Five immediate steps to get you back on track

“We’re going to have to let you go.” The words every employee dreads hearing in these tough times.

Your first impulse when the axe falls may be to head to the nearest pub and commiserate over a drink or 10. But there are loads of more practical things you could be doing in the few days after you leave your job to make sure your life doesn’t fall victim to the redundancy wrecking ball.

1. Check your rights

There are strict regulations for employers when making staff redundant, on everything from how they select who’s going, to what they award in redundancy pay.

“Rarely a day goes by without yet another company announcing job cuts. In this current climate it’s imperative to know your rights,” says David Harker, Citizens Advice Bureau Chief Executive.

Check that you’ve been treated fairly and have received the right amount of redundancy pay by visiting the Government’s Directgov website. You’ll also find information there on what state benefits you may be entitled to while you’re not working.

2. Get your house in order

If the first thing on your mind is that you’re going to struggle to pay your mortgage, rent or bills, you should approach your bank, landlord or supplier as soon as possible to work out a solution.

Michael Coogan from the Council of Mortgage Lenders says: “The first step for anyone struggling to pay their mortgage is to contact their lender and get advice. There are a range of options your lender can consider to help reduce or reschedule your payments while you get back on your feet. 

“Lenders will treat you fairly and use repossession only as a last resort. But you cannot just walk away and assume you are no longer responsible for the mortgage.”

3. Daydream

Right now you might be feeling devastated. But let your mind wander for a second. Could your redundancy be the push you need to make a career switch and to do something that you really love?

Selina Barker is Content Director at careershifters.org. She says: “As the redundancy rate continues to rise, more and more people are seeing it as an opportunity to make a total change in career – a chance to take their life into a whole new direction and find work that plays to their strengths, involves activities that make them come alive and which gives them a sense of purpose and fulfilment in life.

“Should a recession put people off a career change? Absolutely not. If anything it’s a great time to spend on retraining or to find new opportunities to grow your own business.”

4. Plan your job seeking strategy

Linda Whittern, Director of Careers Partnership (UK) has advice for job seekers in the current climate:

“Most people go into a whirl of ‘sales’ activity, signing up on umpteen job boards, setting up appointments with recruitment agencies, updating their CVs and so on.  This business makes them feel better but usually doesn’t work,” she says.

“Instead, identify the problems worrying employers so much that they’ll have to solve them even though they don’t want to recruit new staff.  Typically, recessions make employers focus on issues such as cash flow, cost savings, better marketing, better systems management, etc. What sectors face problems that someone with your skillset could solve for them?”
Linda then recommends listing everyone you know who can give you advice or information that could help your job search and contacting these people as soon as possible.

5. Stay positive

It’s a hard market out there, but it’s not impossible to find a job.

Michelle Lees was made redundant from her job as an advertising executive in November 2008. She says: “I was pretty devastated to begin with. But I got out there, and got a similar job at another agency in February – it’s not totally hopeless, despite what a lot of people think.”

See our feature on How to cope with redundancy for more advice on staying positive and healthy after being made redundant.

Page last updated by

Root User, 19 Apr 2010.

Page checked on

28 May 2009