I'm going to be made redundant!

fandango

@dogload ; Great news - in a way. I can empathise, because I've been there myself. As the bottom drops out of your world and you catch up with it as it falls, you realise the situation is but the start of a whole new adventure.

One idea ... you could use your skills and talents to go self employed. Work for yourself. Just a thought.

Bork

Here's my redundancy story for entertainment value if nothing else:

I was made redundant three times as the 2007 recession began to bite.  THREE TIMES.  Can you imagine the financial, social and mental impacts?  After that, I left the UK and went to NZ only to land a job in an organisation with major bullying issues so after two years of letting it get to me, I left and became a contractor in another city - the least secure option I could have gone for but no other options on the table.  My contract eventually wasn't renewed because I was considered too expensive (but in reality they made a mistake hiring another contractor at a contractors rate but HR didn't say in their employment agreement that it was a fixed term contract, effectively making them a permanent employee.  So it was easier to let me go).  

I had to sell the house I'd bought 12 months previously, which I'd spent every single weekend full time renovating and hadn't had a chance to really relax in and enjoy.  I returned to the UK again and the only work available was, again, contract work.

I had mild PTSD for years afterwards - flashbacks that would evoke anger and frustration would boil to the surface of my consciousness whenever I let my guard down.  I went to bed and couldn't sleep because of the anger, so would drink to help me sleep. I woke up hungover and still seething in anger pretty much every day for 12 months afterwards.  

I used to kill at interviews before, the redundancies sucked all my self confidence and, along with my self medication, I struggled to provide answers to questions in sufficient detail afterwards.  My career progression stalled.  Eventually I left my career altogether as I couldn't function and cope with my trust issues and office politics without self medicating and it was turning into a vicious spiral of anger/drink/sleep deprivation/stress/anger etc.

My wife said it was bad luck, I didn't believe her for a VERY long time and blamed myself.  Until one day, we had a new opportunity and we both thought 'fuck it, nothing to lose apart from our life savings'.  So we took the risk, and promptly lost our life savings (which, thankfully will be replaced).  In any case, I needed the time off to get things in perspective and having a young family since has given me a new sense of self worth.  If I'm ever getting flashbacks, playing with my kids will pull me out of it pretty damn quick. 

All I can suggest is don't drop the ball, don't sit back on your laurels and take it easy.  Start hunting for another role now and maintain that continuity if you can.  Keep your hand in the game, so to speak.  Or decide to go on a bucket list type adventure - anything which can be easily explained to potential employers.  

dogload

Again chaps, thanks for the support and advice. It's really appreciated

Officially I still don't know whether I am finished. My biggest worry now is that they will not be laying me off!, lol; Can't see how they won't be - we had to fill in a 'matrix' which was basically four questions asking about our role with a choice of yes/ no answer. As I could only answer no (the questions were worded in such a way that they were essentially "Is your name such-and-such"!) I am assuming I am to go. But we have to wait until tomorrow to find out. 

I shall of course post the outcome - another reason I dread being kept on is all the ribbing I would surely get here, hehe. 

@chillidoggy I can assure you that my rates would be very favourable, although the work might not be!

capo4th

My wife has been made redundant 5 times in 13 years. She always finds another job within 3-5 weeks and always with a better remuneration package. Get out there with a CV and a positive attitude it could be a blessing in disguise

Tavernor

Another door will open, best of luck.

dogload

Well as I suspected, I am now officially being paid-off.But I am cool with that and as I said earlier, I am in a better position than some, and although I would have preferred to go on my terms, I am pretty pleased to be going, to be honest. 
So thanks again for all the words of support, it does mean a lot

Chalky

Your new job has already started.  It is called 'Job finder general'. Get your CV done and get applying for jobs now.  Spend all your working time on it. Do nothing more than bare minimum for your current employer. Your reference from your current employer will simply state your role title and dates - anything more just opens the door to grief for them in any future tribunal.  Call on friends and family and acquaintances - at your age a word-of-mouth recommendation is worth a hundred perfect CVs.  Don't sound desperate in your CV but  apply for everything.  Build multiple versions of your CV to emphasise different skills. Change your CV to precisely match the job ad. Don't be afraid of inventing things on it, if you need to in order to get the interview. Interviews are everything. Like telesales, getting folks to talk to you is all what matters. Google is your friend - if you think you know 50 per cent of what the ad is asking for, then google the rest, add it into your CV and if you get the interview, google the stuff again and make notes.  Get the interview. If they don't offer the job, at least you got some interview experience. Maybe they might have an unadvertised role coming up more suitable to your skills?  Maybe you just stay in their records in case something comes up in the future? Anyway move on to the next job application. Prepare yourself that it might take a hundred or more job applications. Its a numbers game. Get a temp agency job. A lot of temp jobs can be viewed as long interviews - I know many folks who moved from temp to permanent in the same company.  Remember, there is an enjoyable and rewarding job for you out there. Your job is simply to keep looking till you find it.

Guitar_Slinger

Chalky said:

* snip*

 Get a temp agency job. A lot of temp jobs can be viewed as long interviews - I know many folks who moved from temp to permanent in the same company.  

+1 and treat phone calls from a recruitment company as an interview, in case it's up to them to call all 15 people with a CV the same as yours and decide which 3 to send to interview.  Good luck.