With the dawn of the credit crunch, more and more people will be finding themselves faced with redundancy. Career coach Jessica explores how redundancy can in fact be a great opportunity to make positive changes to your career...
A lot of career shifters that have come to me over the last few months have been prompted by the economic downturn. Sensing a change coming or even having one forced on them through redundancy they are now looking at finding a new job or looking into a new career.
This can either be a good or a bad thing depending on how you approach it. A cup half full or half empty syndrome. You can either fight it and resist the change, or welcome it and work with it. Many companies when offering redundancy offer some kind of coaching and support and if you can take advantage of this then you can definitely turn this kind of situation into a half full scenario.
Assess what you want to bring from this job into the next one
If you love what you do and wish to continue then your path forward is pretty clear. You can look into other companies where you can do the same kind of job and maybe refine your needs as to what kind of company you wish to work for. Maybe think about the kind of ethics you'd like your new company to have or the type of people you'd like to work with. Whenever change comes it is always a good thing to review a past experience and learn what you don't want in the future. In that way you can really get clear on what you wish to keep from your old experience of this type of work and what you'd like to add.
It may mean that you loved the work you were doing, but could do with leaving at a decent time at night. So you add that to your wish list; a company that honours it's employees and encourages them to take responsibility for their time. Maybe you loved the skills you were using, but the company didn't match your values. It could be you'd like to do the same job but in a different location - what a great opportunity to now find another similar job, but in a location you love this time.
Be clear on what it is you'd like to subtract and add in the next job you take. With those ideas in mind you can start your job search.
Consider a complete change in career
Of course this could also be a wonderful opportunity to shift career totally. In some ways you could look on your situation as doing you a favour. Moving out of a viable job on your own is a hard decision to make, but having the decision made for you catapults you into a place where you can really start looking into what you'd truly love to do.
There are plenty of articles on the site that help you to explore your options or look at your skills set:
For choosing a career with confidence.
This is more about seeing the half cup full and knowing that when these things happen in our life there is always a good reason and purpose even if we won't see them straight away.
Maybe you had never considered making this move, but now it is happening, allow yourself to see the open door ahead of you. Make it a time of absolute choice, take advantage of this moment in your life when you can really be honest and answer the question - do I love what I do? If the answer is no, you have just been given a huge opportunity to make what could be the most important change in your life. Grab it with both hands. After all, you spend so much of your day at work, why not do something that makes your heart sing - and get paid well for it too!
Leave a comment below: How can you make the most of redundancy, as either a step towards a better job or to a new career?
Jessica works internationally as an Empowerment Coach, Passion Test Facilitator and Business Consultant and is also the author of Remembering Perfection.
She helps people discover their true passions, and live them, whether it be in their work or personal life. She works individually with people and runs workshops in the UK and Spain.
She offers a free ebook: Feel Better Right Now! accompanied by a free 30-day Video course. You can sign up for it at http://tinyurl.com/25mecjv
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