“I was made redundant in 2015 and didn’t really understand the journey or how rough the road to recovery would get or be. I was never one for throwing in the towel or admitting defeat but at times it was difficult to manage and keep a lid on things. Reflecting back it was the kick up the arse I needed if the truth be known, opportunities often arise when you are least expecting, although I had to create the conditions and have a plan which I put in place.”
Read More“Brainstorm your options. What aspects of your previous role did you enjoy, what do you want to avoid if possible? Many people enjoy ‘portfolio careers’ – could you find interim employment to tide you over and create a side hustle doing the thing you really love? Be open to all possibilities. If someone had told me a year ago that I’d have set up my own consultancy I would never have believed them. Take yourself out of your comfort zone, you never know where it might lead you.”
Read MoreTake the opportunity to rethink everything about your life. Some people know they want exactly the same career after redundancy. I had to start my life again at square one, and I’m extremely fortunate that I was able to build up my work around my ongoing health issues. It was great practise for balancing my current business around my 2 young children. I think if I’d had more confidence that it would be possible for me to find a flexible way of working when I first got ill, I wouldn’t necessarily have had to hit rock bottom in the way that I did. So learning to look 'outside of the box' has definitely served me really well since I was made redundant. I feel such a lot of gratitude to have the life I now have, and none of it would have been possible without my redundancy.
Read MoreI have always been very lucky with jobs. I tend to find a company that I like the look of, apply even when there isn’t a role being advertised and then get the role. This dramatically changed in 2015. Suddenly, I was faced with application after application being denied due to being too old (33 at the time), too experienced or not experienced enough in the specialist area they were looking for. I had never felt so deflated or rejected across my working career then in that one month. That was then, this is now… I now run a successful marketing and communications business and things are thriving.
Read MoreI worked in social care as a support worker for vulnerable people until I qualified as a Social Worker in 1999. I loved this work and took the constant challenges head on, using my creative muscle and my ability to think from outside the box. Then a few things happened, and something changed inside me and I knew I had to leave. I was done with working to other people’s rules and I wanted to do only what I loved.
Read More“Don’t take redundancy personally, but let it springboard you onto the next opportunity that’s out there. Let yourself breathe through that initial panic.”
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