Leave of Absence details needed

skeg16

Hi all,

Has anyone any advise/experience with taking a leave of absence from work???

I am thinking of travelling around the world hoping to start in Sept '14 by that time I will be over 2 and half year in my current position.

I work in a fairly successful IT company in Dublin doing a job which is fairly good and I believe will only get better as the company grows. I would love to stay but I feel if I don't go now I will never go.

While it is my first job after college and they may not be severely dependent on me, I do play an important role in supporting some of their major customers. If they were to take someone on to replace me it wold take at least 7/8 months to get them fully up to speed.

So my questions would be what is the deal with leave of absence?? Ideally I would like 2 years minimum. This is the best case scenario, I am willing to quit my job and pursue my travels in the hope I can pick up some more experience somewhere in Australia and other places.

I am being stupid in thinking they will even consider it for me as I am only there less than 3yrs??? Is there a certain time you must be in your position?
If they do grant it to me is it a guarantee of a job when I come back or could I find myself getting an email a year into my travels saying my job is gone???

Any help is appreciated

Nody

skeg16 wrote: »

Hi all,

Has anyone any advise/experience with taking a leave of absence from work???

I am thinking of travelling around the world hoping to start in Sept '14 by that time I will be over 2 and half year in my current position.

I work in a fairly successful IT company in Dublin doing a job which is fairly good and I believe will only get better as the company grows. I would love to stay but I feel if I don't go now I will never go.

While it is my first job after college and they may not be severely dependent on me, I do play an important role in supporting some of their major customers. If they were to take someone on to replace me it wold take at least 7/8 months to get them fully up to speed.

So my questions would be what is the deal with leave of absence?? Ideally I would like 2 years minimum. This is the best case scenario, I am willing to quit my job and pursue my travels in the hope I can pick up some more experience somewhere in Australia and other places.

I am being stupid in thinking they will even consider it for me as I am only there less than 3yrs??? Is there a certain time you must be in your position?
If they do grant it to me is it a guarantee of a job when I come back or could I find myself getting an email a year into my travels saying my job is gone???

Any help is appreciated

Chances are pretty darn high that they'll simply say no and you'll need to resign and reapply if there's something once you come back; you're also making a classic new starter mistake thinking that your irreplaceable or close to it. Trust me they would not spend 7-8 months training up your replacement.

5p9arw38djv2b4

I did it when I was in post 2.5 years, took 6 months. My company were delighted to let me go as it got me off the books for a few months, and i had a great time knowing I could spend and have a job to come back to. My then boyfriends company also were happy to let him go. However there is a huge difference between 6 months and 2 years, for 2 years I don't think a company's would let you go for that long - I believe the civil service would but only if you had been there 5 years and then it's a real career break not a leave of absence. But... If you are planning to turn in your notice if it's nit granted you have nothing to lose by asking!

Moonbeam

Apply for it and see what happens but I think your chances of getting 2 years anywhere except the civil service are 0.

ongarboy

I worked in the same company for 12 years (always exceeded expectations in annual performance reviews and promoted 4 times) so would have been considered a fairly respected employee and I asked for a one year leave of absence last year and they wouldn't give it to me (in fairness they offered me 3 months which was not enough for me) so I handed in my notice and left. I have no regrets - I got to do some things I had dreamed of for years (round the world travelling etc).

I can't seen anywhere outside the public sector offering it. Friends of mine that worked in the main institutional banks used to get it but it's not an option there anymore (they're just grateful to have their jobs now).

I'm guessing you're quite young if just a couple of years outside college and I'm guessing no critical obligations (mortgages or children). If you want two years minimum time off, why tie yourself down to having the exact same job to come back so far off in 2016/2017 just for a perceived sense of security? So much else can happen in your young life between now and then. You may pick up new life and work skills that will prompt you to choose completely different choices.

The economy is slowly improving so things will hopefully be better by 2017 also and IT is always a growth industry in every sector. Certainly request the leave of absence but don't let it put you off doing what you want to do for those 2 years if you don't get it.