On the Scrapheap at 31??? (My experience of Redundancy)

Member Name: Coxy1974

Product:	My experience of Redundancy
Date:	27/05/07 (1181 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Opportunities, take the bull by the horns

Disadvantages: Feeling worthless, depressed, anxious and worried

I've just noticed this topic and thought I'd share with you my experience of redundancy.

Back in April of 2005 I decided it was time to move to another job if I could find one. For various reasons I ended up staying where I was and accepting promotion.

I worked for a large credit card company and had been there for nearly 8 years. I'd started off underwriting applications for credit and finished as a Trainer.

Shortly after I'd been promoted to being a trainer the company announced that they were to restructure. This had been done several times before so I had been expecting it.

We duly went along to the announcement and discovered that the 'support' areas of the business were to be restructured. What followed was a process of consultation and re-consultation, appeal and redundancy.

The announcement was made in the September and individual consultations commenced in the October. I went along to mine and discovered that the entire training department was effectively being axed. I was being offered one of three choices. There were two other positions on the table or the option to take the redundancy.

I deferred the decision and appealed against the selection criteria. You're probably wondering why if I wasn't happy. Well, they had given ratings for certain things and mine had been done incorrectly.

At the second consultation I was told that my scoring had been unfair but due to the nature of my job it made no difference to the fact that redundancy was still an option. My decision had been made as soon as the announcement had been made. I asked for the package.

Now this is where it becomes complicated. When you are made redundant you run through a whole gauntlet of emotions. I know I did.

Even though the redundancy had been my decision and I knew that it in no way reflected my performance in the position I was in, I was still left wondering why. Why me? What did I do wrong? How am I going to get another job? What do I do now? How will I manage if I don't get another job? And if you let it this is where the panic can start to set in and if you're not careful the depression.

For me I did a difficult job and stayed on with the company until just before Christmas. I had told people that I was taking the redundancy and they all appeared to be sympathetic - because of the job I did I had colleagues and my job dictated that I wasn't very well liked so you can imagine the gossip behind my back. This isn't something that normally bothers me and I do have very good friends there that I see on a regular basis but the rest were colleagues and would just as soon spit on you as talk to you such was the competitive nature of the business we were in.

I was determined not to let others see I had been upset and was bothered by this. I was determined to be strong throughout and positive. You can view redundancy as one of two things. Negatively - 'God I'm now on the scrap heap' or positively - 'What an opportunity to be able to relax for a few months and actually think about what I want to do'. For me - I chose the latter. I had garden leave for 3 months such was the nature of my work.

I had the luxury of doing whatever I wanted to do in those months whilst still getting paid and the prospect of the redundancy money. In my case the payout was good being in the tens of thousands and I know that some are not as fortunate.

When people at the bank asked me what I was going to do in a really fake concerned voice I replied 'I'm off to Barbados and when I come back I'll think about it'. It felt so good to see there faces fall before a big fake smile was pasted there again. Such a good feeling as if I was saying 'Up Yours' for all their nasty comments because I'd given them developmental feedback which had been honest and grounded.

What I actually did was register my CV on Monster jobs along with Total jobs. I registered for job alerts with the local newspaper job website and also with the local job centre. I wrote speculative CV's and letters and sent them to local banks and building societies. You see I had no idea what I wanted to do beyond knowing that I was a bit sick of training - I'd become a bit cynical and had lost my confidence a bit.

I went for interviews with Ofsted (which was one of the first ever interviews I have actually got up and walked out of as it was a waste of mine and the interviewers time as the hiring manager had no idea what they were after or what the job entailed), an EPOS firm, 3 banks and one interview the company I work for now. This is a complete change as I now work in the construction Industry as an IT Trainer.

I started my garden leave mid December 2005, by the end of December I had a new job and started the new job as soon as my garden leave came to an end and I was released from my contract.

When I went for my interviews I let my gut instinct tell me which was the right one for me. How right I was to do this as I have not looked back since. For me the experience of being made redundant was a positive thing - I viewed it as a positive thing and it gave me the kick up the arse to move out of a situation I wasn't happy in but the job was comfortable to me. It got me out of a rut, I went off to Barbados on holiday, got a new car, paid some of my mortgage and generally enjoyed myself without having to worry about money.

What I would recommend if faced with redundancy is

1. Look at the selection criteria - it's a must that it is transparent and communicated to you before the selection begins

2. 2 consultation meetings must be conducted. This is so that you have a chance to find out what is happening and appeal

3. Put any appeal in writing to the manager that you have had your consultation meeting with. There should be a week lag between the first and second consultation meetings

4. At the second consultation meeting the manager must provide evidence that your appeal has been heard and provide the conclusion of the said appeal

5. Once you have the package you will usually be asked to sign a compromise agreement - get yourself a solicitor and don't fall for being asked to sign it there and then.

6. Listen to the legal advice being given when you go to sign your compromise agreement. They give very sound advice and will tell you if there is anything amiss with the agreement itself or if anything is unreasonable.

7. Garden Leave - agree a term for garden leave and ensure that they time will be given off for attending other job interviews - legally they cannot stop you attending another interview

8. Only commence another job once your garden leave has finished - this is because you can be called back into work at any point on garden leave and it is considered a reasonable request to do so.

9. Register your CV with as many websites as possible prior to leaving. It's always easier to get another job when you have a job

10. When asked your reason for leaving at interview tell them it is due to redundancy. That's what I did and I was told after that it was the attitude I had when I answered the questions that really clinched the fact that I got the job

11. When writing a CV put down months and years when giving work history - can mask periods of unemployment that can be uncomfortable to answer.

12. When asked what your current salary is say between so and so and so and so. Take your base salary and multiply it by 1.5 to allow for bonuses, overtime, private healthcare etc. Put the bottom end figure down and then the top end figure i.e. between £25 - £30 k.

13. Above all take any kind of counselling or other support that your company may offer. They sometimes offer support in the form of attending a Consultancy to help you find another position. Mine was Right Coutts and I got my job by other means but I could see how they could be helpful if I'd needed them. I went into their offices a couple times a week whilst on garden leave because I was bored and needed something to motivate me to get me out of bed. All I really did was apply for other jobs in case the one I had didn't work out and surf the net.

Redundancy has many far reaching implications and can culminate with the person concerned being left feeling depressed or as if they are unemployable. This is never the case and sometimes it can be as simple as thinking out of the box and finding something different to do rather than trying to find the same job somewhere else.

There's worry, stress, anxiety, a general feeling of fear, fear of the unknown. Feeling upset is normal. After my second consultation meeting took place I got my stuff together and went home. Once there I took out my CV and gave it to as many neighbours as possible then went home and cried on my mums shoulder. That was the only time I cried and it's hard to say why I cried because I was so bloody glad to get rid of the job.

I'll conclude my ramblings by saying I think that you need to approach redundancy with positivity, think of the chance that is being handed to you, the opportunity you have to change something in your life. It can be so easy to be sucked into the depression route but you can't let it - be strong and be happy about the decision because it has been made for a reason and remember that it's not always a reflection of how well you do your job and is usually nothing personal.

Be optimistic and use the help offered - it's not nice but not as bad as you fear it will be!!

Summary: What doesn't kill you will make you stronger!