Redundancy - Disaster or Opportunity?

September 9th, 2009 by Julia Barnickle - Create an Inspired Career

When your job has just been made redundant, its all to easy to see it as a disaster - as though youre unwanted, unloved and youve been assigned to the scrap heap. Even if youre quite happy to leave the job youre in, and move on, you may go through a period of mourning, of feeling rejected and wondering whether it was somehow your fault.

However, redundancy can also be an ideal opportunity to do something youve always dreamed of, especially with a handy cash injection to get you started.

So how can you avoid the post-redundancy blues and turn redundancy to your advantage?

Stay Positive

First and foremost, its important to recognise that its your job thats been made redundant, not you. Its nothing personal. Youre still a valuable and useful member of society. Your employers are simply reacting to the current economic climate in the best way they know. If the economy recovered next week, they would no doubt want you back - but you might not want to go. Their loss, not yours!

Despite the picture of doom and gloom painted by the media, there are still jobs that need to be done, and people who are looking for specifically what you have to offer. It might just take a little longer than before, to connect with the right people.

Stay Confident

If youve been working in the same job or industry for a long time, you may be feeling like youve lost part of your identity, as our identity and feelings of self-worth are often firmly linked to the job we do. You may be uncertain about what to do next, especially if there have been a lot of redundancies in your industry, or if youve been in the same industry for most of your working life.

Be kind to yourself. Go for walks in the park, by the sea or in the countryside, visit friends, go to an art gallery or a matinee performance This isnt just being idle, or burying your head in the sand. Its giving your creative side an opportunity to express itself. The chances are, it didnt get much of a look-in when you were at work - so allow yourself to play for a while, and see what ideas come up about what you want to do next.

Stay Motivated

When youre considering your options, ask yourself why would I apply for this job? or why would I set up this business?. If the answer to that question is nothing more than to pay the bills, you might want to choose something else, or adopt a different attitude. If your heart isnt in what youre applying yourself to, your prospective clients and employers will notice it in your words and your body language. Its a bit like asking someone out on a date, not because you fancy them, but because youre just desperate to go out with anyone!!

Motivation is only a problem when youre trying to make yourself do something you dont really want to do. If you can find something that inspires you, you wont be able to wait until the alarm goes off before leaping out of bed in the morning, to get stuck into it!

Be Persistent

Once youre clear about what you want to do, keep doing whatever it takes to achieve your goal, bearing in mind that it might take longer than you anticipated, and you might need to do something else to keep paying the bills in the meantime. If its truly what you want, then no amount of waiting, or obstacles will prevent you from getting where you want to be.