HELLO
Welcome to the July issue of The Career Break Site newsletter, and thank you so much for joining us on this lovely afternoon.
By jingo, we've been a bit quiet lately haven't we? Correction - we may have seemed quiet but we've been working our socks off behind the scenes. What's going on? A load of staff changes (more on them in future editions), lots of talking to our partners - current and new - about what they're up to, and of course, the omnipresent book.
But today it's all about YOU! We've got a great newsletter today packed full of the things we found and thought you would love.
So grab yourself an iced oat milk coffee out of the work fridge, pour it down the sink, make yourself a proper cup of tea, and come and chill with us for the next quarter of an hour.
**NEW** GET INVOLVED
Here is our new section where we tell you how you can get involved with us, our partners and all the stuff we're doing. This is what we need you to tell us this month:
- If you work for a career break or gap year organisation and want us to post your job vacancies in our newsletter (it's free!)
- If you want to be interviewed for our blog - we love career break stories!
- If you just want to get in touch and have a chat! Some of our best ideas and projects have come out of "just a chat".
You can just reply to this email - it goes to a real person - and let's get the ball rolling!
VOLUNTEER IN CONSERVATION
On our site, we have one big section all about volunteering, and we've got sections dedicated to the different kinds of volunteering you can do, to make it easier to find the kind of placements you're interested in.
This month, we are showcasing conservation volunteering. There are some really lovely projects available in conservation volunteering - working on game reserves, riding horses, marine conservation where you learn to dive and carry out research, and some which work with specific animals, like monkeys or elephants. There's even an archaeology project if you want to do something different!
Look at all our conservation volunteering projects here.
ON THE BLOG
Just one post today - it's a careers one and is called This is why you're not getting any of the jobs you apply for.
If you want to get a new job when you get back from a career break, read it, then read this interview with Tony Restell on how to get a job, then if you still haven't got a job, read the rest of our blog posts on your career (it has advice on taking sabbaticals as well).
BOOK NEWS
Oooh, but it's coming along nicely. We're still looking for people with an interesting story to tell and we're particularly interested in people who have overcome obstacles, had an unusual job or career break experience, or are just not your "typical" career breaker. Email us and tell us who you are and what you did, and we'll get back to you if you're a good fit!
By the way, if you're industry (we know a lot of you read this newsletter) and you want to share your expert tips, let us know and let's have a chat about what section you can go in.
MESSAGE OF THE MONTH
In a change from the usual, we're paraphrasing this month to protect the identity of the person who got in touch.
She wants to take a career break and is remaining in the UK (a more popular option these days) and wanted to know what benefits she would be entitled to - if any.
We don't provide benefits information as the majority of our career breakers are self-funded and don't need them (also, most still go abroad so aren't entitled to any). The best place to go is the government's website about benefits and the Citizens' Advice website is brilliant too.
What we can help you with is how to get money for your career break, and how to save as well. This post tells you how to get free money for your career break and this one tells you how to get money back from people who owe you. We have loads of posts on saving money, including 10 really useful savings plans, and this post which tells you how you could save £15,000!
If you've got a question, feedback or just want to remind us that cupcakes are not an acceptable breakfast food, get in touch! We never reveal your name (unless you want us to!)
BONUS MESSAGE OF THE MONTH
We got an application to feature in our book from two very exciting-sounding career breakers. We're saving their details for our book obvs, but we wanted to share this from their email:
"We would like to add that we believe the creator of your website (Rachel?) featured in a gap year book, which was used as inspiration for our own career break!"
We're always thrilled to hear that our work is inspiring people to take career breaks and are grateful to these two for letting us know.
TIP OF THE MONTH
Take reusable baby wipes in a waterproof bag. Lots of travellers rely on baby wipes to clean their hands (or armpits in an emergency) but they're horrible for the environment and you have to keep replacing them. You can cut up an old towel to make reusable ones, you can keep them damp in your bag, wash them when you need to, and add a bit of essential oil so you smell fresh as a daisy.
If you have a tip for us, email us or tweet us.
JOKE
At the wildlife sanctuary.
"What do you give the elephants for lunch?"
"Half an hour, same as the monkeys."
FINALLY
We've been a bit quiet on Twitter and Facebook lately but we are still around! So go and follow us there if you don't already - we don't clog up your timeline, we mostly stay on topic and we're (very) occasionally funny. It's also a good place to get in touch with us if you have a burning question.
Until next time, have a good summer and we'll see you in August!
Love
xxx