Co-founder and director of 10Eighty Liz Sebag-Montefiore looks at the next steps to take after redundancy

Everyone takes to change differently. We are all unique and have differing personalities and personal circumstances.

For some, change may bring new and exciting challenges, but it can still be difficult at the start.

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The future may look crystal clear or completely muddled, but either way, it’s a good idea to take time to understand why you feel the way you do.

At the outset, it’s about understanding yourself, your values, strengths, motivators and talents.

Proactive job search

Try to consider your future career three years from now, or further if you can imagine that far ahead.  How old will you be?  Ideally where would you be located?  What kind of job would you like to be doing?

Create your elevator pitch and make sure your network is on message.

Be proactive and use your network to make introductions to target companies.

How are your networking skills? 75% of jobs come through a networking introduction so spend time mapping out your network.

There are a number of sources that can create your network e.g. professional peers, past colleagues, suppliers and clients to name a few.

The more reactive ways of job searching are joining agencies to look on your behalf, or by applying for jobs online – these ways are much more competitive.

Create a killer CV

You need a CV that works for you. Spending time on your CV will focus your mind on your skills and achievements.

It’s useful to remind yourself of this in advance of those networking and interview meetings.

Networking and getting in front of the relevant person is your number one priority.

You also need to make your CV consistent with your LinkedIn profile.

Nowadays your online brand is more important than a CV and your profile needs to standout to recruiters.

Prepare for interviews

Make sure you’ve done your research on the firm that’s interviewing you and/or on the interviewee. You need to impress them and stand out.

Why should they choose you versus someone else? What are your USPs?

Practice interview questions using the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action and Result).

In each case, consider if there was anything that you learned from each event.

Write down your answers as bullet points. It helps to do this rather than simply practicing your answers in your head.

In summary

1. Have a plan, to know where you are going and how you are going to get there. Write it down, share it with your network and build your network.
2. Work in a way that is structured and systematic, so build yourself a CRM database for your networking.
3. Search for jobs proactively – target companies and use your network to get in front of relevant people.
4. Prepare for interviews – practice and use positive psychology.
5. It’s not about the job. It’s about a career that matches your life-cycle phases and about long-term employability.
6. Concentrate on self-investment and continuous learning.