What advice is available to help find work after redundancy?

There is lots of advice and support available to help in your search for a new job after redundancy. The Inspira careers advisers can help you identify your skills, experience, career aspirations and potential training needs. They can also help arrange vocational training.

Being made redundant can be a challenging and stressful experience but we're here to help you get through it.

Redundancy happens to many of us in our working lives and is caused by a number of scenarios outside our control. Perhaps you have lost your job during the coronavirus pandemic.

Although being made redundant is never ideal, it can mean new and exciting opportunities - including a chance to change your career direction. Now is an ideal time to reflect on what sort of new challenge you would enjoy.

If you’re not sure where to start let us help you plan your next steps.

Our snippets of advice to help you find a job after redundancy

• Reflect on your situation

What you decide to do next will be dependent on many factors such as age, family and location. As a result, everyone’s situation is different. A good place to start is to reflect on your last role and whether that is something you want to carry on doing or whether you’d like to retrain and find something different. This is a great time to think about your short and longer-term career goals.

• Keep an open mind

The more open you are to change, the more opportunities you will find. If you were working in an industry that has been badly affected by Covid-19, such as events, tourism, hospitality, retail or beauty, you may want to look for a job in a different sector.

Read how we have helped others change career

Watch our video on what jobs of the future will look like. It may give you a few ideas.

• Consider a career change

Redundancy can be the perfect time to consider a change in career, if you have been at all unhappy, bored or simply have unfulfilled dreams. If you are considering a complete change and don’t know where to start, we can help.

A good place to start is to consider what aspects you enjoy about working; what makes you happy and gives you job satisfaction; your strengths and weaknesses; your skillsets and gaps in skills.

See how Martyne transitioned from being a beautician to being an engineer

• Be positive

A good way of thinking about your situation is to see the challenge of redundancy as an opportunity to improve your skill set. You can start by making a list of all the skills including any technical skills you have. Then think about how these could be suited to a new role and how you might list them on your CV.

• Have a plan

we would always advise you to take a structured approach to your job search. Have a plan, with some goals so you know what you’re setting out to achieve each day. But don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Remember it’s important to have downtime too.

• Do a Skills Health Check

A skills assessment can be a great way of discovering what interests or motivates you. Also, it can help you find out what you can do with the skills you have.

The Discover Your Skills and Careers (DYSAC) assessment, which is a set of quizzes and activities, helps you explore different careers based on your interests and motivations.

In addition, a Skills Health Check, which is a more in-depth series of assessments will generate a report for you, which can help identify your personal and work-based skills.

Inspira can help you with skills assessments. Further information is available on the National Careers Service website.

• Complete an online training course

There are lots of free training courses online and they are a great way to develop your skills. You will find everything from business and finance and digital skills, to personal growth and wellbeing.

We recommend the following course providers:

The Open University

Google

Amazon

FutureLearn

For further information visit the National Careers Service website

• Teach yourself

Aside from doing formal courses, you can teach yourself through a wide variety of sources available online, on TV or in books:

• Self-help books
• Podcasts
• Online communities via social media
• Educational TV programmes
• Lessons online on what it’s like to work in different sectors
• Skills apps

• Volunteering

Volunteering is great for many reasons. Not only do you get useful work experience, you are developing your skills and confidence and networking at the same time. Plus, the community benefits too.

• Improve your CV

Your CV is your ‘shop window’ and needs to focus on your skills and achievements. You will probably be asked about the reasons for your redundancy so think carefully how you explain it. Keep it succinct and go on to focus on the positives. You can do this by sharing some achievements in your last role and what positive steps you have taken since being made redundant.

• Where to look for jobs

It may be a while since you last had to search for a job and there are now more sources of job vacancies than ever. Here are just a few:

• Company websites – many companies have a vacancies section on their website, and you might be able to apple directly online.
• Social media – Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook are all good places to look for job ads. Start by following companies you would like to work for and connecting with people who work there.
• Use your network – don’t forget to tap into people you already know, family, friends, former colleagues, to see if they know of any opportunities or can offer any advice.
• Visit Job helpfor advice on looking for work, applying for jobs and about different types of jobs that are available.
• Recruitment agencies
• Inspira can connect you with employers with vacancies in your local area and also help you find suitable courses or apprenticeships.

What you should do next

• Spend some time browsing the content on our website to learn more about dealing with redundancy and how the advisers at Inspira have helped others in the same situation.

How Inspira can help you find work after redundancy

• Pick up the phone and talk to one of our advisers to see how they can help you 0345 658 8647.
• Fill out our form if you’d rather communicate by email and tell us a bit about your situation and if there’s something in particular you would like help with.