today to work on one of over 150 projects worldwide and make a difference today.
Read the story of Heilwig Jones’ career break:
"My name is Heilwig Jones and I am the Managing Director of Kaya.
I wasn’t always involved in the volunteer industry. Back in 2003 I was a successful, 26 year old, London Advertising Director, making TV commercials for the likes of Magnum ice cream and Panasonic. Working long hours for demanding clients took its toll and after months of deliberation I decided to quit my job and go out and travel the world.
As a single young woman, travelling alone, I was a bit worried about visiting the more difficult countries in Africa and Asia, so I decided to sign up with a volunteer company to work in the game reserves of Africa. It was the best decision of my life. I was met at the airport and whisked off to my project, where I spent the next 2 months working in a monkey rehabilitation sanctuary, an AIDS orphanage and then an elephant reserve. My experiences would fill a book, nursing a sick, rejected baby baboon, learning songs in Zulu as I helped children with their reading and filming and editing videos for a ‘save the elephant’ campaign.
Volunteering gave me confidence to continue my travels alone. I travelled the coast of South Africa, then the whole perimeter of Australia and New Zealand before arriving in Thailand for New Year 2004.
I missed the tsunami by 2 days. I was lucky. Thousands were not. I had to find a way to help. But what use is an Advertising Director? I joined a volunteer group and headed to the coast. For the next three months I led teams building new homes, clearing debris and building furniture from scrap. I learnt enough Thai to travel a bit more in the country before heading home in the summer.
I got the first job I interviewed for. I think they just wanted to hear more stories. I went back to my job in advertising. But my career break didn’t end there for me. The passion I had developed working in Africa and Asia had given me a new drive, and I believed that everyone should be have the chance to have the experiences that I did. So I set up Kaya.
With projects from just 2 weeks long, people can volunteer every year and with locations in need all over the world they can chose to visit the cultures and countries that interest them and contribute there while experiencing the cultures from the inside. All the projects have been chosen for the great work they are doing and so volunteers know their time will be well spent on genuine projects making a difference.
My career break changed my life. Plan to make a difference in yours today."
