A new LinkedIn tool helps make time off part of your professional story.

The Great Resignation doesnt appear to be slowing down anytime soon, and this professional trend isnt just changing how people think about leaving their jobs its also shifting how they look for a new one.

A record-breaking 48 million workers quit in 2021. And while some of them were transitioning into an earlier-than-expected retirement, for many its less about ending their career story and more about diving headfirst into something different, as KCM recently learned firsthand from three women who made big pivots during the pandemic.

While conventional wisdom has long told us its best to wait to put in your notice until you have another opportunity lined up, the cultural shifts of the pandemic have pushed more and more people to take the plunge immediately and figure out their next role later. A January survey conducted by LinkedIn found that 62 percent of workers around the world have taken a career break, and that number is even higher (64 percent) among women.

Its not just dissatisfaction with pay or roadblocks to a promotion thats causing these breaks. Personal issues like mental health, medical leave, burnout, and caring for someone else were all highly cited as motivations for temporarily leaving the workforce.

The good news is that as this kind of personally enriching time off becomes increasingly common, its no longer the obstacle to future employment that it might have been previously.

Were seeing a change in that people think there was a stigma related to taking a career break, but that actually isnt true, says LinkedIn career expert Blair Heitmann. The pandemic has really normalized it.

The evidence can be found in that same LinkedIn survey, in which 50 percent of hiring managers reported they agree career breaks are becoming more common, and 46 percent of them said they believe applicants who have taken these breaks are an untapped talent pool.

Heitmann says thats because employers are recognizing that the kinds of interpersonal skills people can develop during time away from work are actually extremely relevant to high-functioning performance at the office.

Just because youre not working, it doesnt mean youre not learning and growing, Heitmann says. A lot of those skills that you spent time working through during that break are really important for employees today. Things like communication, the ability to multitask, patience, self-awareness its the soft skills that we know make you really good at your job.

But its not just about acquiring (or sharpening) those soft skills during your time off; candidates must also highlight that personal growth and use it to sell themselves. Fifty-two percent of hiring managers told LinkedIn that applicants should proactively bring up their career break during an interview, and 46 percent said they feel job seekers usually undersell what theyve gained from the time away.

Heitmann tells us more and more employers want candidates to feature their career breaks as essential parts of their personal and professional stories. Its so important, she says. Hiring managers say theyre actually more likely to contact you if you include that context.

Considering all this, LinkedIn got feedback from its members that they needed more ways to easily and clearly reflect these breaks (and what they gained from them) in their profiles to help integrate that into their employment history. Thats why the site has introduced a new tool that allows users to specifically list a career break on their profile, with the option to select from a host of explanations for the time off, including career transition, full-time parenting, bereavement, a gap year, pursuing a personal goal, focusing on ones health, and many more.

Using the tool is especially effective, Heitmann explains, considering that 44 percent of hirers told LinkedIn they want to know the reason behind a career break and 51 percent said theyre more likely to reach out to someone whos actively provided that explanation.

One of LinkedIns options for filling in that employment gap is volunteer work, which Heitmann says is a salient example of how other activities contribute to professional development.

With volunteering, you can improve your ability to communicate with your team, to be patient, and to negotiate with a bunch of different people, she says. Those are the types of things that you can dial up and talk about when you discuss that time.

Heitmann just took a break from work herself to go on maternity leave, which has given her a helpful first-hand understanding of how time away to focus on parenting can actually make someone better at their job.

Patience, self-awareness, communication, and multitasking are all things that youre putting the pedal to the metal on when you have a newborn, she says. In the last two months since Ive been back, Ive really felt that juggling my calendar, the babys calendar, the food schedule, and laundry was good training. That time management is really important.

So if youve done a personal assessment about when to quit your job and decided the time is now, you can rest easy knowing that jumping immediately into a new role isnt your only option for moving your life forward while still keeping your career on track.

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LinkedIn is Normalizing Career Breaks: Why It's OK to Have Resume Gaps - Katie Couric Media