News & Insights

The Labour Market Statics released by Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) showed that redundancies are on the rise with a total of 3 096 confirmed redundancies.

It is important for people who find themselves out of work to ditch the wrongly perceived stigma of ‘unemployment.’ Adapt the attitude that your job now is finding a job, dedicate most of the working day to doing so and remember that this is likely to be a temporary situation.

Some larger companies who are making employees redundant offer assistance in the form of outplacement whether provided in house or through a specialist agency like ourselves. Through our own outplacement services, we help the redundant employees with their CV and interview skills. Often these employees have not needed a CV or interview skills for a long period of time and therefore guidance on what the market is like and requires is always useful.

Independently when faced with redundancy it is crucial to understand the local employment market and to understand your value, your skills and your expertise. The job market in Northern Ireland is small, which although this is a disadvantage it can also work to your advantage in terms of keeping up to date on the jobs market as a whole.

Change can often be seen in Northern Ireland as something to fear, however in a redundancy situation it is good to embrace change. You may have been carrying out the same job in the same company for years and quite happily so, but it’s unlikely you will get the exact same job in another company. Don’t be too strict on your requirements, would you consider roles in ROI? Accept a lower salary closer to home? Taking time to reflect on your previous role also helps you to accept whether you may need to accept a pay cut in another role.

Having an impressive, up-to-date CV is vital, tailor it accordingly depending on the position or company you are applying to. This is why research is key, not only in helping you understand exactly what the role is, but if you get invited to interview stage you will already be up to speed and well versed in the job role and company requirements.

Finally, it is important to realise that you may be unsuccessful at the first interview you get but the key is not to be deterred. Use the experience to your advantage and learn from it, ask for feedback and find out where you underperformed and use it for better preparation next time. Being unemployed isn’t an ideal situation for anyone but try to make the best out of it. Whilst job hunting is a full time job in itself, it’s not 24/7 and so you can use the spare time to enjoy the hiatus as, forced or not it can still be a time in your life to enjoy.