Redundant today, job-search tomorrow
How prepared are you, if you were made redundant today? Is you resume ready to go…
What if you are called into the boss’s office only to be told that as result of the world financial crisis, there are going to be a number of people who have been made redundant and you’re on the list?
Here is a cheque, goodbye. You expect a big thank you and we are sorry but they simply say “You will be escorted back to your work area to clear it and we would like you off the premises immediately……and by the way, can we have the keys to your company car as well, you will have to get public transport home”.
Being made redundant and having to job search at short notice can be a very stressful life event. Going through the full spectrum of disbelief (why me), anger (the boss had it in for me), denial (I will wake up from this bad dream soon) and then, grief (the sadness and pain of loss).
Over the years there have been cases where people have been so embarrassed to tell their family that they were made redundant, they pretended to go to work for many days or weeks after only to be caught out sitting on a park bench or the partner phones up the company only to be told that they were laid off weeks ago.
Broader statistics tell us that most people have very low savings and are committed with regular high expenses. Even with redundancy payouts to tide them over, for most people there is a desperate scramble to find another position and keep the money coming in.
Over the longer term the people who are in their chosen career, thoroughly enjoy their work and are very good at their job are less likely to be made redundant. However for many reasons totally outside the control of individuals whole sections, divisions and companies can be made redundant.
The danger is when there are a number of laid off in a certain area, there are other people who are similarly qualified and trained, looking for the same types of positions in the same saturated job market.
Most people have to make immediate decisions whether they’re going to take any sort of job just to keep cash coming in or are they going to use the redundancy to look for their perfect career.
In some cases the need to find another job may also force people to move away. This has a major impact on family and friends as well.
If individuals have been looking at the bigger career picture, they are probably better prepared as to what their alternatives are but for others they must start from scratch to learn career and job search skills at very short notice.
Some immediate job search skills they need are:
- how to create a resume
- information interviewing
- how to answer interview questions
- dress and grooming, and
- telephone techniques just to mention a few.
A great stepping stone to get your “foot in the door” to desirable employers is via work experience. Many organisations offer work experience. More job search tips