March 2022 – Career Breaks, Gabrielle Union, and LinkedIn Podcast Network

We are circling back with the March issue of?In the Loop?(We promise that’s the first and only time we will make that joke). With everything going on at LinkedIn, we want this to be a place where we can help you get the most out of our platform.?

To do that, we're sharing trending conversations, new features and just some of the valuable resources you can find on LinkedIn. This month we're talking about career breaks, the launch of the LinkedIn Podcast Network, and more!

Gabrielle Union x LinkedIn

Gabrielle Union is a talented and passionate actor, activist, producer, entrepreneur, mom, the list goes on. That’s why we thought she would be the perfect person to work with on our new series,?Getting Real With Gabrielle Union.?She’s a leading voice in authentically being yourself, making her the perfect person to host honest conversations on LinkedIn about what it means to be your real professional self today. Follow?Gabrielle?to see more from our series.

Introducing the LinkedIn Podcast Network

This month, we launched an exciting new way for you to connect with leading professional voices with the?LinkedIn Podcast Network. With this pilot you’ll have access on LinkedIn to programming and conversations from industry leading creators such as?Morra Aarons-Mele,?Jonathan Fields, and?Mita Mallick?and?Dee C. Marshall, as well as shows created in-house by?LinkedIn News.

Topics in the LinkedIn Podcast Network cover areas like decoding tech, understanding the hiring process, and managing mental health, and much more. All LinkedIn Podcast Network shows will be available globally directly on LinkedIn by following Podcast hosts and subscribing to their weekly Newsletters, and also on?Apple Podcasts,?Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Sharing Your Career Break

We’ve heard from our members, particularly from women and mothers, that they need a better way to reflect time away from work on their Profiles. With career breaks growing in popularity, and half of hiring managers agreeing that career breaks create valuable skills for the workplace, we're excited to introduce Career Breaks, a new way for members to showcase this time away on their Profiles.

By adding a career break to your Profile, you can provide valuable context about how you spent your time away, choosing from titles like full-time parenting, caregiving, health and well-being, and more. In many cases, it’s the off-your-resume experience that truly gets to the heart of your passions, gifts and strengths. It’s what makes you unique as a professional – and what makes the talent you bring to any place you live and work invaluable.?

We hope that this feature can help destigmatize career breaks and empower jobseekers to tell their story in a way that works best for them. Have you added a career break to your Profile? Share with us in the comments!

Member Story: Prabha Kannan

In a moment of reflection upon leaving her dream job, Prabha Kannan has a message for employers: “If you want to get **** done, hire a woman. If you want to get EVERYTHING done, hire a mother.” Prabha joined Apple as the head writer and character lead for Siri after a 7-year-long career break as a stay-at-home mother, and is grateful for all the skills and experience she gathered during that time period. In a?moving post, she shared her tips for women in similar positions, and helped to break down the barriers that still exist for those who have taken career breaks and are ready to jump back into the workforce.

Live on LinkedIn

Every month we want to highlight some of the exciting upcoming conversations we’re having on our platform. Audio Events can only be experienced live, so make sure to tune in! We just had a conversation on LinkedIn about normalizing career breaks with?Mita Mallick and?Maryam Banikarim, which you can watch?here.

Audio Events:

• March 22,?Burcin K., How to Follow Your Passion & Create New Opportunities,?RSVP
• March 22,?Mary Fain Brandt, Tips to Overcoming Perfectionism,?RSVP
• March 23,?Polly Irungu, Celebrating Women’s History Month,?RSVP
• March 23,?Rachel B. Lee, Building a Personal Brand that Gets You Seen & Heard,?RSVP
• March 28,?Michelle Griffin, How to Use Personal Branding to Boost Your Job Search,?RSVP

Video Events (LinkedIn Live):

• March 21,?Gemma Leigh Roberts, Developing Mental Agility and Resilience,?RSVP
• March 22,?Jonathan Rochelle, Growing Your Careers in Big and Small Companies,?RSVP
• March 24,?Erica Ewing Lockheimer, Leading From the Front and Paying It Forward,?RSVP
• March 29,?LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Forward?RSVP

Learn on LinkedIn: #CareerBreaks

Whether you’ve taken a break in your career, or are considering a stint away from the professional world, LinkedIn Learning is a great resource, with tips on how to navigate this stage of your career. There are courses that help you?plan a family leave,?return from your break,?negotiate for work flexibility, and?become a male ally for women at work.

Looking Ahead

Have you experienced a career break? Are you thinking about taking one? Share your story on LinkedIn and help us show the world that taking a career break, or advocating for those who do, is professional using?#IAmProfessional.?

Thank you so much for joining us for this edition of?In the Loop. Please let us know in the comments what you thought or what you would like to see in the future. See you in April!