How to Reinvent Yourself After Redundancy

It is reasonable to feel a range of negative feelings when you are made redundant, you may feel anger, fear, disappointment or anxiety about your future. Once the initial shock and confusion has settled you may realise that this is your chance to reinvent yourself and craft a career that suites you more than the previous position that you held.

With hindsight you may find that you weren’t really that happy and this may be your chance to break free and find something new that you will like more. Set some time aside to consider your options, talk to a career counsellor to identify current employment trends and start to develop a career transition plan for a new revitalised employment future.

A career counsellor can help you to review your life/work values, skills and interests – this will help you to identify who you are, and what your real values are.

Take charge of your own future, develop your personal brand, and develop your skills to increase your employability. Update your CV and rework it to promote the positive revised you, not the past you. Ensure that your CV highlights your strengths and take some time to improve your weaker areas by enrolling in workshops or courses. 

Build on your career focused networks by updating your list of relevant contact emails and addresses and join network groups to establish more connections in the fields that you are seeking employment or a new career in. Utilise networking social media websites like LinkedIn.

At this time it is important that you take care of your well-being. Eat well and drink less alcohol. Establish an exercise program and stick to it for the duration of the transition period. Include some meditation, mindfulness or yoga exercises to get rid of some of those hidden stress points and any negativity that you may be holding onto.

Take a holistic approach to your new revised self, see a doctor for a check-up, talk to a careers counsellor and work skills trainer or mentor, discuss any financial concerns with your accountant and anyone else that could have input into your future. 

1. Don’t take it personally, redundancy it is part of life and it can open new opportunities for you.
2. Reach out for some support, talk to professionals who are aware of current employment trends and can help you to develop a plan of action for a new career crafting opportunity.
3. Start working on developing a plan as soon as you can, while taking care of yourself holistically. 
4. Seek professional Career Counselling - for a Skills Audit – identify transferable skills, and discussions around up skilling for a new career.
5. Get your finances in order.
6. Be prepared to try different roles, consider all opportunities.
7. Work on restoring your self-confidence – build networks, rehearse and prepare for a new start.