Redundancy Equals Opportunity

Regaining employment after a redundancy doesn’t have to be such a challenge says senior recruitment consultant Kimberley Richards.

This time of year can be a challenging time for gaining employment, particularly if a jobseeker has been made redundant. However, Davidson Recruitment senior consultant Kimberley Richards says it doesn’t need to be with her advice on how to turn “redundancy” into opportunity.

For many made redundant, time’s spent at home applying for hundreds of jobs, losing motivation and self-confidence because of not hearing any feedback, or being told that they were only one of 200 applicants who have applied for the job.

For those job seekers, it’s time to flip “redundancy” on its head and turn it into "Opportunity, Development, Charity, Community, Engagement and ultimately Employment!”

Every week, many people are being made redundant – whether they be a candidate, contact, client or friend. Although these conversations are challenging; the flip side is that, over the past five years since the GFC, these redundancies end in genuine success stories.

Some of these stories include: a friend who was made redundant and found temp work at a popular Queensland charity – in addition to paying her mortgage, she made some incredible contacts there and has utilised them to gain her next career opportunity.

Another was an accounting candidate who had relocated to Brisbane, joined a Not for Profit organisation in finance as its volunteer treasurer in order to meet people in Brisbane and ultimately through those connections found the “perfect” job.

One key component to each of these stories is that each jobseeker  took action and thought outside the square to gain their next opportunity.

Jobseekers need to be warned; to advance into securing a new position takes dedicated focus and hard work.

This time of year is a challenging time for gaining employment – if a jobseeker can financially cover themselves until the New Year, investing in ways to ready themselves is a good start.

Options include:

• Enrolling in a career course: for example, Davidson HR Consulting offers a great range of Career Workshops;
• Reading (arguably) the world's best-selling career advice book: "What colour is your parachute?";
• Updating LinkedIn profile,  gaining recommendations and linking up with work related contacts;
• Sign up for temp work while looking for a permanent role;
• Take a break, recharge your batteries and gain a new perspective at a retreat;
• Re-connect with people you have worked with in the past – at least 80 per cent of jobs are not even advertised (according to an article in CBB Money, 2009);
• Attend networking and industry events relevant to your career – for example a FINSIA Young Professionals 'Career Panel' event;
• Volunteer your services to a charity in the lead up to Christmas.

Volunteering is great to boost a jobseeker’s health and career. Gaining exposure to volunteer organisations not only helps other people, it also increases the volunteer’s confidence and happiness.

Additionally it connects people to their community and opens up unexpected opportunities. Who knows, these opportunities may result in career openings.

There are a lot of connected people involved in charities willing to help people with a strong work ethic and community values.  

A survey carried out by the TimeBank through Reed Executive showed that among 200 of the UK's leading businesses:

• 73 per cent of employers would recruit a candidate with volunteering experience over one without;
• 94 per cent of employers believe that volunteering can add to your skill-set;
• 94 per cent of employees who volunteered to learn new skills had benefited by obtaining a new job, improving their salary or being promoted.

Volunteering has also been proven to have incredible health benefits including increasing your self-confidence, combating depression and staying physically healthy.

The momentum of activity can help a jobseeker on so many levels including gaining new skills, improving mental and physical health, improving self-confidence, making new connections, and ultimately gaining new employment!

About the Author: Kimberley Richards has been with Davidson Recruitment since 2007 working within the Corporate & Professional Services division. Kimberley's core sectors include Professional Services, Property and Construction and Not for Profit.