The jobs market is an interesting and busy place to be right now.

We know that some industries are flourishing and recruitment is on the up, with plenty of new vacancies coming onto the fish4jobs site every week.

However, it is hard to escape the news that there are also some businesses which are suffering in this economic downturn, so here are fish4jobs’top tips for a pain-free redundancy:

  • Always remember it is the ‘role’ that is redundant and not you as an individual. It is easy for people to take it personally, but it is never an easy decision for any company to make redundancies
  • There are laws which dictate how redundancies should be handled to protect employees, so make sure you know your rights. If there is no alternative job available for you within the company then redundancy may be the only option. You should read your company handbook or speak to an organisation such as the Citizens Advice Bureau to make sure that your employer is following the right procedure
  • Make sure that your CV is always up to date. If you need help with your C.V. there are services available to help you design one. www.cvchecker.com is worth checking out
  • Before you leave the company, ask Human Resources or your manager for a reference. Take e-mail addresses or telephone numbers of colleagues you worked with – sometimes redundancy happens unexpectedly so it is always good to be prepared
  • Register with recruitment consultancies, the Job Centre and jobs boards, such as fish4jobs to maximise your exposure. Check local newspapers, websites of companies you are interested in and speak to friends and family in case they know of opportunities
  • Consider that you may have to look at alternative positions to the one you were employed in. It might be possible to transfer your skills into another role – for example if you were working on reception and answering calls with some basic administration, perhaps you could work as an office manager or customer service operator in the next company
  • Be flexible with your salary expectations – if there are lots of people looking for a fresh challenge it might be necessary to take a lower salary than you were earning before.
  • Make sure you are available for interview. There is nothing worse than losing out on an interview because your phone was switched off or you slept through your alarm.