What to do when faced with redundancy

Posted by: Jayney63

24th Sep 2011 04:07am

You are a sole office administrator in a small company. Your employers wife informs you that she is going to "outsource" the accounts and therefore your services will no longer be required. Formal notice has not yet been given but will be. Your job involves much more then just the accounts and you are alone in the shop 60% of the time, sometimes all day. You suspect that the "outsource" is going to be the employers daughter or daughter-in-law. What would be your next step?

SarahEC

21st Oct 2011 05:08pm

Janey - my sympathy; I have been there, and only just found a new job. All the above commenters have valuable advice. I can only add the following:
- in a business that small you will not win a claim for unfair dismissal - it sounds like they are genuinely trying to save money. Best is to negotiate as long a notice period as you can, and get the best possible reference from them. Also, if you behave "well", they are llikely to be grateful enough to be proactive in notifing you of other opportunities.

There are great job-seeking references online - careerone.com.au; monster.com etc have some great tips about preparing resumes etc. Also have your story ready re why you left your job - never lie, but cast in a way that shows you at your best. NEVER criticise your previous employer at an interview, even subtly. It's like trashing your ex to a first date - doesn't matter how justified it was, it just gives them a bad feeling about you.

Think really laterally about your skills and don't dismiss advertised jobs that aren't in your immediate job description - I had a great secretary once who was a hairdresser. She had client relationship skills, knew how to take calls and arrange appointments and manage basic invoices - she had all the skills I needed in an EA and was able to think laterally about her skills ratther than only looking for work as a hairdresser.

Make sure you can account for the gap in your resume - do some volunteer work (a charity thrift shop gives you retail skills, for example), or if you can afford it, some study in an area you'd like to do more of - eg a certificate IV in Small Business. Most places will cut you a break on the fees, or you may be eligible for assistance; you have a great reason for not working for a few months, you have a reason to get up in the morning and stay motivated, and you have a valuable new qualification at the end of it that helps finding worlk. I did a couple of Cert IV's in my interim and in fact made fantstic contacts amongst the other students and was even offered work opportunities by the teachers.

Hope some of that helps, and chin up.

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