HELLO
Welcome to spring, and welcome to our March newsletter! We've been like mad March hares this month, but we carved out some time to put this newsletter together for you. Because you are important to us!
Thanks for the feedback on the new format. If you're missing the stuff we used to share, like photography, videos, freebies etc, it's all over on Twitter and Facebook, plus we share useful news and articles there, and we have various features to brighten your day, like our caption competition.
SPONSORED: RALEIGH INTERNATIONAL
Raleigh International is looking for enthusiastic and creative people to join their international expeditions as volunteer Communications Officers in Nepal and Tanzania this summer. Want to spend 13 weeks writing blogs and articles about sustainable development projects in a remote and exciting environment?
“The best bit was being able to meet people in the community, to sit down with them in interviews and learn about their lives. It was really inspiring to hear their stories, to find out more about life in rural Nepal and why they have invited Raleigh to their community. It was then I really realised how the projects are changing lives.”
Communications Officer Jamie on his experience volunteering in Nepal.
Interested in finding out more? Contact Callum or head to the Raleigh website here.
NEW AND UPDATED CAREER BREAKS
All the new stuff we've added and all the updated career breaks are now collected into one handy page for your convenience (big shout out to our chief code monkey for fixing this page after SOMEBODY *looks shifty* broke it). FYI - if any of our partners adds a discount or special offer to their career breaks, you'll find it here so it's a useful one to check.
See all our new and updated career breaks here
**NEW** CAREER BREAK ORGANISATIONS WHO WORK IN THE UK
We recently had some new organisations join us who offer career breaks in the UK - mainly volunteer work. FYI, we do have TEFL operators who work in the UK but we tend to put them in the destinations where you can find a job, seeing as most TEFL courses are done at home (although we have a few you can do abroad as well).
Taking a career break in the UK is a little unusual but perfect for some career breakers - and the projects they run are immensely fulfilling. Have a look!
See all our organisations offering UK career breaks here
MINI CAREER BREAKS
If you're itching to get away but you don't want to tell your boss to stuff it and go swanning off round the world for months on end, a mini career break could be right up your street! A mini career break is one which is less than a month long, and many are only 2 weeks, meaning you could spend your summer holiday doing something useful instead of drinking a massive red cocktail then falling into the pool. (Although you can do that on a mini career break as well, actually...)
See all our mini career breaks here
ON THE BLOG
Couple of new posts for you this month, both involving the number 10 for some reason.
First up, we've got Top ten tips for living in Australia. If you fancy heading Down Under on a working holiday visa, these are the tips that are going to make the difference between you having an OK time and having a brilliant time.
Our second new post this month is 10 excuses you're using to put off a life-changing experience - with useful advice on how to tackle each one.
We're always looking for real career breakers, travellers, industry experts and bloggers to share their stories on our blog. If you want to be famous and featured, drop us an email. We accept anonymous submissions too.
BOOK NEWS
If you haven't done our poll yet to help us choose a title for our career break book, there's still time! At the moment, Career Breaks: The Ultimate Guide just has the edge over The Ultimate Guide to Career Breaks - but you could change that! There are a few other options for you to choose from as well, none of which are Booky McBookFace.
MESSAGE OF THE MONTH
This is an interesting one.
"I am just after some advice. I work a 5 day a week, full time job currently. I would like to spend 2 days a week working at a different company to increase my experience whilst my current company has gotten very quiet. Can you request a ‘part time’ sabbatical, so that I only do the 2 days a week at the other place temporarily whilst my old job allows me to work 3 days and then offers me my full time job back after a number of months? Can this sort of thing happen?"
We have never heard of this request or this happening before, so the short answer is "no". A sabbatical is not designed for you to work part-time elsewhere, it's for you to have some time out, some time away and do something different so you return refreshed, upskilled and brimming with confidence. Having said that, we'd be interested to see if our enquirer approaches her company with this request, and if so, what they say!
If you've got a question, feedback or just want to argue with us over whether or not a Gregg's vegan sausage roll is a valid lunch option, get in touch! We never reveal your name (unless you want us to!)
TIP OF THE MONTH
Hats are underrated. A warm hat will keep the coldest part of your body nice and toasty in the chilliest of temperatures. A sunhat will not only protect your face from damaging UV rays so you can preserve your beautiful youthful looks, it will also stop you getting sunstroke. So pack hats!
If you have a tip for us, email us or tweet us.
JOKE
Times New Roman walks into a bar. The bartender says "We don't serve your type."
FINALLY
As you might have noticed, we have an awful lot on and not enough staff to cover it all. So we're hiring! You don't have to be based in Manchester either, most of our staff work remotely. We have a few roles open (both normal jobs and partnership things) and we're looking for people who are passionate about career breaks, can be really flexible, and have some great ideas. If that's you, drop us an email and tell us why we should interview you!
Until next time, have a good month and we'll see you in... er... another month!
Love
xxx