In 2002, while fellow Georgia Tech industrial engineering graduates were scrambling for jobs, Justin Stone decided to take a less-traveled path for people in his field: the Appalachian Trail.
"Hiking the trail was something I had always wanted to do and planned on since my junior year in college," Stone said. After graduation, he worked at his former co-op job, saved money and then hit the trail for an experience that he describes as "enlightening," "relaxing" and "a time to feel young."
"I had worked hard in school and held leadership roles in various activities. I needed time to step back and make sure that the direction I was headed was the one I wanted," he said.
Expecting to labor in a career for the rest of his working life, he took some time for himself first. "It helped me clear my head and re-emphasized my commitment to the field I had studied," Stone added.
He gained confidence in adapting to unfamiliar environments and situations, and he learned how to be independent as well as how to rely on and trust others.
He also learned about his limits - both physical and financial. When the money ran out, he came home to search for a job.
While the decision to hike the trail cost him about 18 months on the career ladder, Stone said, "I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's a key part of who I am."
He talked openly of his experiences and reasons with hiring managers. Many responded positively on a personal level - saying they wished they'd done something like that - but hired more experienced candidates.
"I realized that I needed to take a step back to jump forward," he said.
Stone took a lower-paying job with a logistics company and earned some professional certifications before being hired by Manhattan Associates as a consultant in his field.
"In the long run, the sacrifice of time was well worth it," Stone said. He's happily working in his field, getting married and house-hunting.
"There's no time for extended vacations or hiking in my life at the moment, but when I travel for work, I'm a professional packer and I know how to live out of a suitcase," he said with a laugh.
Taking a "gap year" between high school and college or between college and work in order to explore the world and gain some hands-on, practical experience is a popular idea, said college career counselors.
"Whether the willingness to do something different impacts negatively or positively on a person's job search later depends on what a person does and why," said Ralph Mobley, director of career services at Georgia Tech. "But what better time to do it than when you're young and broke - and before you have a job, mortgage and kids?"
"Unencumbered" is the word Catherine Neiner, director of career planning at Agnes Scott College, uses to describe that time in a graduate's life.
"The women I work with are very focused on their future and deliberate in their planning. They want to have careers and families and make an impact on their world. Some of them see this time as the time to do community service before they settle down. They don't want to look back at 40 and wish they had done it," she said.
Neiner helps students through the strenuous and highly competitive application processes for the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps and other community service opportunities - experiences she believes are valuable.
"When you take people out of their comfort zone, they gain new perspectives, learn how to work with people of different backgrounds and make decisions," she said. "These types of experiences open people's eyes. It gives them time and perspective between their major and their future work, while letting them do something they really want to do."
Neiner believes that graduates may learn more valuable skills in a year of working with Habitat for Humanity or tutoring inner-city children than they would in a typical entry-level job, and Sandy Scott, director of public affairs for AmeriCorps, agrees.
AmeriCorps has about 75,000 members performing 10-month to one-year intensive service in helping communities meet needs in education, the environment, housing, public safety and homeland security. Members work with large organizations, such as the American Red Cross and Boys & Girls Clubs of America, or with smaller, faith-based, nonprofit and community-based organizations, such as Hands On Atlanta.
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They receive living allowances of about $10,000 a year and often are eligible to defer payment of student loans while they serve. After completing 1,700 hours of service, they receive education awards of $4,725 toward college tuition or repayment of student loans. There are about 400,000 AmeriCorps alums.
"Since 9/11, the tsunami and Katrina, we're seeing more young people willing to get their feet wet and their hands dirty," Scott said. "And afterward, more of them are choosing the nonprofit sector as a career path, going to work for FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] or [the Department of] Homeland Security. Some become social entrepreneurs and start their own programs."
Scott said that the challenges members face teach leadership, initiative, problem-solving and diversity skills - all traits that employers want.
Emory University's career services office sees about 26 to 28 liberal arts and business graduates who take alternative routes each year before work or graduate school.
"Some students feel that seeing what the real world is like will ultimately make them better lawyers or doctors or businesspeople," said Tariq Shakoor, director. "Provided the experience is chosen in a purposeful way and that they can explain what they did and what they hoped to accomplish, I don't think it hurts them with future employers, and it can help them."
'Prepared to explain'
Ease of transition to the working world depends on what the students' résumés (degrees, internships, skills, work experiences) looked like before they left and how they filled the gap, said Kimberly Guelcher, assistant director of alumni career services at Georgia State University.
"It boils down to relevancy and the amount of time they take," she said. "Someone delaying a career for a year or two isn't unreasonable, but if he graduated in 1997 and has never worked in his field, it's going to be much harder to break in.
"Employers are going to ask about any gap in a résumé, and graduates need to be prepared to explain why they made a choice and to show how it supports their career goals."
Travel may be a broadening experience, but if it's just a vacation, it can look like depending on parents' income, being indecisive, delaying a career decision or not growing up - not the kind of characteristics and work ethics that impress employers.
"Sometimes students are burned out and need a break after college, but it's going to be much harder to justify working at a ski lodge than, say, volunteering on a sustainable farm in Italy before going on to graduate school in environmental agriculture, which is what one of our students did," said Marcia B. Harris, director of university career services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She and Sharon L. Jones are updating their 1996 book, "The Parent's Crash Course in Career Planning: Helping Your College Student Succeed." The updated edition will be out this summer.
Harris delivers a workshop to UNC seniors on taking time off and the advantages and disadvantages of a gap period. "We advise them to think how to use their time constructively, to have a plan. Learning a language or immersing yourself in a culture through a works program could be an advantage for some jobs. An international affairs student may actually improve his credentials by teaching through JET [the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme]," she said.
But, by opting to delay work, seniors could miss out on some of their best opportunities to interview with future employers who recruit graduating seniors on college campuses.
"There are some corporations who gear their management training programs to the summer after graduation, and those [students] who delay applying will be out of sync with a company's hiring schedule and find it harder to land an interview on their own," Harris said.
Job-market factor
They also could miss out on a great jobs market, according to Robyn Simonton, division director for the Creative Group, a division of Robert Half International.
"This is an employees' market right now, with so many companies hiring. When the market's good, it's a good thing to take advantage of it," she said. Job markets fluctuate and may not be so welcoming after the time off.
On the pro-gap side, Simonton said that working in India or serving in a third-world country could separate a candidate from the competition. It can make him or her stand out as more worldly and interesting and show that he or she brings initiative and other skills to the table.
"Companies want their employees to be well-rounded and have outside interests," she said. "But don't wait for employers to ask the question 'why?' Be proactive. Address the issue upfront in a cover letter, your résumé or an interview.
"From an employer's point of view, your experience will be more valuable if you can show what skills you gained from the experience."