Taking a year off without ruining your career

By Tara Weiss

updated 1:18 p.m. ET Dec. 9, 2007

Anjeanette Rettig was so overworked and burned out from her high-tech public relations job that she wound up in the emergency room from stress migraines.

She needed a break, and a week at the spa wouldn't do. Her husband Kevin Rettig, a software developer, was up for taking one, too — so the couple traveled around the world for an entire year in 2002, visiting almost 30 countries. When the trip was over, Kevin returned to the company he worked for before, even though they hadn't guaranteed him a spot upon his return.

Yes, you can take a year off without ruining your career (or your bank account). Kevin was able to return to his job because he made all the right moves before, during and after his trip, including top performance reviews, keeping in touch with his boss while abroad and taking a freelance gig with them upon return. That freelance work turned into a full-time position.

The Rettigs' situation is unique because the financial element was largely taken care of thanks to stock options Anjeanette cashed in. But it certainly wasn't enough to live off forever. When Kevin quit his job at General Lock, a San Diego-based private security hardware company, he gave his boss six months notice so he could find and train a replacement. "That was huge," says General Lock's CEO Marshall Merrifield.

While the company was happy with his work throughout his tenure, they couldn't forecast whether a position would be open in a year. Besides, Kevin didn't know if he even wanted to return to the same job. He and Anjeanette were thinking about starting a family and moving back to their native Ohio.

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After several months abroad, thoughts about their future became inevitable. "There's a lot of time to think between planes and sightseeing," Kevin says. "I thought a lot about what would be interesting to do professionally. I realized I was in the right field when I left."

Kevin was in a position to broach the subject with his bosses upon his return because he had been checking in with them throughout the trip, something he figured was good business practice. He was right; it made asking about openings seem more natural.

A few countries later, Kevin told his boss that he wanted to return to work, but would telecommuting from Ohio be possible? Merrifield offered to test the scenario on a freelance basis.

"Good people are hard to find," he says. "There's always room for good employees. People are going to develop toward their strengths whether we help them or not. And you never know, the person you agree to hire back on after a sabbatical could turn out to do something like the next 'Eat, Pray, Love.'" (Merrifield is referring to a writer who took off on a spiritual journey and came back to pen a best-selling book.)

Daniel Buckenmeyer also settled into a job he loves after taking a year off. He too was burned out, but in his case it was because he worked full-time in marketing at a telecom company and attended the University of Chicago's evening M.B.A. program.

"I was frustrated with all the merging going on in the industry," says Buckenmeyer. "I wanted to figure out what my next career move would be, but I had to figure out where I wanted to go next." That's exactly what his trip helped him do.

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