How to cope with — no, grow from redundancy
With career exercises and self-care tips from Transformation life coach, Jo Ketley [Words by Clare Everson]
Redundancy. It feels like a weighty word, made heavy with the threat of financial worry, employment instability, self-doubt and stigma. Add a pandemic to the mix and the sense of uncertainty plus impending bills can certainly feel overwhelming.
So how do we navigate redundancy and career change in the midst of a pandemic? How do we stay motivated, driven and confident when a decision was made that felt out of our control?
As with any moment of change in our lives, there is a process of emotions that comes with redundancy and/or career change. Alongside the emotional journey, the formal proceedings may be a new process to deal with too, so being equipped with the right resources to understand the formalities may help with the initial stages.
There are many territory-specific resources online, so try to find relevant guidance on; what is the redundancy process that the company must follow; understanding notice period and financial entitlement from an employment contract; the questions you should ask during redundancy conversations; government statutory guidelines on redundancy/severance pay; and how COVID-responsive measures (such as furlough in the UK, or recovery funds and benefits) might be of use to you.
For help with understanding your redundancy rights in the UK, here are some useful links:
ACAS — A public body of the Government in the UK offering a wealth of employment advice online, as well as phone call advice regarding redundancy rights, COVID advice and more.
Gov.uk page on redundancy rights and help finding a new job
Citizens Advice — Fair Redundancy Process
For the US:
For the emotional process, everyone will have their own response. Some may feel nervous or apprehensive, angry, hurt or upset. The luckiest might feel relieved to be given a push in a new direction and see the potential for opportunity.
For our shesaid.so community, remember the support and network you have within our community — available to you whenever you may need it.
To help with exploring new career routes and if needed, to reaffirm self confidence, we spoke to Transformational Life Coach Jo Ketley.
Jo Ketley recently offered a remote online group coaching session through the shesaid.so community, guiding attendees through a workshop of exercises for a career audit. Jo’s aim in her own words is to “help women working in creative roles make positive changes to get the best from their career and life, moving from feeling stuck and overwhelmed to feeling empowered, confident and in control.”
This time, Jo has suggested a couple of tools that can help to prompt and guide a thought process about career change, beginning with one exercise followed by three tips for self-care.
Career Highlights exercise
Boost your confidence and gain clarity on your achievements by using this short Career Highlights exercise.
- Reflect on your career to date and pick 3 situations that you are proud of. They don’t have to be big events (such as a promotion), focus on specific scenarios you feel good about.
- For each, write down what happened — the situation, what you did, what the outcome was and how it made you feel. Add images or links to support, if applicable.
- Talk through the situations out loud with a friend, ex-colleague or family member. This will help to vocalise your skills and achievements, build your confidence and act as good interview practice.
- If you’re struggling to think of 3 situations, ask an ex-colleague to pick some for you, hearing positive feedback from someone else can be a huge confidence boost.
Three tips for self-care during career change:
1. Create a positive mindset
Set an intention at the start of each day using affirmative language such as “I will write one cover letter today”. If you catch yourself spiraling into negative thoughts try asking yourself out loud “is that really true?”, look for evidence that suggests the opposite and re-frame the thought to a more positive one. If you’re finding this hard, try taking 4 slow deep breaths, counting to 4 on the inhale and exhale, this will bring you back to the present and help to refocus.
2. Slice your schedule
Searching for a job can be consuming but more hours don’t necessarily equate to being more productive. Schedule blocks of time in your day to complete job related tasks and give yourself a break outside of those times; allowing your mind to wander, think, reflect and be creative is just as important as scouring job listings.
3. Write a To-DONE list
We so often focus on the things we haven’t done yet, constantly living by a to-do list. Keeping a DONE list helps to celebrate the little wins each day, maintaining motivation, positivity and a sense of progress.
If you are interested in working with Jo, visit her website, or follow her on Instagram @morefromlife_jo
Check out the shesaid.so job portal and learn more about the she.grows mentoring scheme
