Taking a career break can be a transformative experience, offering a chance to step back and reassess a career journey.

But a career break can also feel a rather lonely experience, no longer in touch with colleagues to discuss concerns or to ask for advice and away from the stability of a regular work routine. Naturally, this period is a time of reflection, so what better way to fill the gap than with the guidance of insightful podcasts?

For those contemplating a career break or in the midst of one, these podcasts serve as a valuable resource. They offer a blend of motivational stories, expert interviews, and actionable tips that can help you navigate your career path with confidence.

The beauty of career podcasts is their accessibility and flexibility; they can be consumed anytime, anywhere, fitting seamlessly into your daily routine. Many of those listed below are between 15 – 30 minutes in length.

6 insightful career podcasts

3, 2, 1 iRelaunch

This podcast features advice, strategies and success stories from a mixture of industry experts and relaunchers, people who have returned to work after a break for whatever reason. Started by iRelaunch in 2016 and hosted by Carol Fishman Cohen, it will probably have covered many of the questions you will be looking to find answers for amongst the almost 300 plus episodes. (Two blog posts on this site have highlighted the iRelaunch episodes on Rebuilding Confidence and Dealing with Relaunch Rejection.) iRelaunch doesn’t shy away from how tough returning to work can be but its message remains positive and inspirational. Note that its base is far wider reaching than libraries, museums and archives and while you may find all episodes interesting, they may not always be directly relevant to your career needs.

Career relaunch

Career relaunch is a podcast about major transitions and while these might not always be directly applicable to your situation, there might be times when you may find something of interest or relevance here, particularly if you are looking to change direction or feel a bit stuck. Each episode features an interview with someone who has experienced a major career shift or change to find more fulfilling and meaningful work.

Career returners

While not specific to libraries, Career Returners is an organisation that works with professionals returning to suitable roles after extended career breaks. Although it covers various fields, you might find relevant insights and strategies for supporting people returning to library work. (They have directly supported librarians returning to work on their Career Boost Scotland Programme, for example.) You might find their consulting, coaching, and network services of more direct benefit too. The podcast series centres on their specific career returner stories and share the highs and lows of specific people’s return-to-work journeys. After each story, career coaches discuss the key themes and dispense their thoughts and tips.

Career sequel – the return-to-work podcast

This podcast aims to help those returning from a career break find flexible, meaningful, paid work. Engaging host, Dr Lee Koles, covers a range of subjects aimed at returners, from writing a cover letter to restoring confidence, while chatting with industry experts. One of my favourite episodes is “Lessons From my Mom about Returning to Work – May 03, 2022”, and while you might expect it to be overly sentimental, I don’t think it is. Koles’ mom is a genuine returner with an authentic and truly interesting insight.

Hiring librarians

You may be very familiar with Hiring librarians as it is library hiring specific, if not return to work specific. Managed by Emily Weak, the podcast has a North American hiring and libraries focus but it is of much broader appeal (an early episode features the UK folks behind Fair Library jobs, for example). However, I find the anecdotes about going out for lunch as part of the interview process, for example, fascinating and I am heartily relieved to find this is not (usually) part of the selection procedure in the UK!

Squiggly careers

Squiggly careers is a weekly podcast hosted by Amazing If founders Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper. The podcast continues to discuss the subjects they’ve explored in their published books (The Squiggly Career and You Coach You) and their popular Tedx talk, The Best Career Path Isn’t Always a Straight Line,) and covers all things career and work: from explaining how to overcome your confidence ‘gremlins’ to demonstrating how consistency contributes to your career success. Again, not library specific, but so open to non-linear careers, it cannot be ignored.

What else is out there?

Other notable mentions are Career Talk by Stephanie Dennis, which also suggests a holistic approach to career development and features discussions on a wide range of topics, from job searching to personal branding and People in Transition by Bob Gerst which provides tips and techniques for people transitioning into different phases or stages in life.

One of the ways I’ve discovered some of these new career podcasts is to delve through Mac’s List Top Career Podcast Guide. This generalist career podcast resource is not only a straightforward method to find great podcasts as it lists everything together for you, but it also pretty authoritative, highlighting what is good about these podcasts and how they help people with job searching and career development.

To sum up

So, for those eager to explore this rich landscape of career break podcasts, I hope you like this list of what I have found to be the best shows to listen to, the ones that offer unique insights to help achieve career goals and make the most of a career break. Whether you’re on a walk or doing the washing up, commuting or simply taking a moment for yourself, tuning into these podcasts may provide the clarity and motivation you need to make the next step.

If you would like to leave a comment or let me know which career podcast is your favourite, please do so below. Perhaps these takeaways will encourage you!

1. Have you listened to a career and / or library podcast during your career break?
2. What was your favourite podcast?