Just got home after receiving a massive shock to the system at work today. I have benn made redundant. I knew a meeting was taking place today but was under the impression that I was going to receive reduced hours. It was certainly hinted on numerous occassions that redundancy wasn’t an option but alas I’m back home without a job, a mortgage to pay and a wife to inform.

Thankfully my wife’s income will cover the bills and mortgage but not anything else. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite as fearful about anything in my life. I have no idea what prospects I have now or what I am going to do. My head is just spinning.

🙁

Hope you get something else soon.

It is a shock when it happens – give yourself some time to come to terms with it all.

That’s utterly crap, sorry to hear it mate.

Not much I can say to help, but feeling for you. Its happening at my place too. Utter utter crap.

What’s your skillset/location? Perhaps the STW massif can put feelers out.

Sorry to hear, fervoured. That’s dreadful.

Right, you need to plan calmly. What industry are you in – what skills do you have, what can you do? Try writing them down. Do you have contacts etc through work? Is your CV up to date?

Bugger!

Now ride your bike.

Happened to me in August 09. Got back from leave on the Monday. Told on the Wednesday. Out the door a week the following Friday. You are right it is terrifying, certainly one of the low points of my life and it left long term issues over confidence and security.

First thing to do is get on to the DWP and inform them of your circumstances. Next thing is to focus on getting started again. Work on your CV and start browsing job sites etc. What line of work are you looking at? If you want me to look over your CV, let me know.

Important thing is keep focussed. Very difficult few days ahead but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Try not to worry too much…..these things happen occasionally in our lives and sometimes they can lead to better things. One door closes etc.

Don’t be afraid to try and bring in some extra cash doing stuff like window cleaning, whilst looking for a new job. You just need to get a positive head on.

How long have you been working for that company?
Kerrrchiiing!! ….?

Best of luck OP, hopefully something will turn up.

🙁

Sorry to hear that, fervoured… I get the fear thing, but try not to let it consume you. Hopefully you’ll get something else soon.

Ah sh*t. That’s terrible. Trying to be positive… you’ve got your essentials covered so you’re not going to starve – sure there will be people who don’t have that. Try not to let it get you down.

I was made redundant last June. I looked upon it as an opportunity and set up my own business. I’ve worked my knackers off for 12 months but now I’m in a place I could never have reached whilst working for someone else. During the good weather I’ve taken plenty of time off and ridden loads. My advice would be to try and have a think about what kind of life you want going forward and see this as an opportunity to make sure you get it. Everything happens for a reason.

Best of luck.

I’m sure it’s a massive shock to the system, but you will recover, find another job and be OK.

Did the company go through the correct process? Did you have a consultation period etc?

Trying to even think about getting myself back up and running at this moment is hard. I feel utterly shattered by it. My career history has been more than up and down. Always been employed but I spent most of my twenties jumping between jobs trying to find something I liked. I couldn’t honesty say, at 31, I have a strong or specific skill-set that I could take with me to anyone.

I’ve gone from working for local council as a crime and safety partnerships officer to working in housing as a tenancy manager to working for a unversity as an accommodation manager to working as trainee suspension tuner for a small race car support team back to, most recently, a housing officer. I’ve always just managed to scrape by but in terms of a real useful skill-set……. I think I may have wasted some time on that score sadly. My CV would impress nobody.

Somehow I’ve survived redundancies twice – in both cases it would have been better to have got out. Working atmosphere and conditions are wrecked when they reduce the staff numbers.
Hopefully it’ll turn out for the best for you mate.

Thankfully my wife’s income will cover the bills and mortgage but not anything else. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite as fearful about anything in my life.

If your bills are covered, you should be fine. The threat of losing my home would make me fearful… You’ll get another job – probably a better one. Relax 🙂

My CV would impress nobody.

Nonsense stop talking yourself down sound like you’ve had quite an impressive career history with a little tweaking your CV will be glowing so don’t be down about it sounds like you have loads of experience and positive attributes. Now stop doom mongering 🙂 Good luck!

That happened to me and former colleague DerekStarship last year. Out of the 60 odd that lost our jobs (engineering/manufacturing) I think we are all back in work, even the complete basket cases.

If you want my honest advice, and this may sound a bit tough, the best solution is to rant and rave for as short a period of time as possible then throw yourself into looking for new employment. Make looking for a job your job. Those that hung about gnashing and wailing were still doing it months later. Those that went at it at full speed got sorted very quickly. Get your CV done and get on the job websites. It is a hideous thing and you are on your own but it isn’t the end of the world.

Top tip #2. Phone up SKY TV (if you have it) and tell them that you can’t afford it anymore and want to cancel. I got half price tele for 6 months 😉

Good luck fella!

Did the company go through the correct process? Did you have a consultation period etc?

I think this only applies if a certain number of/percentage of workforce are laid off. Redundancies of ones or twos don’t need it.

It’s a shock and actually when you have taken it in and see it clearly, you’ll work it out. Make sure you get to Jobcentre Plus to get on Jobseekers. This is worth it just for keeping up NI payments, although “signing on” can be a PITA.

Personally if the prospect of “reduced hours” was on the horizon, I’d have been looking elsewhere anyway. That’s a sign the company isn’t doing too well. No one seems to reward loyalty.

EDIT: Looks like you have 8-10 years of managing tenants and property. Almost every large office/factories/(schools?) have a facilities department, I think that’s an area you could explore, in addition to other housing related work

OI!!! You can stop talking like that for a bloody start!!!

I know its a shock. Been there, done that! But its bloody hard out there at the moment. And you need to be convinced of your own genius, and what an asset you are to so many companies. Think positive fella!

Ask yourself, what would Kerry do?….

The real reason she wasn’t happy… by binlidski, on Flickr

😀

My CV would impress nobody.

sounds to me like you have a history of working in customer/user facing roles in the housing sector.

that looks like a consistent theme you should be focusing on. Pick up on the ‘dealign with people’ side of things as that’s a transferable skill into any environment.

I’d prepare two cv’s, one focusing specifically on the housing experience and the knowledge you have for that and another with a more general view of your skillset. Make sure you send the right one for the job being applied for.

You’ll naturally be down for a bit but don’t think you have no skills that another employer might want.

fervoredimage

I was made redundant in january with 2 young kids and my wifes company under threat of redundancy too!
its really is a kick in the nuts

took me 6 months to get a job

1st of all get straight onto the DWP jobseekers- 70 quid a week isnt much but it covers a weekly shop
be warned they will make you jump through hoops and try and get you to apply for any old bobbins
they are also desperate to get you off the government books by sanctioning you – so turn up to every appointment and double check the times they give you
jobcentres are depressing places and it does nothing for yourself confidence!

after 6mth I was sent on a’finding and getting a job’ 2 day course Id ask insist to go on one of these straight away as they give you info and insider tips about writing applications, interview techniques and they were really helpful with polishing my CV
was also a good opportunity to meet fellow ‘dollies’ and realise that you are not the only one in that position

I also managed to do an awful lot of DIY jobs, painting, putting up shelves stuff that doesnt cost much but makes you feel like youre acheiving stuff
also ride your bike, I made a real effort to go for a ride every tuesday, empty trails you can really attack and work out your stress!

and i shouldnt have to say this but never, ever watch bargain hunt

Happened to me in Jan 2009. I ended up getting a job in a Call Centre just to pay the bills. Funny thing was there was no pressure on me and quite enjoyed my spare time rather than worrying about sales figures all the time. Sold my car, commuted to work and lost a stone in a month. With the overtime I pulled about £300 a week so not the worst paying job in the world. You’ll pick up something fairly sharpish, may not be what you want but will give you time and a bit of space to decide where you want to go from here.

Best of luck mate.

Bad luck – keep ranting and get it all out

I couldn’t honesty say, at 31, I have a strong or specific skill-set that I could take with me to anyone.

I wouldn’t worry too much about that, I’ve got to 50 without a specific set. It can make it a bit scary though. You’ve done a wide selection of stuff which is great and will make it easier to tailor your cv to the different jobs you apply for. I’ve had people pick my cv for reasons I would never have expected before.

My CV would impress nobody.

Talk about underselling yourself! If you’d have left it there I might have believed it but before that you list a whole bunch of impressive stuff – all of which will have needed some training and specialist skills.

Sounds to me like you’ve got more breadth of experience than many, it’s just a question of converting it into text and explicit skills/strengths on a page!

I’ve not been in your position so can’t offer much, only to say chin up, you’ve got a more to offer a future employer than you currently realise.

You’ll be okay, been there twice and you get by.

I’d not worry too much about a CV, think I was a kid in the seventies when someone last asked to see my CV (over egged and pure lies spring to mind when some says CV)
You sound a decent bloke and have always worked.
Good luck.

Edit; Mintman that’s what I thought, I read it and saw the theme straight away.

😆 Ahhhh the good old days when I was a kept man. Kerry was rolling in it back then.

Thanks all for the wise and encouraging words. You are absolutely right what you all say. I just need to get back on it and dive straight in and view it as an opportunity. I think right now though I am going to cook me up a decent breakfast, go for a ride and blow away the cobwebs, get some endorphins flowing and start working on my CV.

As a side note how are people finding the job markets at the moment? All I ever hear/read are horror stories about how basically the entire world is on the dole. That bad?

in 6months i had 2 interview despite replying for at least 100 jobs!

then in 2 weeks i got 5 interviews !?!

so i reckon things are picking up a bit

(to add I also went on a local archaeology course/dig and it was flipping brilliant- but dont tell the dwp)

All I ever hear/read are horror stories about how basically the entire world is on the dole. That bad?

No. Jobs are out there (not just menial ones).

Bad news OP.

From the outside, as someone who hires people and looks at hundreds of CV’s, I’m always looking for a “thing” that makes someone stand out from all the other applicants. From my view (outside of your sector too, so totally unbiased), you have a very strong “pitch” – unlike so many people in housing/council/public sector roles who have spent their entire career in the sector, you have stepped out for a bit to follow a dream and work in a fast paced and extremely high pressure environment (motorsport), which show you to be capable of reacting quickly, handling pressure and working to get a job done with the resources available because failure simply isn’t an option in a motor race situation.

Get that CV done and make a big play on that experience, find as many recruitment agencies that deal in Facilities Management (these often cross into housing too and your skills may well be transferable into FM) and get it submitted. Sounds like you have some great “real life” experience to draw down on in your next role.

Get busy applying – fast action is not only good for how you feel but is also viewed very favourably by agencies and employers……

🙂

One other thing – you’re young. It gets a million times harder when you get old – no-one wants you then.

fervouredimage, at least youll get some redundancy, and the wife is in work, life is tough and getting tougher for some.

Make sure you claim everything you can, look at a retraining course in something,ride the bike, get angry and say why me,argue with the wife,sell stuff to live on apply for jobs and get no responce,get bored etc etc.

Been there a few times and its not nice,then something comes along and the sun comes out and youre back to normal.
Best wishes in your search.

fervouredimage, at least youll get some redundancy, and the wife is in work, life is tough and getting tougher for some.

Make sure you claim everything you can, look at a retraining course in something,ride the bike, get angry and say why me,argue with the wife,sell stuff to live on apply for jobs and get no responce,get bored etc etc.

Been there a few times and its not nice,then something comes along and the sun comes out and youre back to normal.
Best wishes in your search.

Feel for you FI, but try to look on this as an opportunity.
I went down the Jobseekers route initially (PITA), but found a temping agency in the area who had me in an admittedly not very mentally stimulating job the next day.
Best thing I could have done. I earned more each week than JS allowance, met loads of people on the placement and kept me going. I set aside time on each evening for job applications.
It also gave me time to think about what I really wanted to do. I ended up knocking on companies doors, and after a fair few knockbacks came up lucky. I ended up working for the guy that gave me a break for 10 years at a couple of companies.
One set of doors closes, but there are loads of others to go through. You need to think positively about yourself to make others believe it too.
Enjoy your ride.

Just remember for every Silver Lining there is a cloud.

One of the best days of working for the bank was the day I got made redundant! Sat on my bum for a while, had a wee holiday, went and got a job doing something totally different which I enjoy. Wish it’d happened earlier!

There’s been better times to be unemployed, but, there are jobs out there- not enough for everyone but someone will get every position and there’s no reason to think it won’t be you.

I’ve gone from working for local council as a crime and safety partnerships officer to working in housing as a tenancy manager to working for a unversity as an accommodation manager to working as trainee suspension tuner for a small race car support team back to, most recently, a housing officer. I’ve always just managed to scrape by but in terms of a real useful skill-set……. I think I may have wasted some time on that score sadly. My CV would impress nobody.

sounds like you have plenty of experience in a variety of fields, I’d say you are actually in a pretty good position.

where are you based OP?

Devastating at the time but the old one “one door closes, another one opens” is certainly very true.
Take a breath and decide if you want to continue in your field, plenty of opportunities out there just don’t rush into anything.
I got finished last October and after relocating and getting a similar job (printing)with a local family business which was dire, met a bloke working there who was as pissed off as me with the whole printing trade so we started up a home maintainance business and never looked back…

Sorry to hear this.

I may be in the same postion soon although at least I have time to plan, update CV etc. Whilst originally being a bit fearful of the situation I’m now looking forward to a fresh start.

How much notice have they given you?

where are you based OP?

Based down in Northants area – Buckingham.