Careers · Work
take a career break
pause your career
To take a career break means to stop working for a period before returning later.
This vs that
She took a career break to care for her father.
She changed career to nursing.
Hear it in real life
Have you always worked in publishing?
Not quite—I took a career break in my thirties.
I took a career break to look after my children, and returned to work three years later.
Which sounds natural?
Psst — which one would you actually say?
The native phrase is common when discussing a planned pause from employment; the stiff version sounds like an official report.
The mistake everyone makes
Not: I took ‸ career break after my baby was born.
Say: I took a career break after my baby was born.
Use the article 'a' before 'career break'.
Say it together
Whole chunks natives use with it.
take a career break to ___
She took a career break to care for her mother.
I’d like to take a career break to travel while I’m still young.
Phrases to borrow
More for talking about careers.
move into ___
I'm hoping to move into project management.
Careers words
Work · Careers: the words around “take a career break”.
More connectionsSame word, different world · More careers words9
Same word, different world
Your turn: say it out loud
I took a career break for a couple of years.
Say it out loud two or three times, until it feels like yours.
take a career break
pause your career
“I took a career break to look after my children, and returned to work three years later.”
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