One of the biggest impacts of the last few years and the downturn in the economy has of course been the rise in the number of people who have been made redundant. Whether it’s as a result of a company downsizing, relocating or a long term corporate strategy, the reality is that it’s rarely welcomed and can be one of the most stressful things an individual has to go through. Usually (although not always admittedly) there may be signs that it is on the cards – cancelled company orders, fewer customers, or even simply gossip on the office grapevine. If you fear that redundancy could be on the cards for you, there are some things that you can do to at least help ease the situation a little. Here are 5 Ways to Prepare for Redundancy.

Look at your Current Finances
First of all, have a look at your current financial affairs and see where, if at all you could make some cutbacks and save yourself a few pounds every month. Do you really need all those satellite channels? Would an option like Freeview work better for you? Is your energy or mobile bill too expensive every month? Consider contacting your provider and asking for a better deal  – if you are technically ‘out of contract’  you have a little bargaining power, especially if you play the cancelling contract card. If you have a mortgage or other debts, check if you have any PPI insurance policies which would pay out if you did indeed lose your job. Although these have received a lot of bad press recently, there are many instances where they have proven to be extremely worthwhile and beneficial. It is important to note though that all do have a waiting period before any claims can be made, so buying one now may be too late if redundancy is only weeks away. In all, reviewing what you are spending now can really help you get prepared for what may be frugal days ahead.

Evaluate your Future Finances
Once you have your current financial affairs in order, it is best to sit down and plan for the future. Evaluate what income you will have going forward. Will you be entitled to a redundancy payment? How long can you realistically make this stretch? What about benefits? If you are UK based and want to check what benefits you may be eligible for, check out the entitledto website.
Use a budget planner and calculate what your planned incomings and outgoings will be. Many money advice websites usually provide free budget planner templates that you could use. If you do enough preparation for the future and what is potentially to come, you will be much more able and ready to cope.

Prepare your CV
If you’ve been in your current job a while, chances are your CV may be very out of date. Many companies will bring in Career and CV experts to help employees should they be facing redundancy. It’s up to you though to get ready now. Why wait? Slightly self promotional, but there are a host of excellent articles right here on TheEmployable which could help you craft and prepare a quality CV. Don’t leave it to the 11th hour – get working on it now!

Increase your Networking
The value of networking to an individual’s job search should never be underestimated. It has a major part to play – both online and offline. If you use social networks like LinkedIn, ensure that your profile is up to date and is ‘selling’ you in the best light possible. Don’t leave it until you have been made redundant to start making connections. Create a strong network now. Likewise, review what meetups and networking opportunities exist in your area and get yourself along to them. Being proactive and making connections like this could open all sorts of new doors for you.

Become more Employable
You may be fortunate enough to be in a career where your skills and experience are so highly sought after that as soon as redundancy happens, you literally have new employers knocking on your door immediately. However, if this is not the case, you should certainly look at ways of making yourself more employable and ultimately more attractive to potential employers. There are all sorts of ways to do this – from improving your I.T. skills, through to improving your language skills. Whatever you decide to do and focus on, it will hopefully prove to be a worthwhile and valuable exercise.

We hope that our 5 Ways to Prepare for Redundancy are useful for any of you who are unfortunately about to face such a situation. Got any other tips? Why not share them via the comments section below.