Why job hunting straight after redundancy might not be the best approach

They just don’t know what they’re missing, right? You are smart, capable, and talented and yet for some reason you find yourself unexpectedly collecting your desk top photo and handing in your office key fob.

According to the Office for National Statistics, there was a 58% increase in the number of redundancies planned last year (in the UK) and the recent(ish) US tech layoffs have meant an increase in the number of people reaching out to me with a sudden urgency.

Obviously, you’re reading this because you are looking to make a change in your career, hopefully from ‘dissatisfied corporate worker’ to ‘engaged and excited sustainability professional’.

“Sometimes, the time lines for our plans are, ahem, suddenly expedited”.

So, if you have recently been ‘put in consultation’ or indeed have already been shown the door, here are some do’s and don’ts to consider in the coming weeks

(And yes, the spelling of Do’s and indeed Don’ts is a literary box of frogs I do not want to open)

The Panic and the Fear

DON’T… PANIC

Far easier said than done, obviously, but it is essential to quieten the clamouring internal voice of panic. These voices generally focus the need to find a replacement job immediately and are fuelled by;

Outdated notions about ‘gaps on your CV’ being irredeemable (they aren’t, and ask yourself if you want to work for a company that thinks time out doing something interesting is a failure?)
Worries (and guilt) about not spending every waking moment applying for jobs which its clearly what you need to be doing as you are an effective and productive person with a valuable contribution to make!
The potential financial shortfall in the coming weeks you might feel in the near term, them bills ain’t going to pay themselves are they!

So how can we manage this? Well spend a few minutes reading Google results around breath exercises and the like and then settle down and… Pick a launch date…

DO… SET A LAUNCH DATE

One way to help with the fear is to agree with yourself an official launch date for your career shift process (and it is a process, more on that later). The gap between now and your launch date can be weeks, or months.

Think of it as the Rest and Reset phase of the process.

How far away you set your launch date can be scientifically calculated with this handy equation:

Whilst I doubt that would be accepted by the economists of the world, and I am unsure of the S.I. Unit for ‘burn out’ my point here is that your answer should be as long as you feel comfortable in taking plus an extra bit, within the constraints of your financial situation. Rule of thumb - minimum a month, ideally two.

The benefits of this include:

Avoiding the temptation to let the panic unduly impact your decisions. These decisions are going to be the most important you’ll make in the near future. So, better to come into those decisions with a clear and less pressured frame of mind

It will give you the opportunity to break a few of the potentially unhelpful habits you’ve picked up in your current work place. After all, you wanted to change in the first place, so take some time to distance yourself from the patterns of your current work.

It can help formalise the ‘journey’ aspect of your shift. Yes, I used the J word but cliches exist for a reason. Your transition is unlikely to be an overnight thing, so accepting this early and acting accordingly will help manage expectations, for you and anyone that impacts.

Having a launch date can enable you to create a little thought loop along the lines of

“I am not worrying about this now, I have a launch date, this time is rest”

You can use this as a mantra to squash the intrusive thoughts and quiet the voice shouting about about formatting a new version of your CV.

CV’s and Expectations

DON’T… SPEND TIME RE:WRITING YOUR CV

Time and again I hear the phrase “I need to update my CV and get it out there”

Seriously, don’t.

Your CV should be tailored to an individual opportunity, and that opportunity is likely to be for something you don’t even know exists yet. Shifting careers is a process, not a task. That process ends with CV writing not starts. It is both impossible and a waste of time writing a CV without knowing what elements of your experience you want to highlight and why.

DO… MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS

How long will it take? Twice as long as half the time. (Other glib answers are available.)

The best way to get a feel for your own personal answer is to understand how long it took others and the scale or type of shift you are looking to make. This might mean that you:

Ask an expert, or those that have been through this shift a few times. For example; search #opendoorclimate on LinkedIn for the opportunity to speak to people who are doing what you might want to do, and ask them
Consider if you want to shift CONTENT, CONTEXT or BOTH in your next role. (The ‘what you do’, and the ‘who you do it for’). CONTENT shifting might require time to learn and be able demonstrate a new skillset, CONTEXT shifting might be more about new networks and developing organisational specific appeal. Neither are over night tasks.

Take 5 minutes to read about Greg’s CONTEXT career shift HERE

Take 5 minutes to read about Belinda’s CONTENT career shift HERE

Meanwhile you might need to take an immediate gig or two to bridge a financial gap, or to take a stepping stone role which is nearly-but-not-quite what you want in order to make ends meet for a while. But now is the opportunity and the gift (yeah OK, that might be pushing it a little) to take the time and fix a vision for a role that will bring you meaning in the future. Grandiose sounding, but entirely plausible.

Finally, when grappling for perspective in terms of time frames, do not forget to factor in your “Rest and Reset” period you calculated above (see above)

OK, so that should cover your first few weeks;

Stay calm and take some time out, don’t get pulled into CV writing and ‘job hunting’ and do recognise this is a process that will take some time, plan accordingly.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, don’t do this alone. Recognise and and nurture your support network this is bigger than just you so take 5 minutes to read some tips on building your team HERE

It can be tough and it can certainly be knock to your confidence, but, without wanting to sound trite, this could be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, the “Get Out Of Jail” pass that you’ll look back on as the turning point in your life.

Advice When Made Redundant / Laid off