Copyright © 2011 Portfolio Business Solutions Ltd - Find Me A Career!

Redundancy Support - Redundancy is, of course, a very difficult situation for any individual or family to have to deal with. At the time that you are made redundant or accept voluntary redundancy it may seem like the “end of the road”, but this does not have to be the case. With the necessary preparation it is possible to re-establish yourself, your belief in yourself and return back to work. We will help you to take you through a step by step approach to getting you back into employment and more importantly, doing a job that you really want to do rather than just have to do. How many times have you asked yourself the question “what is the job for me”?

Step 1 - Acceptance - is to accept the situation and treat this as an opportunity to ‘move on’.

Step 2 - Re-evaluate - is to re-evaluate what directions you would like to go in and start to research what broader skills you have and which you may need to be applicable for your new occupation.

Step 3 - Re-apply Yourself  To The Situation - is to re-apply yourself with an updated CV and skill set to following a similar or new career path, which is both inspiring, satisfying and financially rewarding to yourself.    

Step 1 - Acceptance

For many people being made redundant does come as a shock. Either at the time it happens or later – when the reality of the situation hits home. For other people who are told in advance or make the decision voluntarily several months earlier – it can still come as difficult to understand or accept. Rarely does the ideal opportunity to make a career change present itself in such a way for any of us. Having the time and the freedom to choose what you actually want to do next in your career whilst still also trying to maintain a full time role is almost impossible. Remaining positive and learning to accept the facts allows you to re-evaluation your options and make the right decisions for you.  

Being made redundant may have a feeling of inevitability about it and with this can sometimes come with the thought that it will last forever. At this stage it is important to break this natural thought process and accept that it is only a matter of time before you will be back in work and potentially even on a new career path. At Portfolio Business Solutions Ltd we will support you to break out of this situation and re-establish yourself in the job market place.

It is important to keep the issue of redundancy in perspective. It would be easy to imagine that all elements of your life had gone wrong, but often this would not be the case. It is also possible to blame ourselves for those circumstances that led to redundancy and again, often this would definitely not be the case. For example, no one person is responsible for the global economic crisis of 2010.

The most difficult step is the first. Accepting that you have been redundant and preparing yourself for the next course of action is the most challenging. Once made, you can begin to re-evaluate your position.

Step 2 - Re-evaluate

‘Looking back’ is a term that you will use less and less frequently from this point forward. What is important is to identify those characteristics and skills that you have which you believe are your key strengths and weaknesses. Just by simply writing down your strengths on paper will help you think about the basics fact about your personality and what you have achieved in your previous jobs. Sometimes it helps if we do this as part of a question and answer session as it is easy to take some of these achievements for granted when they should really be used to highlighted as key parts of your experience or skillset.

Having made your list of strengths and weaknesses, now concentrate on your strengths and find examples of when your strengths have been used to achieve positive results in your previous jobs. Write them down – regardless of how unimportant that you may believe that they may be. With our help you will build a profile of yourself and what you do better than other people with a similar skill set.

We will then help you to create a CV that describes you, your skills, your experience levels and ambitions. Once you are happy with your CV then we will help you to prepare covering letters that support you in your job applications. Contrary to popular belief, no one CV fits all job applications. It’s important to also pay attention to the detail that you put into your CV. Whilst you become very familiar with the document, the person that is going to read it as part of your application will be seeing it for the first time – so it needs to be perfect.

You need to know that your CV will capture the attention of the reader immediately.

In terms of impact on the reader, here are some key points to remember before you actually send your CV into an employer in response to a job advert :-

• The CV will probably only be read for about 1 minute and then decide whether they would like to meet you for an interview. Therefore the CV must quickly get the reader’s attention.

• Ensure the information that you provide is presented clearly – so that the reader recognizes the content as relevant specifically to the role that you are specifically applying for.

• Make sure that you proof read your CV before you send it – obvious spelling mistakes and bad grammar could rule you out – even if you are well qualified for the role.

• Use one font, make the CV clear and use bullet points to get your message across.

• Always remember that the hiring manager will be looking to understand what skills you have and what you can do for him or her.

• The tone of your CV is particularly important. It must be positive and focus heavily on your key achievements.

• Use real world examples to substantiate what you have achieved and remember that you will need to potentially quote these in your interview.

• Always avoid writing long lists, which do not add a great deal to the weight of your CV.

• Where ever possible do not use abbreviations that your audience may not understand.

• In terms of the content - try to be as brief and ‘to the point’ as possible.

The layout of your CV is extremely important. A well organized and structured CV signifies to the reader that you are also well organized. Here is a suggestion that you could use as a basic structure for your CV.

Section 1: Name, Address and Contact Details.

Section 2: Education

Section 3: Personal Statement

Section 4: Professional Experience

Section 1 is self-explanatory, but make sure that all details are included.   

Section 2 should include what you studied and where. For example Senior schools, college and university)

Section 3 will be a short paragraph which describes your personality and professional achievements and values at a high level. Basically, this short section will describe ‘what makes you tick’.

Section 4 will form the bulk of your CV. It must include in reverse-chronological order (i.e. the latest would be first) the jobs and positions that you have held and in which companies.

If necessary, show the different positions that you have held within the same company. Do not leave time japs in your professional experience section. Account for these gaps – even if this was a period of time where you were actively looking for a job, but had not been successful at this point in time. What is important in this section is to give the reader the assurance that if you were to be offered a position what skills and benefits you would bring to their organization. Account for your previous specific achievements and why these were a benefit to your current or previous employer. What challenges did you have to overcome? How was this achieved? By following our step by step approach to how to get a job and finding the right job that suits you then you will be satisfied that you can answer the question of ‘what is the right job for me’?

Step 3 - Re-apply Yourself to the Situation

Having created a CV which describes your experience and skill set, you may well be a little surprised at what you have actually achieved since the last time you updated your CV. At Portfolio Business Solutions Ltd we specialize in helping you to highlight and document these as part of updating your CV with you. Given your circumstances you will be able to consider any new career paths that you would like to follow as part of starting again in the job market. We will always recommend you follow a career path that you want to do, rather than one that you have always followed in the past. As we go through your answers we will be able to build a profile for yourself and help you understand How do I find a career.

As part of our process to help you choose the right job we take you through all of the current job opportunities where you live as part of our Careers Support.

Finding The Right Job

Here are some basic ‘rules of thumb’ to that you can use to remind yourself of when you are creating your CV :-

• Your CV is the key to you getting an interview.

• It allows you to highlight the achievements that you have made within your career to date and how you overcame problems to situations within your work that allowed you to be successful.

• It will often be used for the basis of your job interview – so by creating your own CV you will have some (albeit limited) opportunity to guide the interview in a direction that suits you.

• As part of your interview you may be asked to provide examples from your previous jobs which highlight some of your potential weaknesses. Whilst you are creating your CV, which will focus on your strengths you should also take the opportunity to separately document any weaknesses that you could also describe during your interview as a positive. For example, you may feel that you can sometimes take too much of an active role in managing other people’s work with them, rather than letting them manage their own work. This may seem like potentially interfering to you, but could also be looked upon as providing support to others – so a negative has been turned into a positive.

• After creating your outline CV consider how and where you will be able to enhance your CV to suit the role that you are applying for.

• The structure and content are important when selling your skillset and experience. They are also important as your CV will need to be adapted to suit different occasions where it will be used.

• Your CV will be a living document that you will also need to review and keep updated regularly.

• Always keep your CV accurate, factually correct and honest. Always remember that your CV will be verified by your referees.

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