“Have confidence. Redundancy can knock you for 6, but remember what you are worth. One great bit of advice I had was regarding interviews, “it’s not just about you impressing them, they need to impress you too”. This statement was very true”.

Background

I joined my previous employer straight from college and over my 19 years I moved up through the ranks and worked in many areas of the business. I loved it! Well, I loved the first 15 years or so. These were the glory years, when I made friends for life and saw a lot of the world. I worked with some fantastic people and worked for some great managers that took an interest in my development and career. During this period my non work life was keeping pace with the company’s growth, my partner and I had 3 children, we moved houses a number times and generally loved life.

When were you made redundant?

Around March 2017 I once again learnt that my role was “at risk” and that I would have to apply for another of the new roles in the new org. After 3 times of having the redundancy payment carrot dangled in front of my face, I decided to take a bite. After 19 years I left the business in July.

What did you do after you were made redundant?

I decided quite early on in the process that I wanted to leave and therefore I used the consultation period to start job searches, update my CV, update LinkedIn and generally reach out to a few of my network, including recruitment agencies. The garden leave and non working period was quite simply one of the best periods of my life. It was a beautiful summer; the dog has never been walked as much and I finally made a dent in the long list of DIY tasks that had been building up over the last year. However, I was unemployed. I pay the bills and mortgage and have a young family. So I was concerned about what the future held.

How did you decide what to do next?

The early work I had put in on my job search and CV, started to pay off. I had a number of interviews lined up, which was a big relief as much of my concern had been about whether anyone would want me after 19 years in one place. I kept myself busy between interviews. I spoiled the family with a few treats, had the garden done and tried to keep fit. I had a decision to make about the route I would prefer to take my career. I had dabbled with starting my own consultancy business. I started to look at well paid short term contract work. But eventually decided to continue to focus on permanent employment.

What would be your advice to anyone who has just been made redundant?

Look after number 1. Use whatever services your company offers you as you go through these worrying few weeks. Play the process, so it fits with you and your plans.

Start your search as early as possible. The job I ended up taking was one I heard about from an ex-colleague in the week leading up to officially finding out that my role would be at risk.

Have a Plan B, C & D - I think at one point I had an E, F and G.
Have confidence. Redundancy can knock you for 6, but remember what you are worth. One great bit of advice I had was regarding interviews, “it’s not just about you impressing them, they need to impress you too”. This statement was very true. I actually turned down a better paid, closer to home job in preference to my current role for exactly this reason.

Lastly, in my situation, there were a number of us affected, some stayed, some didn’t, but the support we gave each other was great. The “P45 Gang” WhatsApp group is still live and kicking and the home of nostalgic banter

LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/max-hamilton-66404a4

Max Hamilton, Senior IT Business Partner