Redundancy Diary - Week 3

Fired up, but in danger of becoming a busy fool!

Having spent the last few weeks since I was made redundant on a rollercoaster of emotional states, all of which sapped my energy, I can now feel my energy levels returning. It’s amazing to wake up feeling ready for the day and able to face whatever happens in my job searching.

I have been overwhelmed by the support of local people who have written to me after reading my columns. It helps so much to speak or write to people who have been through similar experiences and come out the other side and I am very grateful for all your emails. Paul, who was made redundant a few months ago, shared his experiences with me and helped me to see that how I was feeling was ‘normal’ and told me how he regained his positivity and self-esteem. A local media consultant has also shared his personal experiences with me, giving me some great advice and reassurance. He has also shared some programmes and tools with me that could help me in my line of work, for which I am extremely grateful.

What is interesting is that all the people I have spoken to and written to have found new employment from their networks and personal contacts rather than applying for a job from an advertisement. A recruitment consultant shared with me that she estimates around 70% new job starters found their posts through informal (i.e. networking sites such as LinkedIn, personal contacts, and personal referrals) rather than formal routes. It really does seem to be as much who you know as what you know. The people you have worked with in the past often hold the key to new opportunities, as they know you and have first-hand experience of your skills.

So, with that in mind, I have been doing two things this week – getting as much as I can out of my personal network and applying for jobs. I have expanded my profile and links on the LinkedIn site (http://www.linkedin.com/) and managed to get in touch with people I worked with in the past. This has led to one informal interview and one emailed job application form, which is great! I have had advice from a recruitment consultancy on how to write a winning cover letter to go with my CV and will keep my fingers crossed for some interviews as a result.

My visit to the Job Centre to sign on was a mixed experience. I have to admit to having a nauseous feeling in the pit of my stomach while I was there as it really brought the reality of my situation home to me. I felt as if I had done something wrong and was incredibly disturbed by the mention to me of what would happen to my benefits when I had been out of work for more than 6 months. I felt so indignant that I would be in that situation, that I went out feeling even more determined to find a job quickly! The best part of the experience was picking up a copy of ‘Inspire’, the magazine produced by Job Centre Plus, and the articles I read in it relating to young women setting up and running their own businesses. It inspired me to expand on some of the ideas I have had to do that, and I have started to plan what my business could look like.

And that’s where the ‘busy’ fool part comes in – I do feel that I am in danger of trying to pursue too many things, but I don’t think I can afford to say ‘no’ to any opportunity at the moment. With that attitude in mind, I met up with Helen Cooney of Fuel HR Services this morning. She gave me some great advice and an exercise on how to move forward, and some invaluable feedback on my business ideas. By talking together we realized how many people we know who are going through periods of change at the moment, whether through redundancy or trying to return to work after a career break. We are making plans for an informal event at the end of February for local people who are going through change to get some advice from Helen and others, so watch this space!


One thing I realized this week is that I had virtually stopped doing all the hobbies and social activities that give me pleasure, either because I couldn’t afford them or because I felt I had to spend my free time searching for jobs. This week I started going out for short runs to get some exercise and I have made an effort to catch up with friends. It has made a huge difference and I get far more done when I am working on finding a job because I feel better about myself and my prospects.

The key thing I need to do now is get that all important first interview!

Next week: Increasing the volume of job opportunities and trying to decide which career path to go down.