What to do if you suddenly lose your job

What to do when you lose your job

It could be redundancy, company relocation, down-sizing and many other reasons which leave you suddenly without a job. Something we like not to think about but happens to thousands of us each year. If you find yourself in this situation it’s an opportunity to re-evaluate and consider your next steps. We often talk about how to find a job, but what should you do if you lose a job?

Decide on a course of action

Evaluate your personal finances to determine if you need to find your next job right away. Take some time to think about what you want to do. This may be the opportunity to take a different career or even educational path that you’ve been wanting to do for a long time! Will you look for a similar job in the same industry, or is this a point where you could consider a career change? You can get some excellent career advice and market knowledge from a local recruitment firm.

Update your CV & create a cover letter template

Brush up your CV so that it includes your most recent experience and presents your work history in the best possible light. Your CV is a tool to persuade employers to give you a job, so make sure it is relevant, truthful, clear and concise. If you are being made redundant, check whether your employer has arranged for help with writing your CV through access to a career advice service. When applying for roles online it’s useful to have a template cover letter that you can use with each application, but to make you really stand out from the crowd we would recommend tailoring it to each role that you apply for to demonstrate specific suitability.

Cleanse your social media profiles

Your social media pages are probably going to be on the list of what shows up when you search for yourself. Be sure that all your posts are fit for the public to see. If not, clean them up and adjust your privacy settings.

Brush up your skills

If you want to stand out from the competition, consider applying for courses to improve or add relevant skills to your CV. It needn’t cost a lot of money and in some cases may be free. We have partnered with New Skills Academy who offer online training courses that you can do from home in your spare time. By booking these through Glu Recruit you will benefit from an 84% discount! Check out their course catalogue here.

Temp in the interim

The temporary work market is buoyant in Yorkshire and the Midlands with work available in some cases the next day! This will keep your CV up to date and expose you to new industries and employers that perhaps you hadn’t previously considered. Who knows, when the employer sees how great you are you may get approached with a permanent role!

Don’t expect a job to find you. Be proactive!

Actively post your CV to job boards for recruiters and employers to find and follow up via the telephone to really stand out. Consider your network – speak to your friends, family and colleagues to see if they can help. Make sure everyone knows that you are looking. Social media is incredibly powerful and posting on there may attract someone’s attention who is currently recruiting.

Prepare for interviews

If it’s been a while since you last attended an interview it’s worth mentally preparing yourself for what to expect. You may have a couple of interviews for every job you apply for. Some may be on the phone. Others will be on-site. The best way to prepare for an interview is to practice, practice again and then practice some more. Review the most common interview questions that employers ask, so you’re prepared to answer. Check out our interview tips to give you the best chance of nailing the interview. Be prepared to answer interview questions about why your last role came to an end.

While losing a job can bring what seems like an onslaught of problems, think of it as an opportunity. Give yourself some time to mourn a bit, especially if you loved your job. It’s a loss and giving yourself some time and space to grieve will help. Then you need to get practical and move forwards. The quicker you get a job search up and running, the faster you’ll be thinking about your new job instead of the one you lost.

For advice and support call one of our specialist team of recruiters on 0114 3211873. Check out our latest vacancies here https://www.glurecruit.co.uk/jobs/

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