Redundancy - how to handle it

With organisational and technological change, comes redundancies. We never think it should be us, because we give our all and provide a specialist service. But they happen to everyone, from the Media Assistant (me in the 2008 Global Financial Crisis) to the GM managing a team of 10 direct reports. You may have been there for 15 years' and intended to spend your whole career there. This isn't the end; it truly is a positive new beginning. Below, I have provided some advice on your next steps if redundancy is affecting you:

• Pre cursor; Redundant means no longer needed. This doesn't mean YOU are no longer needed, it means your position is no longer needed, for the direction in where the company is going. Do NOT take it personally. You aren't redundant. You aren't fired. Your role in this business is redundant. Remember this.
• Redundancy rarely leads onto negative things - This is an opportunity to figure out which role you really want next, plan your attack and devote your now free-time to making that happen. When you are in a role, thinking about your next role, you may spend 5% of your time looking for a new role. But with a redundancy, you are able to devote all of your attention to finding that role you have been reaching for for the past few years. Don't feel shy or embarrassed about reaching out to your connections; use them. If you have a relationship there, they will be only happy to help. You know you will do the same for them in the future.
• A sweetener that comes with a redundancy; the payout - It is tempting to look at that, take a break for 3-6 months, then begin your job search again. However, as someone who watches and listens to this market relentlessly, it is imperative that you don't leave your break too long. You may be burnt out, and I totally get it. Take a few weeks off, go on a holiday or take a stay-cation; refresh and recover. But the average time it takes a candidate to find a new role after a redundancy is 2 months. A lot of the time, it is longer than 2 months. Finding a new role won't always happen straight off the bat. We all know what we do would be an asset to any business, and they'd be remiss not to hire us, but so many people are in the same position as you are; they may be hungrier than you. The amount of phone calls I get from candidates saying they have been made redundant 6 months ago and are now struggling to find work, desperate to do any role as they need the money right now; I wish they could've spoken to me 6 months ago. My heart breaks as I want to help everyone, but I can't do it, nor that quickly. A client will look at a candidate who has current or recent experience, over a candidate who has been taking the last 6 months off to "recharge". Don't leave it too long.
• Setting a timeline for when your money runs out will help keep you on track - Plan that it will take 3 months to find a new role; if it comes earlier, brilliant, we have savings. If the timeline is 3 months, don't start hunting in month 2, or your money may run out. Money is such a strong ruler in our lives, and if you leave it too late and take any old role just to pay the bills, you're not going to be happy with your life. We spend almost half our day in our role - you need to be happy in it. Start searching in month 1.
• Don't apply for every job you see - You will be doing yourself a disservice in the long run. You are capable of doing the job you were made redundant from. That role just no longer exists in that particular company. Don't apply for roles in sectors you have no interest in or where your values don't align. Use this redundancy to focus on taking that next step-up, or the side-step before the next step. Yes, it is easy enough for me to say when time and $$$ is of the essence, but your next employer is looking for their next star. If you can't bring 100% to the role, it's not for you.
• Really invest your time into branding yourself and your resume - Are you applying for a Communications Manager role, but all of your past roles have been labelled Marketing and Events? No problem, communications was a key part of your past roles; make them very evident in your resume. Change your titles to reflect what you believe you were doing in your roles. Create separate CV's, each targeted to each role you want to work in. Organisations want to relate to you, and they can't do that when your background is in big corporates and you have applied to a small NFP. "But I can do that job Sasha, I did it at XX and XX for a number of years" - FANTASTIC! But if I can't see it, the client isn't going to see it. Take the time to make it evident that you can do the job you are applying for - you'll get right to the top of the pile for taking that extra care and putting in that extra effort.

Hopefully the above has been helpful. Redundancy can be an absolute blessing in disguise - remember, your role is redundant, you aren't redundant. Get. Your. Hustle. On.

Sasha Kinane - Senior Consultant, Marketing & Communications | MARS Recruitment

03 9448 3016 | [email protected] | 0439 986 652