Avoiding pitfalls of redundancy

3:48pm Friday 10th October 2008

THE jobs market is an interesting and busy place to be right now.

Some industries are flourishing and recruitment is on the up, with plenty of new vacancies coming onto the market, according to fish4jobs.co.uk However, it is hard to escape the news there are also some businesses which are suffering in this economic downturn.

Here are some top tips for surviving redundancy.

* Always remember it is the “role” which is redundant and not “you” as an individual. It is easy for people to take it personally, but it is never an easy decision for any company to make redundancies.

* There are laws which dictate how redundancies should be handled to protect employees, so know your rights. If there is no alternative job available for a person within the company redundancy may be the only option. Read the company handbook or speak to an organisation such as the Citizens Advice Bureau to make sure an employer is following the right procedure.

* Keep your CV up-to-date. For those in need of help with a CV there are services available to help design one. www.cvchecker.com is worth checking out.

* Before leaving the company, ask human resources or manager for a reference. Take e-mail addresses or telephone numbers of colleagues – sometimes redundancy happens unexpectedly so it is always good to be prepared.

* Register with recruitment consultancies, the Job Centre and Jobs Boards to maximise exposure. Check local newspapers, websites of companies you are interested in and speak to friends and family in case they know of opportunities.

* Bear in mind you may have to look at alternative positions to the one you were employed in. It may be possible to transfer skills into another role – for example if working on reception and answering calls with some basic administration, perhaps you could work as an office manager or customer service operator in the next company.

* Be flexible with salary expectations – if there are lots of people looking for a fresh challenge it may be necessary to take a lower salary than what was earnt before. This may only be a temporary measure but could be essential at this time.

* Always be available for interview. There may be more candidates than vacancies, and there is nothing worse than losing out on a job interview because the phone was switched off or sleeping through an alarm. Someone else will snap the position up.

* Try and get temporary experience while looking for permanent work. This looks great on the CV and shows you are willing to work while looking for the next job and offers varied experience as well as sometimes opening more doors.