It’s a bugger, but time to prepare as it’s coming.

So long version I work for a certain blue supermarket, there’s been rumours of management cuts since Dave took over, everyone thought they were safe I mean who will rally the troops etc,..

Last year got my first taste of what was coming, my job went from days to twilight so voluntary redundancy was offered or change of job role, the money offered was enough to last me 6 months. On this occasion I felt luck was on my side as an audit managers job came up in store. Basically I run stores payroll, sales budgets, right to work, recruitment, and legal process compliance in the store. Due to the restructure in store it’s been hard work learning new things, trying to coach, guide, and essentially manage other managers on things they should be doing.

So a couple of weeks ago we had the usual managers meeting and the boss announced no more changes this year. That was Monday, fast forward to Thursday and the company announced in Nov this year my job is going.

So I have a few months to prepare, unlike last time I had weeks. The problem is with exception to building my cv and start applying for jobs I have no idea what I want to do, so basically as I have time to prep what have others done? Any pointers??

Tesco? They’re like the RBS of the supermarket world aren’t they?

I’ve been done twice, both at short notice – I’m not sure if more notice would be better or worse really. The worst part for me was the working after you know you’re going it. My only pointer would be to stay positive and if you’re offered a role before your end date – don’t tell a bloody soul. Someone one in my old place came over all honest and told them and was surprised when their request to leave early (and keep their payout) was turned down.

Yep, we saw that last time, one of our night managers got screwed over, ended up staying until the last day but lost his lined up job.

Sounds like you have a lot of transferable skills, that are applicable to many management /hr positions across multiple industries so don’t just look at retail.. maybe frame your cv in a way that demonstrates you have quite a broad repertoire.

You can also play on your flexibility to learn and adapt as you’ve been moved into differing roles due to the restructuring.

Also having a long notice period is benificial, nothing to stop you attending interviews in the meantime given the circumstances.
I think they have to allow you time off for interviews actually.. But look that up, don’t quote me on that.

Get on LinkedIn and focus on the skills you have (payroll, line management, budgeting, customer service etc) and have a look at all the sites like indeed, monster, you sound like you’re in a good position with the broad range of things you have to sell. Good luck 🙂

Embrace it, do something you’ve always fancied having a crack at or to get a better work life balance. I went from a 50-60 he week and loads of travel (the bad kind, shit hole industrial estates in the arse end of nowhere) to a 40 hr week, home nearly every night etc. AND they gave 20k to piss off! Don’t fear it.

That’s a good long time to get prepped…
LinkedIn, get that polished up
Networking: Slow burn compared to job boards but you sell you supported by the cv. Job boards are the other way round, potentially more competitive and involve recruiters… The estate agents of the job world
Cv: Focus on achievements, don’t write about job descriptions, show your work has clear benefits
Transferable skill: your ability can work in many places, don’t be too niche

Practice standard question responses to:
What one project best showcases your skills
Tell me about yourself
I’m worried you are over qualified for the post…. Amongst others

Here are a fair few on here that have real cv/interviewing experience, hope they pop along soon…

Also as above, keep your powder dry, November is a fair way off, things could change, there may be an election, Brexit, trump as us president, Jamba posting a fact….

Good luck and keep your chin up!

Thanks all, I think sometimes you think I just sell tins of beans but when you break it down I do a fair bit more. Might adjust my cv!

Happened to me twice before I was 28, both times a change in industry followed, and I ended up far better off for it. First one was a shock, I’d only been out of uni for a year and got nothing, but the opportunities I ended up with were vastly better than I would have got in my original role.

The biggest thing is I started off at 16 now 40, a Saturday job that turned into a career. It’s a pity my degree is slightly out of date, computer science has moved on loads in the last 20 years!

Focus on most recent 5 yrs or last 2 posts. The rest is interesting, but historic… volume does not beatl good content

November means that they would be happy if you left without taking a payout probably. Depending on how much it is and the feel you get looking for jobs it’s up to you when you start looking.

As mikewsmith said, if you’ve been there lomg (~24yrs) the payout could be quite substantial so you may want to make a choice based on that whether it makes sense to stick around till November or start looking now. From memory as part of your consultation they should confirm your payout or at least advise what you will get in terms of statutory + company (If they offer the latter)

Its a horrible time, but all i can say is stay level headed and try not to get angry with individuals. You never know if they might call a couple of months later and ask for you back. Thats what happened to me and i’ve been back another 7years!!

Thanks all, I think sometimes you think I just sell tins of beans but when you break it down I do a fair bit more. Might adjust my cv!

you could start off by ignoring the CV… rather just make as big a list as you can of relevant skills…. just keep adding and adding then start to group/classify them .. eg. Managerial/Accounting/ etc. etc. then make a list of which are transferable and what potential industries/sectors are

You can then recreate your current CV highlighting specific skills based on different possible jobs and also similar jobs you might have a different perspective to your CV.