If you want to give the best to your employer, taking unpaid leave to work for a charity will change your life and boost your career

Two years ago Sara Bin Hu achieved her dream job – a graduate post on the Scottish Government’s fast track programme. Yet just six months ago she managed to persuade her bosses to take a year out to volunteer with a charity in Vietnam.

Instead of pouring over spreadsheets, she’s now combing tropical coastlines.

“Life is pretty amazing,” she tells me. “I’ve not been home since I came out here and I’m not sure I want to,” she jokes. Bin Hu’s role with local charity Landclear is to do environmental audits. That involves taking records of the flotsam and jetsam along the south-east Asian country’s coastline as well as working further inland to gauge the environmental impact litter and pollution has on the population.

That’s where the spreadsheets and her degree in environmental engineering come in handy. “I’m living the dream,” she says. “I saved enough to take the year out though accommodation and expenses are provided. The experience is great: I’m using my qualifications and my experience out here and when I go back to my job in a year’s time my personal development will benefit my employer. That’s the deal.”

It’s no wonder Bin Hu (pictured below) speaks with such enthusiasm. Along the south coast of Vietnam the temperature rarely dips below 30c – a far cry from Scotland’s current bitter winter and there’s little more than the odd lost tourist to remind her of home.

This is the ideal world of career break volunteering: nice work if you can get it but how can the rest of us mere mortals go about convincing employers to hold our jobs open for a year while we jet off to foreign climes?

It’s all in the approach, says recruitment specialist Sam Kerr. She gave up her job as a director at Hays Recruitment to take a career break in eastern Europe and now advises large corporates, such as BT, Tesco, Reuters as well as the NHS how to set up career-break programmes.

“If you work for a big employer your chances of taking a career break are greater,” she says. “Bigger employers have more resources, of course, and there’s a better chance a post can be back-filled. That’s critical.”

She says the most crucial move is in the approach. Employers looking to take a career break need to have done their homework and be ready to present a watertight strategy that details both personal development and career progression.

“This isn’t all about the individual,” says Kerr. “Remember you’re trying to convince an employer to do something that often on the face of it doesn’t hold any advantage to them. So you need to sell it – and to sell it you need to sell yourself and your business argument and empathise its value to your employer.”

For Kieran Route (pictured below) that took over 18 months of gentle persuasion before his employer – Tesco Bank – was convinced enough to grant him six months unpaid leave. It’s now offering career breaks to certain grades of staff based on Route’s feedback.

“It took some doing but it is all in the approach,” the 26-year-old from Galston in Ayrshire explains. “I wanted to work in international development, had no experience so thought the best way was to volunteer.

“Plan International provisionally gave me an opportunity to teach health education in India. I then gave a presentation to my line manager and his seniors as to how this opportunity could benefit my own work as a financial asset manager.

“That link between the roles might not be immediately obvious but much of it was around motivation. I pitched the opportunity around the fact I see my career progression in Tesco but all my current experience is with the bank. I can take this opportunity, return motivated and more empowered. What’s more I can encourage staff to work towards a similar strategy.”

There are dozens of charities which will organise placements abroad. You have to be careful though and deal with charities direct and stay away from private companies who charge for the experience.

Different charities have different approaches to their placements; some will ask you to fundraise as well as meet minimal living costs, while others will cover your costs, including your flights, and may offer you a small salary.

If you’re in work and provide experience and skills, you’ll be highly sought after. So do the homework and see what charities would want you to come onboard.

One thing to bear in mind, however, is that voluntary placements can often take a long time to organise – expect to wait at least six months between applying and flying out – and most will expect a commitment to the job of at least three to six months.

“For volunteers that come through organisations that we have already partnered, the time to organise a placement is a lot shorter," says Catherine Raynor of VSO.

That said the most important element to remember is that there are no laws specifically dealing with taking a career break and that employers don't have to offer them, especially if your employment record is less than perfect.

“Negotiation is key,” says Sam Kerr. “And you have to be realistic. Bigger employers – such as the NHS or civil service – do have career break strategies so you’re at a distinct advantage from the outset. Smaller employers just won’t have the resources but I have seen employers offering career breaks to coincide with a downturn then take the employee back on the same terms and conditions.

“In some cases an employee may be asked to resign from their job to begin a career break with the employer formerly agreeing to re-employ them on their return. However, career breaks will not normally qualify for pension purposes so that’s money lost on top of your salary.”

What about the charities – what is their take on using experienced staff for short-term placements? Leonie Martin, marketing manager at sustainable development charity Raleigh International, says: “We really value the contribution of volunteers on career breaks and sabbaticals. They bring a wide variety of skills and their range and breadth of experience is a real asset to Raleigh International.

“The diverse nature of our volunteer manager team is one reason that it is so effective; people from all different backgrounds and stages of life working together with one shared goal, to drive sustainable development.”

For Kim Savos (pictured above), a facilities manager for RBS in Edinburgh, a six month unpaid career break ended up with her being offered a job with one of the bank’s Asian offices, dealing with procurement after her bosses were impressed with what she’d learned working with Volunteering Services Overseas (VSO) in China.

“My way into a career break was by matching an opportunity with the company’s social responsibility strategy,” she said. “RBS is a global brand so I pitched my career break around gaining local knowledge to help inform the company about the communities it was working in, communities in which it was investing.

“On my return I wrote a synopsis of my year out, what I learned, what I gained and how this can influence RBS’s responsibility in the communities in which it works. Three weeks later I got offered the Hong Kong posting. It was a perfect result to a brilliant life-changing experience.”