How to take control after redundancy

Our blog provides advice about the options available to you to help move your career in a new direction.

Companies have to make redundancies for many different reasons such as budget cuts or no longer being in need of a particular departments function.

If you have recently been made redundant, you may not agree with the reasons provided to you by your employer and you may experience a knock to your confidence. However, it is important to remember that you still have a lot of experience and valuable skills.

The first step in dealing with redundancy is acknowledging and accepting it. You may want to ask your employer to change their mind, but in most cases this won’t be possible. Therefore, accepting the news and asking for feedback and good references will put you in good stead whilst job-hunting again.

A familiar career path:

It’s time to think about your next steps and what you want to achieve in your next role. You may wish to move up a step in your career, you may wish to go into a similar position at a similar level or perhaps you want to take a career break and study for a masters or PHD to add to your experience.

If you wish to remain in permanent employment, your next step will be to reach out to recruitment agencies, start applying for jobs using job boards online or approach companies directly with a speculative CV. You can also use your profile on LinkedIn as a way to find new recruitment consultants and apply for jobs through the website. This will help you to find a full time role.

However, if you want to have more independence or want to work for yourself, you should read on to find out how.

A change of direction:

Many people find that redundancy offers you a chance to re-think your career path and in some cases find a new direction. For many, employment has been an uphill battle, fighting office politics, struggling to reach roles that are more senior or simply not having the autonomy to take control of your work.

If you feel this has been a challenge you have faced throughout your career as an employee, you may want to consider working entirely independently as a contractor or consultant.

With this, you choose who you work with and the length of time your contracts will last for. This means you can plan when you need to look for your next contract and the end of your time with one client will not come as a sudden shock to you.

In addition, starting a career as a contractor gives you the opportunity to start your own business. Many contractors choose to set up a limited company to run their business. By setting up a limited company, you are the director of your own business and can sign contracts with your new clients under a professional business entity of your own.

A CV review:

Many people, whether they choose to remain in employment or move into the field of contracting choose to have a CV review like that offered by Fuller CV. A review service such as Fuller CV offer free CV reviews, templates, and CV consultations. Find out more about Fuller services and see if they can help you improve your chance of securing your next role, be it contracting or employment.

Why you should make the move:

Many experienced, highly skilled individuals will experience redundancy at some point during their career. For some, this is the opportunity to make a career change and move into the world of contracting. Businesses hire contractors for their experience and valuable skillset to fill a gap within their existing workforce. Therefore, if you recently received notice of your redundancy and are thinking about your future career path, contracting could be a viable option for you.

When you have agreed your first contract role, call us to discuss setting up your limited company. Additionally, if you would like more information on the benefits of contracting click here or find out about moving from employment to contracting here.

How we can help you:

Here at Churchill Knight & Associates Ltd, our service provides you with support for running your contractor business. Most of our clients opt to use a limited company, and for that, we offer bookkeeping, invoicing and payroll services to help you manage your limited company with ease.

In addition to this, our accountants will tailor your take home pay calculations to your needs. Therefore, if you want to maximise your take home pay, we’ll give you the best advice on how to do that through your limited company.

Why not discover your potential take home pay as a contractor today by using our calculator and see how it compares to your employee salary. We’re sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.