The frustrating thing is I have excelled in this career before. My second last job was really amazing and I made real, valuable contributions. I stayed with the

The frustrating thing is I have excelled in this career before. My second last job was really amazing and I made real, valuable contributions. I stayed with them for years, it was a match made in heaven that I'm starting to think I won't find again. I am definitely scared of the optics of a long break. At least with the medical leave I was still technically employed during that time. I will probably only take a gap if I really truly have no choice, it'd be better to switch into anything else.