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And the reasons for the sabbatical are usually the same :
most people would like to believe that they are taking a sabbatical to take a break and figure out what they should do next; or to spend time with family; or to do some course they always wanted to do.
But more often than not, it is because they are about to be relieved from their current job or want to quit because of some frustrating and untenable situation at the workplace.
And when you do not have a job in hand, a sabbatical seems to be the most logical thing to do!
But the hiring managers/ search consultants interpret this statement 'I am on a sabbatical and I am now looking to move back for the right opportunity' in very different ways :
- For most hiring managers, this is a red flag. What's going on in their mind is : you lost your last job and you haven't found another one so far. There must be some problem!
- If you were really as good as you claim you are, you would have had people reaching out to you and offering you a job.
- Maybe you couldn't handle the pressure of your previous job and needed a break. What if you are still not ready for the pressures of this job?
- You are not clear about what you want in your career. We are not sure this is the kind of person we would want to hire.
- Maybe you just want to take it easy in life now. And we are not looking for someone like that for this role!
My advice would be, don't take a sabbatical, especially in the Indian context.
But if you still had to take one, how would you address these biases you would be up against?
Please share your suggestions and I will include the best responses in my next post.
Hi Guru,
ReplyDeleteYou may be right about what you have written but I see that you are somewhat restricting your advice to the Indian context which is a poor reflection of the maturity of Indian recruiters, further emphasized when you say that sabbatical creates bias in the minds of these recruiters. Taking sabbaticals is a common phenomenon across the world and if the recruiters cannot differentiate between the wheat and the chaff, I for one would be thankful if I were not be to be recruited in that company. And just because a person is in a current job and looking for a change, is no indication that s/he can stack up to the requirements or manage the pressures of the new job.
Recruiters need to keep their mind open to all applicants and address doubts through a deep dive interviews or reference checks. Besides there would be a lot of other indicators which should tell them the kind of person they are dealing with. If the recruiters are worth their money, the fact that the applicant was/ is on a sabbatical would be the last thing to be worried about.
Regards,
Anon
P.S - I am not on a sabbatical right now!! Never was!!
Guruprasad,
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent blog.
In India, most HR managers are very cynical, are opinionated, narrow minded and i feel that they are not modern in thinking. They believe sabbaticals are only for the western folk.
It is true that working in India and Indian environment can get stressful and people can get burned out easily, especially in IT with bosses in the US. There is nothing wrong in taking a sabbatical. But the narrow minded HR professionals think that only losers take sabbaticals.
The fact is that India only people who follow the norms, those who fall within the bell curve are considered 'good'. Those who think differently, the outliers, the blips that fall off the curve, are considered 'hatke' and hence abnormal.
In short, sabbaticals are not taken positively in India.
-Sandhya
Rightly put Sandhya!
ReplyDeleteWhile in the West it is very common for a person to go on a sabbatical to pursue individual interest or spend quality time with family, in India it is very rare. Recruiters in India have blinkers by which any person who does something outside the norm is an anomaly.
I feel a complete overhaul of the HR policies in India is needed urgently. When it comes to HR policies, we are still in the Stone Age. Sample this a company I worked in the past had a 3 month notice period even for people on probation period. Yeah I am not kidding !
Coming back to this post what I would like to know is there a way to get around the biases of recruiters when it comes to sabbaticals.
- Mitesh