Having recently been made redundant, for the second time in my working life, I thought I would put together a 3-part series of short articles on 3 ways to deal with redundancy in practical terms, in the hope that it may help to guide others who have found themselves in the same position.
With the advent of new buzz-words like; credit crunch, bank bail-outs, housing slump and market meltdown, we could all be forgiven for thinking we are heading for the collapse of western civilisation as we know it..
!! It seems the news is full of doom and gloom and it appears to be affecting the UK, Europe and USA equally - so we're all in the same (sinking..
!!) boat.
- Well, that's one way of looking at it, but personally I prefer not to be quite so dramatic.
Yes, it's certainly true that things have got tougher out there.
Bills are up, profits are down, house prices are falling and companies are tightening their belts.
As a direct result of this unemployment is on the rise, jobs are harder to find and confidence is waning, however, despite this, I don't believe we are heading for an economic ice-age just yet.
The one thing that we, as human beings, all share is that we are resourceful and adaptable.
So, what do you do if you find yourself out of a job? Well, the first thing is not to panic.
I know that may sound flippant, but it's based on sound logic.
You will achieve absolutely nothing by turning into a gibbering wreck, running up and down the street like a headless chicken sobbing uncontrollably or disappearing into a drug induced coma.
Sure, allow yourself a little you time to come to terms with the emotional distress that inevitably comes with redundancy, but don't dwell on it.
Be positive and be in control.
You basically have 3 options and, in this first part of the 3-part series, we'll look at Option 1

1)Do Absolutely Nothing:

Well clearly, that's not a real option unless you want to sell up and live on a kibbutz in Turkey, or join the great unwashed, drink very strong cider and urinate outdoors, or you are already a multi-millionaire and want to play golf all day with George Clooney.
For those who fall outside the category above, it would be wise to grasp the reality of the situation and make an Action Plan for the future.
With that in mind, and with the future being somewhat uncertain at this stage, you need to buy yourself some time.
Depending upon which Country you live in, there will be several ways you can buy yourself some time to make your plan and start to put it into practice.
This is not only very important for your emotional sanity but also allows you to remain focussed during this initial, difficult period.

• Take Stock & Get The Picture

The first thing to do is to take a really good look at your current cost of living.
How much you need to keep the household going.
If you can find some obvious economies it would be wise to note these, in case they are needed either immediately or in the longer term.
The second thing to do is to add up all your current sources of money such as savings and other income (if any).
Once you have completed this process, you will know exactly how long you can survive without your income.
If you live in the UK and you have been made redundant, you should be entitled to receive some form of redundancy pay from your employer.
Obviously, there are qualifications to this which will inevitably affect the amount you get (or if you are entitled to get any at all) or it may be that your employer has a redundancy scheme built into your contract of employment which will cover redundancy payments and procedures.
Either way, you can use this money to add to your "virtual time pot" to increase your breathing space.

• Do You Have a Claim for Unfair Dismissal?

At this point, I would stress that it is important to be sure that your employer has or had followed the minimum statutory requirements for making you redundant.
I mention this because, if you can prove they haven't, you may find you have a case for unfair dismissal and therefore be entitled to potentially substantial financial compensation, which can also be added to your "time pot".
I can only speak from my own experience in the UK, but I am confident that there are similar safeguards in place throughout Europe and the US too.
This, however, is a whole separate issue which I will expand upon in another article soon.
For the moment, I would advise checking with your local Citizens Advice Bureau (UK), or similar body elsewhere, for the legal requirements.

• Increase Your Virtual Time-Pot

The next way to do this is to seek out all the state benefits you are entitled to claim.
Obviously this will vary from Country to Country, however in many cases you will be pleasantly surprised about what you can indeed claim for.
I know for many people reading this there is a reticence to applying for and accepting state benefits.
First there's the utter indignity of it all and then there's the sheer horror of filling out mammoth forms asking all sorts of probing and personal questions and even worse, having to be interviewed by some spotty 12 year old behind bullet-proof glass who looks at you like you're a criminal.
But trust me; it's almost certainly worth the effort.
After all, the chances are that you've paid a small fortune in taxes over the years, so why not get some of it back in your time of need..
! As an example, in the UK there is Job Seekers Allowance and although it doesn't add up to much per week, it opens the door to other forms of financial relief such as Council Tax.
There are many sources of information about state benefits on the internet and you should definitely explore all avenues to claim what you are justly entitled to, even if you truly believe you will only need them on a short term basis.

• Time to Prepare Your Plan

Doing this exercise as a priority will definitely help to ease the emotional stress and worry and allow you the time and space to focus on preparing your Action Plan to get back on your feet again.

• What Next?

In the second part of this series we will look at Option 2 - Looking for another job.