The jobs market is an interesting and busy place to be right now. We know some industries are flourishing and recruitment is on the up, with plenty of new vacancies coming on to the fish4jobs site every week www.fish4jobs.co.uk

However, it is hard to escape the news that there are also some businesses which are suffering in this economic downturn, so fish4jobs has revealed the top tips for surviving redundancy.

  • Always remember it is the “role” that is redundant and not “you” as an individual. It is easy for people to take it personally, but making someone redundant is never an easy decision for any company.
  • There are laws that dictate how redundancies should be handled to protect employees, so make sure you know your rights. If there is no alternative job available for you within the company, then redundancy may be the only option. You should read your company handbook or speak to an organisation such as the Citizens Advice Bureau to make sure your employer is following the right procedure.
  • Make sure your CV is always up to date.
  • Before you leave the company, ask Human Resources or your manager for a reference.
  • Register with Recruitment Consultancies, the Job Centre and Jobs Boards, such as fish4jobs, to maximise your exposure.
  • Consider that you may have to look at alternative positions to the one you were employed in.
  • Be flexible with your salary expectations – if there are lots of people looking for a fresh challenge, it might be necessary to take a lower salary than you were earning before. This may only be a temporary measure but could be essential at this time.
  • Make sure you are available for interview. There may be more candidates than vacancies, and there is nothing worse than losing out on a job interview because your phone was switched off or you slept through your alarm. Someone else will snap the position up.
  • Try to get temporary experience while you are looking for permanent work. This looks great on the CV. It shows you are willing to work while looking for the next job and offers you varied experience as well as sometimes opening more doors.
  • Make sure you have a clean interview suit ready to be worn and practise interview techniques with friends or family so you can answer questions without hesitation.

The advice section of the fish4jobs site www.fish4jobs.co.uk offers tips and advice on how to get a new job, including suggestions for writing a CV as well as interview techniques.