I’ll be honest, it’s never happened to me. So, I’m not going to pretend I know how it feels, I don’t. But I have seen how it affects someone who is made redundant. Especially when it has been a long drawn out process. It’s draining. It makes people anxious. The uncertainty. The fear. I’ve seen the tired eyes, the worry lines, the tears wiped away from crying eyes. It’s really deflating and you lose all confidence. The thing I’ve noticed is the longer you are employed in the one place, the worse you feel when this happens to you. That is a fact.
But is it all bad? Let’s take a look.
I have found from direct experience with family and friends in this situation that sometimes they have just stayed in a job for fear of not finding another job. They have no confidence to try something new. They have stayed in the same job because it’s easier not to move. It’s secure. I mean why move if everything is good? Why learn something new, if they don’t need to? There is merit in this thinking, but when there is a loss, there is grief and it’s true that it feels worse when you have been somewhere a long time.
There is a sudden rush of “Where’s my resume, I need to update it now!”, “I need to find all the job-seeking websites and apply for everything”, “Oh no, I have no experience for any of these jobs”, “My job is no longer performed by humans, it is now performed by machines, now what?”.
However, in every situation, there has been a silver lining. When forced to change, they all found ways to adapt. Adapt quickly! Change isn’t a bad thing. Change can sometimes mean there’s something better around the corner.
There are a few ways to combat redundancy, but you always need a plan. My plan is this:
- Decide what you love to do, turn that into your next job. If you can’t figure out what you want to do, hire a Career Coach you are comfortable with, and get talking. Talk about what you love, not what you should be doing. A Career Coach will help you plan and set goals and will keep you accountable, but will also instill confidence in you and talk about your brand and how you will sell it for your next job.
- Once you know what you want to do, start looking at all job-seeking websites for a job just for you.
- Once you have selected your job, have your Resume professionally written and tailored specifically to that job with keywords and organise a personalised cover letter to match.
- Make sure you are also on LinkedIn and Seek with a personal profile that matches your newly written Resume.
- If you are applying for a public service role, addressing Key Selection Criteria is a must. Again, have them professionally written to increase your chances of being selected for an interview.
- When you have been selected for an interview, research and practice! Lots! If you are finding this hard, get an Interview Coaching session or a Mock Interview to ensure that you anticipate as many questions as possible.
When you land that job, the one you thought you could never get, you will be elated. You will wonder what on earth you were worried about. You will wonder why you didn’t do this sooner. You will have a renewed confidence in yourself.
Hi, I’m Athena Ali the Founder of The Get Noticed Coach and Get Noticed Resumes.
I am a Flexible Work Advocate – I help women close the gender pay gap by designing and implementing career strategies to get them into leadership positions (particularly in the government sector) using my marketing approach to career advancement.
