Scratch-on my friend! Scratch-On

It’s not a particularly present place the Jobcentre. Oh the staff try to make it friendly and professional enough, but there is something about the fact that the clientele are unemployed and on benefits that gives it an air of down-at-heel scruffiness, and mild desperation.

The last time I was at the JobCentre I was sat waiting on a very hard-wearing sofa, and joined by a mother and her pre-teenage son. At one point a security guard asked politely if the boy could take his feet off the sofa. The mother retorted back, “Are we allowed to breathe?”. What an amazing connection to make.

I have also learned that some don’t say “signing-on” anymore, but instead the wonderful “scratching-on”. Not something to repeat in polite company.

But these people are in the minority, and anyway they shouldn’t be enough to put you off using the JobCentre for what it is there for.

My advice is to get in touch with JobCentre Plus (Phone: 0800 0 55 66 88 or Text phone: 0800 0 23 48 88 if you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have speech difficulties) the day after you have been made redundant. When I lost my job I left it a few weeks as I believed there was a job for me just around the corner. I was wrong and missed out on money I was entitled to.

So make that call and go to that initial interview – it’s not as imposing as it may look.

Scratch On!

Survey Results: The Economic Recession Gets Personal

Survey Results: The Economic Recession Gets Personal – Traffic to health questions site increases 300%

eHealth Forum highlights detrimental effects of downturn on individual health and holds out a supportive hand: Economic recession help forum

Earlier this week eHealth Forum, one of the world’s largest health sites, releases unsettling data regarding the direct effects the recession is having on respondents to its latest online survey. Over 3,000 people from US, UK and Canada answered questions relating to impact of the world’s economic downturn on their personal lives. In response to the concerning results, eHealth Forum has also created a special forum to help people cope with the fall out of the recession.

eHealth Forum is a global health site dedicated to the people that use it. Members ask medical questions, join in discussions, simply listen, or offer and exchange helpful words and ideas. The site currently has over 2.5 million users a month and is available for free 24/7.

Health and the economic recession survey results:
Almost 60 percent (55.58% or 1,669 respondents) said that their sleep was affected with financial worries. Nearly 46 percent (45.82 % or 1,376 respondents) admitted that the were trying to hide their worries from their families. Over a quarter were concerned about losing their jobs (26.47% 795 respondents) and half were more irritable than usual, probably due to lack of sleep and anxiety (48.5% or 1,443 respondents) with a further 50 percent (50.65% and 1,521 respondents) noticing more tension in the head, neck and shoulders than usual.

The most crushing statistic of this recent poll, is that more than one third of participants (1,082 respondents) had recently gone without something in order to provide for their families… Pushing financial concerns to the back of one’s mind actually make the problem worse. Escalating anxiety and festering issues can do yet more damage in the long run.

eHealth Forum community director, Lee Weber, said: “People are already showing very obvious signs of getting depressed and anxious about the current economic situation; we’ve seen a 300 percent increase in traffic to our depression forum, and 400 percent increase in our anxiety and stress forums.  By encouraging people, and those around them, to offload their worries on the new Recession Forum at ehealthforum.com, we hope to share the load for those struggling with the emotional and physical effects of the global economic meltdown.”

Beat App Form Fears

There are lots of things that are frustrating when applying for jobs, but the one that always gets me is the Application Form. I’ve got applying for jobs down to a quick and easy process with a solid CV, a number of differently targeted covering emails/letters which can be quickly filled with information targeted for that particular job.

But the sight of “Apply by Application Form” makes my heart sink. They are always long and tedious, require me to think back to my dim and distant schooldays, to answer questions about my experience that seem so vague, or infuriatingly precise. I find it difficult to “demonstrate an understanding of” without either finding myself being led down just describing how I did something, or beating myself up about being unable to find the right words.

Unfortunately application forms are the primary way of applying for the majority of public sector jobs and with the marketplace the way it is at the moment those jobs are going to grow in importance to the job-seeker.

So how best to handle these Application Form fears?

1. Calm down, it’s not all that scary. It is just a skill that needs mastering.
2. Practise before you need to do an application form. If none of the jobs you are applying for at the moment require application forms then take the opportunity to fill one or two out. http://jobsearch.about.com/od/jobappsamples/Sample_Job_Applications.htm has some example forms that you can try.
3. Save the results from point 2, or your last actual application form, so you don’t need to repeat the thinking part of the application form when it comes to history, education, etc.
4. Fully read the Job Description. What public sector employers usually look for in applications is for candidates to have understood the Job Description and be able to demonstrate both that and experience. Read the JD, then read it again. Try not to give it your own spin.
5. Give yourself enough time to answer – these aren’t quick things to do, though most people do tend to rush them off. Give yourself a better chance by spending the time.
6. Keep copies of all your Application Forms – if you feel you have nailed down a certain answer, why not have the opportunity to use it another time? Create a App Forms section of your Job Apps folder (of course you have one already don’t you?) so you can re-use your masterpieces.

Good luck!

So you’ve lost your job, how to deal?

So it’s happened. Maybe it was obviously on the horizon, maybe it’s come straight out of the blue. But now it’s happened.

Losing your job is a lot like any other loss you may experience in terms of the emotional states you are likely to go through, but at the other end you will realise that things aren’t actually that bad.

The five classic emotional responses to loss are: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. If you feel yourself going through any or all of these then at the very least be comforted by the fact that what you are going through is natural.

What you want to do is to get through to stage 5 as quickly as possible with the least amount of time in the other four.

Over the coming weeks we’ll have a look at each of these stages in more detail and I’d love to hear your experiences of these.

To begin with the important word after losing your job is: Stabilize. Take a few days break if you need it, doing only a few important things, and take the time to work through your emotions and feelings.

The important things to do in those few days are:
– Read through the Redundancy letter you received and make sure you action anything it says – you don’t want to miss out on any money due to inaction.
- Sign-on. Or at least inform the JobCentre you are unemployed. You don’t even have to get out of the house to do it, but instead call 0800 0556688 (details) and do it from home.
- Let friends and family know – you may need support now more than ever.
- Take a deep breath and relax – if you’ve been on the work treadmill for a long time now this is going to be more of a shock. Take it easy and try to relax for a while.

Time to Re-evaluate?

You know how it is, you start your first job that is in some way near to what you actually want to do. You make plans to gain experience to make the transition to your “perfect” job easier.

Years later you find yourself in a job that is so far away from what you wanted, but you’ve got the money and the job title and, well, this is what you “do”.

But now, if things are unsteady in your company or industry, or things have already fallen apart, or if you are finally ready to give into those feelings that this is just not right for you – maybe it is time to re-evaluate.

I clearly remember back when I was just getting exposed to the internet, and Bulletin Boards before them, I wanted to learn HTML in order to make pages on the net for my own magazine.

I had a passion for magazines as a kid, I’d buy all of the ones related to my ZX Spectrum computer and pore over them in ridiculous detail, reading each article and advert, whether I had an interest in MIDI music or Desk-Top Publishing or not.

So years later when I could see the opportunity for my own magazine on-line I began to learn how to do it. Before I could begin anything I got a job using my new skills. Then I got the next job centered around that, and then I moved to a role using ASP, and so on and so on. Was this really what I wanted? My attempts to keep my hand in with some freelance journalism suggested otherwise, but Web Development became my job, my career and my secure cash-flow.

But of course it’s not secure. And here I am again cast-adrift. And I have had time to re-evaluate.

Maybe it’s your time to re-visit your passion and see if you can make it a career.

The Mission

Up and down the country, and across the world, people are losing their jobs through no fault of their own. Whether it is called a recession or a depression doesn’t really matter on the day you have that “little chat” with HR, pack up your belongings and leave the office.

This website is for that morning after, or the Monday after if like me you were let go on a friday.  And it’s for the days after that, and after that.  SurviveRedundancy.co.uk is about how you and I cope with the position we’ve been put into.

And coping can take many forms, and I hope to be able, with your help, to cover as many of them as possible. Whether you are looking at jumping right back into employment, changing career or deciding to work for yourself, we’ll try to cover them all.

For me this journey is more about the last item and making it work. I’m at a crossroads. 33 years old, with a baby on its way, having worked in similar roles for the past decade+ and very rarely felt comfortable that they were right for me. I’ve dallied with freelancing/contracting before but this time is, and has to be, different.

And if through SurviveRedundancy.co.uk I can learn a bit more about what I can and want to do, and in turn help/inspire others who may feel the same way, then that is perfect.

It can be a lonely road, and sometimes it can be difficult to see the “wood for the trees” but it’s potentially an exciting one.  Let’s see how it goes!

Follow me on Twitter!  

For the site Twitter (lets you know when there are new articles, plus other bits and pieces) – @surviveredundan
For my personal Twitter – @peekay

Welcome

Hi there and welcome to SurviveRedundancy.co.uk.

My name is Paul and I’d like to give you a quick overview of what the website is all about, why it exists and how I hope it could you help – and me!

After being made redundant in November 2008 I went through a wide range of emotions, from a brief sense of freedom, to anticipation of a new role, to fear of what the future may hold and back again to the sense of freedom. And during those times I couldn’t find any place where people were gathering to talk about the same emotions that I was going through. Read more

My Story

Friday 7th November 2008

It was a fairly normal day at MFI for me, at least it was what had become normal over the past few weeks.

I’d travelled from home in Shepherds Bush across to Colindale, a one and a quarter hour bus-tube-bus journey which had become a ridiculously ingrained, no-thought-required process.

And on the last part of the journey, on the 204 bus I sat in my usual seat upstairs watching the world go by idly wishing that I could do something usual in that time if it wasn’t for the fact that I would get motion-sickness when I tried to read, and wasn’t happy writing in the presence of the kind of nosy strangers who were also on the bus – the kind of people like me!

And I really felt I needed to do something, to spend that journeying time usefully, after all everything was changing.  The weekend before had been an interesting time.  On the Saturday morning I surprised my girlfriend by getting out a ring, that she had wanted for ages but thought had been sold to someone else, and asking her to marry me.

Then Sunday morning the magic stick confirmed that she was pregnant.  What a weekend!  But there was more to come. Read more

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