Losing a job could be one of those events that have the most dramatic emotional impact on people’s lives. Knowing what to do in this situation will help to soften the blow of being out of work and make it easier to see where you are going to go and what you are going to do next.
Whatever the reason for your redundancy, you will need to understand your benefit entitlements and what you are able to claim. Once you have sorted this out, you can then start the search for your next job.
The most obvious place to start is to look at your CV. You may not have updated it for many years, so you will have to go through it carefully to ensure that you are still able to sell yourself to an employer. You can get help with this from various websites or more directly from your local benefits office.
You should update your employment record, outline the positions you have held in your recent job, and explain in detail the transferable skills you have acquired over the years. Even when you have been made redundant, your technical and people skills will be useful to an employer.
And, since your redundancy, you may have been doing some work shadowing or taken up voluntary or charitable work. You can add all of this to your CV as an example of your willingness to keep in touch with your professional environment, to keep busy and make a contribution to the local community.
As you find jobs to apply for, you will need to go back to first principles. Carry out research into the company, finding out as much as you can about them. Look for recent newspaper articles about their current activities in their own marketplace. You will be able to use this information in a letter of application to demonstrate that you are interested in that specific job and not simply looking for a job of any kind. So, your letter must focus on the pursuit of that specific job in that particular company, and certainly not give the impression that you have not done your homework. Your research will also help you to come up with some perceptive questions should you get an interview.
The more time you spend thinking about what you have achieved during your most recent job, how you dealt with difficult situations and how you can use your skills to contribute to another company, the better will be your chances of securing an interview and a new job.
Of course, you might take the opportunity to decide that you are going to move in another direction. Then you will have more intensive research to do, revamping your CV and restyling yourself to achieve your aim of a new career path.
Being made redundant is not the end of the world or the end of your career, if you plan your way out of it and plan your way into your next job.