In the Corporate world, redundancy is becoming an ever-increasing reality. If you have been made redundant and require support determining your next steps, it may pay to speak to a career counsellor. Sometimes redundancy can be unexpected and come out of the blue, which can often take time to wrap your head around. At other times, it could be a welcome ‘kick in the pants’ to get you out of a rut and thinking constructively about your next opportunity.

Steve Preston, in his article: ‘6 Steps to navigate your way to a brighter future’, published via Linked In, suggests some steps to help you make the most of your situation:

Let Go

For many people, work is much more than ‘a job’. Work contributes to your identity and sense of self-worth. It can be a source of social interaction and enables people to contribute to the world in a meaningful way. Letting go of your role (and your employer) can be challenging. This stage of the process is focused on looking forward, not back. It’s important to consider your options and scope out possible opportunities during this time. Cerys Aerdy in her article: Redundancy: To Hell and Back to the Future suggests that this period can initially involve anger and bewilderment. This is a natural reaction but once that period passes, there needs to be acceptance to let go and move forward.

Working out your next steps

The next part is tricky: it’s a period of self-evaluation to work out what you want to be doing with your career. Do you want to continue the same career path or try something different? For this step, you need to take a critical look at your strengths and weaknesses, advises Preston, understanding what this looks like from an employer’s perspective and understanding your marketability as a package. Once you understand this, you will have greater success marketing yourself to employers.

Explore opportunities

Ever cringe when you see a title of ‘Open to opportunities’ on a contact’s Linked In profile? It’s probably best to retain your last role as your title while speaking with as many people, both online and offline about what they are working on. A good idea is to reconnect with prior colleagues, friends and contacts as well as attending networking events.

Get your affairs in order

Ensure your Resume is up to date – perhaps have some contacts review it and read through the Flexi Personnel Guide on how to write a winning Resume. Also ensure your LinkedIn profile is also up to date with what you did in your last role. Also, be sure to upload your profile and resume on Seek so prospective employers can see you are available.

If you require support navigating redundancy, speak to the HR Consulting team at Flexi Personnel.