Bouncing Back from Redundancy

Take a break, reassess your career wish list and then get back on the job market.

It all happened so fast. Steve was working away in his job as a supervisor in a manufacturing plant when, out of the blue, his manager advised him that his job had been made redundant. He felt like the rug had just been pulled out from under him. “I’ve been in this job for 13 years, it’s all I know! I don’t know where to start looking for a new job or even what is out there!” Unfortunately, redundancy is an often unavoidable reality for many organisations in today’s variable markets.

People react to redundancy in different ways. Shock, denial, and anger are common emotions we experience when faced with redundancy. But, while some fall into a chasm of self-pity and lose career motivation and self-confidence, others learn to accept the situation and may even experience some relief that they have been ‘freed’ from a job that, in hindsight, they didn’t particularly enjoy anyway.

Allow yourself to take a break!

Even if it’s a blessing in disguise, being made redundant is generally pretty stressful. Taking some time out to collect yourself, make peace with the situation, and do the things you enjoy will refresh your spirits and provide motivation for the journey ahead.

Reframe – reassess

Try to see the redundancy as an opportunity. When you’ve been on the work carousel for a while, it’s easy to just ‘go with the flow’ without stopping to think about whether it’s really where you want to be heading. If you received a fair severance package, your best investment is likely to be in some thorough career planning. Your company may even be able to fund some outplacement career coaching for you. Hidden talents and interests that you haven’t had the opportunity to satisfy in your previous roles can now come out to play. One of the barriers that may have been holding you back has now been broken down for you!

Plan your finances

Even if you’ve been given a generous redundancy payout, plan wisely. Don’t blow it all on upgrading your car with the confidence that you’ll find a job in a week or two. It’ll only add more stress and uncertainty to the situation. An expensive lifestyle will have to take a raincheck.

Activate your networks

Getting in contact with people is not only likely to provide valuable support at a difficult time, but could very likely be the source of your next opportunity. Meet with people you haven’t seen for a while and chat over coffee, or attend professional seminars to keep in the loop.

Don’t lose the routine

If you’re serious about finding the perfect new job, job seeking needs to become a ‘job’ for you. Keep the routine you had when you were working. Get up at the same time, get ready for ‘work’, and start your day’s job search at the same time you would have started your day’s work: updating and fine-tuning your CV, studying the internet and the paper, making phone calls and contacting recruitment agencies. You can give yourself the afternoon off, but you should treat your job search as a serious work commitment.

Perhaps the best strategy for coping with redundancy is to be prepared before it strikes. Keeping your skills and knowledge up to date through attending training seminars and reading publications in your field will increase your marketability to potential employers. Staying in touch with useful contacts and putting some money aside as a buffer can also make you and your career more resilient to knocks such as redundancy.

Finally, just remember, people are not made redundant – only jobs are!

Career Analysts have extensive experience in Outplacement Coaching. To find out more visit www.careeranalysts.co.nz