Redundancy

tori.k

What a fantastic evening you have planned CC,
Things are working out well for us too hubby has a interview booked for next week, he's feeling a bit rotten for his boss as his boss is fighting to keep him ( last man in) but this interview is actually natural progression in his career, so he would have applied regardless of redundancy anyway.

nannywindow

Morning
Just wanted to wish Mr Chirpy and Mr tori.k well in their upcoming interviews. Sending positives vibes and keeping my fingers and toes crossed for a good outcome for both of you.

LameWolf

Best wishes for Mr tori.k as well, then.:o

PipneyJane

chirpychick wrote: »

I have to be careful what I say, so if things don't seem clear that's why.
My husband will be officially out of work 4.30pm 31st October.
It will be the first time in his adult life (he's 52) that he's not worked for this company or not worked at all!
I'm a carer for our son, he's just started school but life is tough for him (and subsequently me).
We will have to survive until hubby gets a job and if he hasn't by Jan I shall also have to start looking to go back to work somehow.
In the meantime we are going to be trying to live as tight as possible.
As we've been in 3 months consultation we knew this was coming. We have no debt (apart from mortgage) and our sons birthday and Christmas are sorted. We concluded other people's Christmas and birthday gifts didn't matter as long as he was taken care of.
I'd really like to have some place to talk to people who understand and keep a log of how I'm doing - a bit like a diary.
Our lives we try to keep quite old style naturally so it will fall in line with this board.
I hope it's ok to do that, perhaps anyone else going through something similar would like to join me in frugal living challenge for a while?

On the plus side hubby does have interviews lined up. So I'm hoping we won't be in a state of panic for too long. But who knows.

If this isn't allowed please let me know and delete.

Hugs to you, chirpychick and to your husband. I'm living through similar circumstances myself and know how much like a body blow redundancy can be.


(FWIW I was made redundant 14 months ago but managed to secure a contract, while my DH was made redundant in August. I hate the uncertainty of being a contractor. )


You'll get loads of good advice here and some of it you probably know already. My 2p's worth:-

• While I appreciate that you can't/won't tell us what your hubby does for a living, if he works with computers then before he leaves his job he should save copies of all useful templates/Excel formulae, etc. He can delete the contents of the files or replace them with gibberish but having those templates will save him a lot of effort later. (It took me days to replicate one of the files I used to routinely use. Drove me nuts getting it right.)
• The initial process of signing on is now down on line at gov.uk. Do it immediately after he finishes work. All benefits are dated from that point, even if he can't claim them for a while.
• Can you claim carers allowance? Something to investigate.
• While any job is better than no job, beware the zero hours contract. It screws up your benefits. I have seen too many people take one only to discover that they don't have any work for weeks at a time. (Several months ago, DH's best mate took a driving job as a stop gap. Drove for 2 hours on the first day and had nothing afterwards, despite begging.)
• If he hasn't already done so, start work on his CV now. He needs to ensure he's got copies of all his training certificates, etc, from work, too.
• If he used a computer at work, then he needs a copy of all his personal files saved on it AND he needs to remember to delete them from the PC. Ditto deleting his internet browser history and logging out of any accounts he may have logged into on that computer - e.g. Google.
• LinkedIn. As well as putting up his CV, your DH needs to be active on it, either posting something every couple of days or commenting on others' posts. This reminds people about him and his talents. He needs to remember, though, that LinkedIn is strictly business and work related so anything that won't put him in his best light (politics, etc) must be avoided at all costs.
• Time management: once he finishes work, it's too easy to waste the day watching Homes Under the Hammer (my addiction). He needs to structure his day between round-the-house jobs (I'm sure you've got a list) and job hunting. Yes, he can take a couple of days off here-and-there but the most successful job hunters treat it like working at a job and try to apply for something - or speak to an agency - every day.
• The great buzzword in recruitment at the moment is "competency". Here's a link to an article that explains it: https://www.theguardian.com/careers/careers-blog/star-technique-competency-based-interview He needs to work up some examples using the STAR technique. (Competency questions are the bane of my existence.)

HTH.


- Pip

chirpychick

Hey everyone,
Thanks so much for all the best wishes and advice.
Hubby seemed to get on really well at the interview, however, it actually took him 90 minutes each way and then they offered him 8k less than what he’s on now, with the cost of travel and the huge drop in salary we just cant really justify it. We knew that would be something to consider when he took the interview, however he also had some other issues that i probably shouldn’t say on here.
They are very keen to have him but he’s going to say thank you for the opportunity but no thank you, sort of thing.
However, its not all bad news as he has 3 other job interviews in the pipeline. 1 temporary contract - an avenue we are discussing, he’s very concerned about having to pay his own tax and NI and setting up as his own company or paying another company to deal with it. However the money is huge! He’s tempted and will go for the interviews and see what happens. 1 of the ones that is permanent is local -ish and they are absolutely desperate to see him, going out of their way etc so that sounds very positive.
The other is one that involves a big move.
He’s looking, applying for jobs every day, he’s had help with his CV, done his linkedin and in contact with lots of agencies.
I’m quite excited really to see how he gets on. I’m not really sure what outcome I’m hoping for but i do think that the contract jobs sound like a good prospect. Not without risk though obviously.

Tomorrow pickle has his first school assembly, he told me he has a speaking part, I’m so, so excited to see it. A speaking part for my boy who didn’t speak until he was 3.5 and 2 years of speech therapy. I’m so proud

I’m still using up what we have and have only had to buy bread and marg.

jk0

Doesn't sound ideal.

However... It's always easier to find another job when you already have one. When hubby is out of work, £8k less and a 90 min commute might even sound attractive.

(If employer is only bidding against the dole, he might be offering even less.)

I think you should both do some serious thinking before turning this down.

chirpychick

jk0 wrote: »

Doesn't sound ideal.

However... It's always easier to find another job when you already have one. When hubby is out of work, £8k less and a 90 min commute might even sound attractive.

(If employer is only bidding against the dole, he might be offering even less.)

I think you should both do some serious thinking before turning this down.

I do know exactly what you’re saying and i appreciate your advice

[Deleted User]

Fingers crossed you OH will get something as its all sounding quite positive .and well done to pickle to get his speaking part at school assembly I bet your smile is as big as Texas at the moment :):)

Primrose

Getting a job offer must have been a great morale booster. Tell your husband to say he has other interviews in the pipeline and if possible delay making any decision. 180 minutes daily commuting is a lot.
Could he phone the local company who are keen to interview him and say he's had another job offer but would really like to meet with them sooner rather than later as he would really be interested to see whether they could work together. Remember, exchange of labour is a two way process.


Exciting about your son's assembly. Hope it all goes well.

tori.k

Hi CC how are things your end?
We've had a stroke of luck my husband has two job offers and has the weekend to decide, so is taking the voluntary redundancy package offered by his current company.
Downside is the list of jobs at home I wanted doing won't get done unless I do them but can't win them all