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Call us on 0800 222 733Career options after redundancy
Being made redundant can knock your confidence. Find out what you can do to help yourself through the process, and to make plans for your future.
Your natural impulse may be to ask, "Why me? What did I do wrong?" But you need to remember that it is your position, and not you, that has been made redundant.
If you don't have future plans, take time out to think through your options. Don't make any big decisions quickly, or you may act out of hurt or bewilderment, before thinking things through.
Take advantage of support services
- A counsellor can help you make plans for the future
As part of the redundancy process, your employer may offer counselling or career advice services. Use these. You may be offered the services of:
- a counsellor - they can help you work through your emotions, and discuss options for your future.
- a career adviser - they may be able to give you a better picture of your chances of getting work in your area, or suggest other areas where you skills may be in demand.
Sort out your finances
If you have received a payout as part of your redundancy, think carefully about how you might best use this money. Do you have debts to clear, ongoing bills to cover, or do you want to put the money toward retraining for a different career?
Talk about how you can manage your money with your family and friends, or get help from a financial adviser or online budgeting website.
- Dominion Post website - be careful with your redundancy cheque
- Inland Revenue website - information about tax on redundancy payments
- Sorted website - tips for coping with redundancy
If there is no provision in your employment agreement for a redundancy payout, you may leave your job with just your last pay cheque and whatever annual leave is owed to you.
You may be able to get financial help from Work and Income.
Get a new routine
- Hobbies can become a positive part of your new routine
It can be hard to motivate yourself each day, so creating a schedule mapping out each week and/or setting yourself goals for each day may help.
For example, you might want to set aside a certain amount of time to devote to your job hunt. You might also take the opportunity to do some voluntary work. This gives you the satisfaction of contributing to your community, and you may gain useful experience or skills to help in your job hunt. You could even hear about a job opening.
Get back into work
When you've had time to adjust, start thinking about your future. This is a good time for you to review:
- what you've been doing
- whether you enjoy it/what aspects of your work you have enjoyed
- what you want from a career
- what skills and knowledge you have.
Once you've done this, you'll have a better idea of what you want to do next - either find a job like your old one, or move into something completely new.
- Where to start - how to work out what you want from your career
- Figure out your skills
- What are your work values?
If you want to find a job that's similar to your old one, start meeting with recruiters, contacts you have in the industry and potential employers. Remember to present a positive attitude. Even if you are still upset, being positive will help you make a good impression.
Changing careers
If you want to move into a new area of work, you need to ask:
- Do you need to do more training to work in this area?
- Will this career pay as well as your past job, and how will you manage if it does not?
- How will the new career fit in with your life outside work – your family, hobbies and other commitments?
"The upside of this is that it’s forced me to think about what else I can do. I’ve gone through a list of my strengths and skills and it’s been a good way of looking at the different options available to me.
"I’ve always worked in a specialised area [IT]. This redundancy has forced me to start thinking about what other skills I can offer and how I can take the specialised knowledge that I do have and sell it."
Pete Gallen, IT Specialist
Take time out to train or retrain
Training need not be a huge time commitment. Short courses give you the opportunity to pick up new skills or knowledge that you can add to your CV. This can help improve your chances of finding a job, or allow you to apply for a wider range of roles.
Start your own business
For some people, being made redundant can provide the push needed to start a business. Even if your knowledge of your business area is sound, you'll need to ask yourself:
- Do I have the ability to motivate myself and schedule and complete work on time?
- Do I have enough money behind me to start a business? What are the start-up costs?
- How will running a business affect my personal life, including family and whānau, sporting commitments and other hobbies?
- Can I deal with the many areas of running a business? For example, sales and marketing, production, accounting and clerical work.
Insurance loss adjuster Peter Webb was made redundant in 2001. Undaunted, he decided to use his knowledge to set up his own online loss adjusting company.
“I like the fact that I had to re-educate myself at the age of 47. That was a step up that I never thought I would achieve. I am creative in the way that I’ve designed the systems that I work to, and that gives me a sense of achievement.”
Peter Webb, Insurance Loss Adjuster