I see it all the time, it’s a story that repeats itself – particularly for senior candidates.

It’s a sad story and one that can lead to a person really questioning and doubting themselves.

When being made redundant, an employee normally receives a redundancy payment linked to their tenure.

That amount can be quite substantial if the employee has been employed for a long time. I often meet candidates who have received a payout equivalent to 3 to 4 months wage.

When the dust settles, most senior employees often accept the redundancy as a bit of a bonus. When else in your life can you go to take a few months paid leave? Take some time out – have a holiday, renovate the bathroom, focus on the children or play golf every day. It provides an uncommon opportunity to sit back and reflect without any pressure.   

I normally start to hear from candidates when they are coming to the end of the redundancy payout period. They’ve been off work for nearly 4 months and they are ready to start working again.

In my own experience, it often takes senior candidates who have been made redundant 3-6 months to land their next role. This can be a really tough time for someone who has been successful in a senior position and “never really had to look for work”.

A lot of candidates lament that they hadn’t started their job search earlier.

1. Get your resume updated ASAP so you can start using it. Do it while your current job is fresh in your memory. Cover letters can still be really useful too.
2. Start networking straight away. Let your network know you are looking. Set a goal of having 20 coffee meetings with colleagues, friends, associates and recruiters. Don’t expect anything from 1 particular meeting, it’s a numbers game. Take some time off, but keep the wheels turning in the background.
3. If you see a position advertised that you are interested in, make sure you prepare for the call and make it effective. Senior candidates often perform quite poorly when phoning in about a vacancy.
4. Utilise the knowledge, network and experience or recruitment consultants. Their honest feedback is probably what you really need to hear.
5. Prepare yourself for the fact that you will have many a “No” before you land a “Yes”. It happens all the time. Have a resilient spirit and bounce straight onto the next one.
6. Remember that communication is key. How you communicate during the recruitment process will have a huge impact on the outcome.   

If you’ve recently been made redundant I encourage you to enjoy some “time away”, but make sure that you don’t leave it until the last minute before you start looking for work.