How much notice have they given you?

They’ve actually been very good about it. They have given me six weeks notice but have allowed me to finish work now and will continue to pay me. It sounds like they just wanted me out but they are a small association and by all accounts did all they could to avoid redundancies and stated that they wanted to do all they could to help me find other work and felt Giving me six weeks paid leave would take some pressure off, which it has.

Bit pooh isn’t it – I was told 2 months ago the site we are at is closing down – sometime in 2015… so we have to hang around quite some time before we can move on. Good in that all my finances are in order (and will be more so once I get the cash) but I’d rather get a wriggle on tbh.

Similar to your situation, but the missus is definitely getting either redundancy or we have to relocate to back to the UK (but 12 months earlier than I could possibly get my redundancy) and we have kids to think about plus would we actually able to sell our house (not in negative equity but not much is happening around here) or do we rent out (rent wouldn’t cover mortgage) and use redundancy for UK deposit.

Reminds me of 2 icebergs colliding – very slow and you can see what’s going to happen but there is bugger all you can do but wait until impact.

Even if you go for another housing officer type job, the other things you have done will help you stand out a bit from the crowd – if there’s a shortlisting / selection / interview review meeting and they’re looking at thirty CVs of people who have done housing management, you’re “the motorsport guy” that they will have noticed something a little bit different for them to comment on. They might want to interview you just so they can ask you stuff about motorsport because to a lot of people, it’s interesting.

i feel for you last Oct was told we were in consultation, go made redundant with 2 years salary, my shares & pension so was in a good position!
Applied for 40-50 jobs got 3 replies, 3 interviews and 3 job offers so was lucky i walked into another job, 3 months later I left as hated the job, environment & management were useless.
So i am job hunting again and have a few irons in the fire
Living off my redundancy at the minute – so hope I get another job…….to start about Sept would be great!

Your not in a bad part of the world really. Do you have a car? MK seems to have quite a good economy. I have a friend who works for a MK housing association in MK, want me to ask if they need anyone. A long shot I know….

You’re in a good location for work. I lived in Buckingham until last December when I moved up the road to Brackley. You are in easy commute of several places that have barely noticed any recession. There are still more jobs than people in MK and even the commute to London is OK. Easy commutes include Oxford, MK, Northampton, Aylesbury, Bicester and Brackley and there is plenty of work going across these areas and there is always Waitrose/Tesco’s if you need to work to tide yourself over while sorting out a career move.

Any housing charities needing support?
Hospital volunteer
Charity shops?

Just to keep the soul going

Uni?
Social worker?

Just don’t tell the job centre- I got threatened with sanction because I was “unavailable for work” while volunteering. Pure madness.

Been there. As you have spare time sort out the job centre and then ring around everyone like sky, o2, insurance companies. You will be amazed how much they are willing to knock. Consolidate all your out goings and i bet you save a fair bit. It also makes you feel good. Then have a bloody good think of what you could do, even outside the box. I used my redundancy money to start a company making and selling iPhone and iPad accessories. 2 years in I make a good salary have low stress and control my daily life. I’m in a far better position and it is nothing like my old job as a IT project manager for a major bank.

Happened to me once , but I was a ‘wanted’ man so made no difference .
Made a good few thousand out of my redundancy deal so didnt have any money worries ( Mrs Thatcher selling the nation helped too )

If it gets tough ,or looks like nothing is happening on the jobs front then get busy.
No-one, and I mean not 1 person has knocked on the door at work and said ” Look mate I’m smart , sensible and willing to work , Do you have any job vacancies or anything coming up?”
OK , so i work in an affluent area of the southeast , but there must be industrial estates near you. Get a FLT cert , maybe get goods vehicle training .
I know its not what you have been doing , but its a job.
Good Luck

@fevoiredimage – sorry to hear this, but life has a habit of throwing these sorts of things at us. Firstly I’d say try and take a little time to get your mind straight, it’s something that’s happened to you but don’t take it personally. You suggested you weren’t sure how to tell the wife, I imagine you’ve done that now but If you haven’t think of your first two sentences, tell her what’s happened and then just talk about it. From what you say your finances are in reasonable shape with your wife’s income, I’m sure there are some things you can cut back on. You do need to be positive, if you have the mindset that your cv will impress no one then it will do exactly that ! If you want you are more than welcome to email me (in profile) I’m quite good with CV’s if I do say so myself 😉

I would get down the the DWP and fight for your money, they will absolutely try and screw you. My daughter was nearly in tears with all the bs they came up with to avoid registering her for job seekers. As above the DWP do have useful stuff to offer so make use of it.

Yep, awful experience and I feel for you. It really is a terrible thing to go through. be thankful though that you have your wifes money coming in still.

I went contracting mainly through friends whose help I appreciated massively. It really made the difference. I took day contracts down in London and worked 20 hour days. It was still very tight and it took us years to recover from the debts we built up. I had to sell bikes to put food on the table. Not nice.
Hope you find work soon.

Depending on the state of your CV it may be worth paying a decent specialist company to review and improve it, as well as build an effective Linked In profile if that is relevant to your sector.

Testimonials and mini case studies which demonstate exactly how you have made a positive impact in previous roles will improve your chances of getting an interview.

@OP – that’s shit. I was made redundant a while ago and it was horrid.

Re: consultancy etc – my understanding on this (and I underwrite employment law disputes and the like so have some working knowledge) is that absolutely it has to be followed. Even just for 1 person. And they have to show why you were selected over others etc.

Best thing to do is speak to someone at ACAS – completely free and they will be able to guide you accordingly.

Cheers

Danny B

Sorry to hear. Been in this situation last january. Scare the bejesus out of me thinking there is nothing out there.. Truth is it just seems nothing out there. As was said register with JSA straight away..every little helps.. Gonna take time to find one.. Took me 4mos and more at least to find a job .. What to do? Huh! Well.. I ride my bike every other day while applying and waiting for calls.. It would feel forever, after 2mos waiting.. This is where your spirit began to crumble, it helps chatting with previous co-worker too .. Whatever happens dont ever ever sit in the couch/sofa for more than 2days.. It goes downhill from there… i gain a lot of weight sitting in the couch watching telly while eating cakes and ice cream feeling sorry for myself as Riding bike therapy doesnt work much anymore after 3mos waiting. . Hold on there and godspeed.

As a few of the above folks have said – companies have a legal obligation to follow a process redundancies (called periods of consultation). If they don’t follow it they can leave themselves open to all manner of problems (including extending your period of notice, claims of unfair dismissal and fines). ACAS are your friend, consult them.

Being made redundant is a big knock. It happened to me 2 years ago, and it’s hellish, but despite what you may think, your CV sounds good! Lots of experience in the housing sector, and the different career path shows your versatility and ability to adapt. That’s an amazing positive for any employer.

Stay positive, get your details on linkedIn and your CV out to recruitment agents and anywhere else you can think of.

The other thing to consider – if your bills are covered and you’re not confident of your skills… University as a mature student maybe? I know it may mean student loans, but it may mean you feel more confident going forward?

I got a feeling redundancy was going to happen to me so I left and set up my own business 18 months ago.

Not looked back since.

I’ve got 2 sometimes 3 blokes working for me, I’m busy myself with work too. It’s hard but really nice not to be involved in corporate backstabbing nightmare I was in.

When one door closes, another one opens.

Hope the shock subsides and you get sorted one way or another. Stay positive too.

I always feared redundancy, then the company I worked for went into liquidation in April. I have two children and my wife’s salary is nothing earth shattering. I would say don’t panic, and maybe take a couple of days to get your head round it. I set part of the bedroom up like an office and tried to keep office hours when job hunting. This may help. I am working again and am really happy with my job. It may seem like a cliche but there is work out there.

Good luck

Monday – Job hunt planning and contacting anyone you can remember that might know of lead
Tuesday – letters, emails, phone calls. Treat it like a job
Wednesday – ride relax and try not to dwell on it
Thursday – do every bit of house work and of job around the house
Friday – check job hunting and follow up every lead in the morning then ride and relax

Repeat every week until you are welding again.

My neighbour lost her job at the start of the year and has set up baking organic sourdough breads and delivering them by bike around Cambridge. She’s at over 100 loaves per week already without any real advertising:

My Bread and Ingredients

buisness with your lad? landscaping etc?

Should they have not given you 12 weeks notice.

Not if they’re:

small
not making many redundancies
he’s not been there very long (less than 2yrs)

I’ve been made redundant 3 times in the last 15 years and I feel for you, It’s tough.

Some tips I would give is: –

A) Get your CV up to date and make sure it’s in top shape (No more than 2 pages, good use of bullet points and small statements of successes and initiatives), get it reviewed professionally (If you know someone in HR then use them!) Also create a cover letter / Personal statement, this can fill in detail to assist your CV and application.

1 Do your homework on local companies, research who are the good / best employers in your area.

2 Never forget the saying “its who you know not what you know”. employee referrals are a big benefit to employing organisations and employing referrals will save agency fees (Which can be up to 25% of the starting salary).

3 If you can try and not go through recruitment agencies, they have strict and stringent selection criteria which can be detrimental to your application.

4 See what free training is available and go for it, improve yourself at every opportunity.

5 Above all, stay positive and show initiative!

I hope this helps and good luck!

KS

Chin up OP then follow all the advice given.

I have been made redundant twice before and the feeling is rotten even thinking of it now.

At the moment I just work part-time as a minor bureaucrat enough to get by … the threat of losing this one hangs around me all the time.

I am doing something about it now trying to start a small business and it’s not easy in this economy climate but I am giving it ago regardless …

😐

I was made redundant at end of January, went for a load of jobs , finally got one TODAY !! Don’t let it get you down and use your time to get out riding ….. Good luck

cmadd – Congrats! 🙂

Thanks footflaps

Hope you manage to find yourself a job in good time.

sign on– you have the right to get help from what is left of the welfare state– also , remember it happens to millions of people, nowt personal–a reminder of the ‘world’ we live in, a system that exploits people, but as we live in one of the most lucky parts, there is a cushion.

Take a bit of time out if you like, its good to re evaluate what is important– jumping back on the rat wheel as quick as possible, or seeing if other things crop up…. fwiw -its much dependant on your ‘outlook’–whether materialism is a big thing , or whether quality of life not work is more your thing.. problem for many people is they are often in a spiral of big commitments-mortgage, hp, car loans etc– just have to prioritise– one thing though, you won’t starve.

i have been in and out of work all my life, sometimes its nice to have a break from the rat wheel- nothing worse than a job you hate ! good luck