How will redundancy affect you?

Most of us enjoy camaraderie in our work place and feel good if our efforts are valued. But what happens when redundancy changes your routine and you find yourself at home all day, possibly alone?  We’ve all grumbled that there’s never had enough time to do the things we wanted to do, but suddenly having time on your hands may not be as motivating as you thought it might be. Redundancy can come as a shock and it can give our self confidence a knock.

What do future employers think of unemployed candidates?

The Institute of Leadership & Management commissioned some research entitled “Bouncing back - attitudes to unemployment”  which found that 84% of managers thought a candidate’s employment status was irrelevant as, in the current climate, it isn’t an indicator of ability or performance.  However, candidates that remain unemployed for 6 months or longer will find it more difficult to as 28% of employers are less likely to take on someone they consider to be long-term unemployed.

How can you make yourself employable?

You need to aim to find employment within 6 months and take positive steps to increase your chances of being offered a job.  The research identified the three most important things you should be doing, namely:

• studying for a relevant vocational, or academic, qualification
• keeping up-to-date with industry developments
• undertaking voluntary work

Why do voluntary work?

You are unlikely to be spending all your working week keeping up to date with industry developments, looking for jobs, writing applications and attending interviews, and the research show that employers like candidates that undertake voluntary work.
Redundancy was the nudge I needed to set up my own company, but I knew that to start with I’d struggle sitting at my desk five days a week.  So, for the first three months I worked as a Volunteer Ranger with the South Downs Joint Committee.  I enjoy walking and cross country running so voluntary work that enabled me to help maintain something I cared about was important to me.   As well as learning a great deal about all sorts of things, I’ve enjoyed great team work and camaraderie, lots of banter, lots of fun and met some really interesting people. Now my business is up and running I still take the occasional day off from my day job to spend a day as a volunteer ranger.

How can I find out about volunteering opportunities?

You’ll find lots of volunteering opportunities if you search for them on the internet database.

Good luck!