It's the run up to Christmas and here we are again, finding members contacting us as they are being, or are preparing to made redundant. It always seems to me a horrible time to find yourself under the threat of losing your job, but really, is there ever a good time? Probably not.
We see this process happen all year round, some years have more than others but it certainly seems to occur cyclically, about every two years or so, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry. It is certainly a reason that people tell me they don't want a job in pharma - 'there's no security' (whether there is security in any job is a whole other blog topic!) - but is it as bad as all that?
Being made redundant is a traumatic time in anyone's career; even if they are secretly hoping for it to happen. You go through feelings of elation to despair; from a blur of applying for new jobs to the complete lack of motivation to even turn on the computer to search, let along actually sit down and write an application.
You may feel anger towards your (ex-) employer, your family, friends and colleagues. You may feel a sense of betrayal, denial or disbelief. You may feel all of this very quickly or it may happen over many months. You will feel that you are turning a corner and then may find you slip back into a moment ( or longer) of frustration and self-doubt.
It will pass and you will come out the other side.
How long will it take? That is a personal question and depends on you and your circumstances, for some the cycle of emotions pass very quickly, for others it takes longer. Before you think to yourself that I am descending into a rather negative blog, I can tell you that probably 95% of people we speak to a year after being made redundant are happy in their new role and generally say to us how happy they are that it happened - 'it was the kick I needed to do something different' is a common phrase I hear when all the dust has settled.
So what can you do, especially at this time of year, if you are experiencing redundancy? First, don't panic. There is plenty of support through the RSC, your HR team and the outplacement service if you have one. Many people are tempted to start applying for jobs, any jobs, even if it means a £20k paycut. I would advise against that for a moment or two. Spend a week or more if you can thinking about what you would like to do: something similar, completely different? What is it you have enjoyed in your career so far? Will you need to leave the company? Who else do you know who has been made redundant? What did they do and were they successful?
A significant number of questions before 'what job can I get?'
Secondly, I would urge you to remember that redundancy is very common, it is not the black mark against you that people think it is and employers are very used to gaps on CVs - it's what you do in that gap which counts! Think about how you will use any time off you have - finishing that DIY you have been meaning to do, spending time with the family, volunteering etc.
Finally I would suggest getting some advice on your CV (once you know the area of work you are looking for) because a good CV sent to a few job adverts yields more results than a generic CV sent to hundreds of job adverts.
If you want to talk to us about your situation, get in contact at careers@rsc.org. Whether it is to change your job completely and go in a new direction or to try and get something similar; to bounce ideas or to build confidence, we are happy to help.