How to Move Forward When You're Between Jobs

Spin doctors call it a "forced sabbatical." Your ex-boss used the term "development hiatus." And you tell your folks that it's a "severance retreat." Whatever the euphemism, the time between jobs need not become a lost era of SportsCenter, classified ads, and Danielle Steel novels. In fact, an unexpected layoff could be the best thing that ever happened to your career -- if you value a pink slip's hidden opportunities.

Ignore Monster.com's job board. Let the résumé languish. Use this downtime to build up rather than keep up, thrive rather than survive, and seek rather than hide, suggests career coach Hope Dlugozima. She encourages the recently downsized to defer cover letters and networking parties for a few weeks -- or a few months -- to unearth new types of opportunities. The smartest career move that you can make after a layoff, she says, is a move out of town -- on a sabbatical that will restore self-esteem, independence, and drive.

"Successful sabbaticals begin when people take advantage of the upheavals in life," says Dlugozima, author of Six Months Off: How to Plan, Negotiate, and Take the Break You Need Without Burning Bridges or Going Broke (Henry Holt, 1996). "Don't spend the next three months watching Oprah, drinking pineapple juice out of the can, and waiting for the phone to ring. Don't wait for fate to determine what happens next. Grab hold of your future. Make a proactive move, and you will recover the freedom and strength you lost after that layoff."

That all sounds good on paper. But aren't sabbaticals only for rabbis and tenured professors?

Hardly, says Dlugozima, who took an 18-month sabbatical in Prague that helped her leapfrog careers and gain perspective on life. She says that a productive sabbatical should live up to the participant's specifications and goals, not outside expectations. A sabbatical can be cheap or expensive, exotic or domestic, extended or brief. But, according to Dlugozima, it absolutely must be personal and guilt-free.

"Think of yourself as a horse that's stopped by the side of the road to rest," Dlugozima says. "If you linger, another saddle will be put on your back, and you'll rejoin the wagon train. But if you take off running now, you'll be able to choose your own path because no one else is driving you."

Here, Dlugozima offers five steps for blazing a brilliant trail during your forced sabbatical.

Start From Scratch

Whatever you've heard about sabbaticals is wrong. Sabbaticals are neither a luxury of the wealthy nor a plaything of the selfish. Above all, they need not compromise your financial security -- you don't have to lose your house while trying to find yourself.

Dlugozima recommends four strategies for financing a sabbatical: "Win it, beg it, save it, or do without it." Her book estimates that about 50,000 scholarships, fellowships, and grants exist in nooks and crannies around the globe. The exact number is difficult to verify, but the fact remains that potential sabbatical takers have a tremendous range of options from Fulbright scholarships, to professional-development fellowships, to artistic and philanthropic grants.

Most of the abruptly downsized can't take advantage of corporate sabbatical programs or lifelong sabbatical savings, but everyone can think creatively. Dlugozima suggests timing a sabbatical with the end of your apartment lease or subletting your place for a few months. Swap houses with a home owner in Buenos Aires. Lend your car to a friend who will pay its insurance while you're gone. Choose a relatively cheap destination like Portugal or Costa Rica, rather than France or Switzerland. Or transform your sabbatical into a family-bonding experience by choosing a kid-friendly destination like Ferry Beach or LEX America. (For more sabbatical recommendations, see the sidebar Get Lost.)

"You can even take a sabbatical in your own backyard as long as you have a goal or accomplishment in mind," she says. "Money is the smallest challenge for people who really want to take a sabbatical. The largest hurdle is your mind-set -- the fear of diverging from the status quo, the fear of telling others, the fear of returning to normal life. Money is manageable; fear of the unknown is harder to deal with."

Dlugozima argues that now is an ideal time to get lost. As more smart people flood the talent pool this summer, job hunting will get harder before it gets easier. Why compete in the decade's tightest talent market if you can use the time to expand your career in creative ways? In the end, Dlugozima says, a smart applicant can leverage her sabbatical to score a better job.

"Suppose, seven months from now, I'm considering two résumés from two equally skilled people who got laid off around the same time," she says. "One applicant has been making phone calls, going on interviews, worrying, collecting unemployment checks, and trying to find a job. The other person has been pursuing some personal goals -- working for a nonprofit, taking a sabbatical in Thailand, expanding his vision of the world. In my mind, it's a no-brainer. I'm going to hire the person with a sense of adventure and risk, because chance takers attract like-minded people. And I want captivating people working for me."