MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Unfortunately I'm being made redundant by end of the year due to significant re-org and many roles, including my own going. First time this has happened to me (I'm mid-40's) and it's scary. Thankfully redundancy payment means I do not desperately have to get work for some time. That said to ensure we enjoy Xmas it would be good to have a new job to look forward to.
I've my CV in and had a few interviews for advertised jobs, however an interesting situation came about through a chance discussion.
Basically bumped into a senior manager from same job function as my own and got chatting. He suggested that I 'come in for an informal chat'. This I did and met with him and one of his team managers. A few days later the team manager asked for my CV and that I come in for a formal chat with him and their HR. Discussion went well and some positive dialogue. Team manager went on holiday later that day. A few days later their HR person sent me an email to advise that things were positive from their side and they would meet with the team manager on his return from holiday to progress but could I also advise them if any progress with other potential jobs.
Now....I'm slightly optimistic and hopeful about this....should I be?
Brian
[i]I'm slightly optimistic and hopeful about this....should I be[/i]
I would be.
Basically, I'd assume that you've got the job bar any internal budget haggling and final approval from the manager.
The same organisation that are making you redundant or a different one?
Different one.....company doing basically the same 'stuff' as my current employer.
In that case, it sounds very good.
Absolutely! you're a 'known quantity' or 'safe pair of hands' however you want to look at it, that's a huge plus in HR terms - no one wants to the guy who recruited the wrong person.
in 2009 I got the bullet from one of the big banks, I had a few chat with people in the industry and a few said "come and see me of you need work" One guy especially made a point of calling me to say it - but like a total dick I just thought they were being nice - after all this was finance and everyone was struggling, so I ended up kicking about for a few months, burnt through all my pay off and took a terrible job.
Two years later the terrible employer got rid of me via a dubious 'redundancy' - as it was all going wrong the guy who we outsourced the IT too said the same "come and see me" even though I knew nothing about IT I did just that, long story short 2 years later I'm still here - I don't do much IT related stuff, but I run the sale and marketing and things are going really well.
Irronically the Finance Broker who'd asked me to "come and see me" in 2009 is one of our biggest clients - they've grown and grown since 2009, twice the size they were then and have just floated as a PLC - it might have been a bad fit for me / them - but there was no obviously a real job there for me, in my usually industry - I could have avoided a lot of pain.
Seems promising, potential golden scenario of redundancy and new job very soon. Yes, these sorts of contacts are common ways of getting new jobs. I'm 50 have changed jobs 8 times and apart from the first two out of Uni have always got jobs via contacts.
Good luck.
Sounds good, hope it works out for you.
I got made redundant in '99, got chatting to the gym manager where I was a member about it, I'd been doing sales training, they had a sales job going, quick interview and I was working within a week of starting 3 months gardening leave. (Didn't come to anything long term, but kept money coming in)
A colleague of mine was recently turned down for a job with another public sector body but was told to keep an eye oh for another similar post that they were about to advertise. Handed his notice in last week and can't stop smiling. Similar job, more money, 30 minute commute rather than covering tbe whole country, ideal with a new baby!
Sounds good, fingers crossed!
I'm fairly sure I got my first position within my current employer through telling our support staff how cr@p the product was.
I think it sounds disastrous. You should be holding out for 3 months skiing followed by 3 months on the bike.
I would at least be considering if you can do that financially and mentally and then working out your best tactics for requesting it.
Nothing counts until you have a formal offer, so I wouldn't put anybody else off just yet.
I was in a similar position a few years ago, was leaving anyway and had a job offer on the table, but was awaiting news of a redundancy. The new job didn't seem to mind waiting a couple of days to go for references, I knew they wouldn't give me the payout if I was leaving anyway.
Whatever you do, don't tell old job about new job until you have to - I ended up with 6 weeks pay in lieu of notice and a month free to spend it !
[i]HR person sent me an email to advise that things were positive from their side[/i]
So the references are fine and any right to works checks have been cleared.
Was the email from HR a reply to an email you sent asking how things went, or was the first contact from them.
If they were replying to you then yeh I'd be cautious but optimistic. If it was an email directly from HR then it would be odd to make contact if things weren't very positive.
I got my current job because I'd worked with and knew quite well the people who'd been taken over by the company. I didn't even have a real interview.
However, we needed a name to put on the word-of-mouth recruitment bonus form, and we put my mate's name down even though he didn't actually recruit me. He pocketed £3.5k...
Gary_M,
I dropped an email thanking them for the opportunity for the meeting and saying how interesting the role was. HR person responded.
I'm cautiously optimistic, but I'll only be truly optimistic when I have a job offer and an appropriate package.
Brian
Taking things just right I'd say. Never under-estimate informal contacts - not really an old boys network, although after redundancy my jobs have all been through talking directly to folk I already knew; but it's a deal winner from their PoV as well in that they cut out agencies, recruit known or at least human quantities, and can get you started maybe straight from the off..
After my redundancy (which was very welcome, nearly blew it by leaving couple months early!!) - I did some contract work for the Whisky Society (through knowing the MD and having an, shall we say, enthusiasm for the product); then worked at local college here (after moving 200 miles) after a chat with my former maths reacher, now a lecturer); and now happily work for a friend here in Elgin, having known him (and his brother) at school..