Leaving your career unexpectedly can make your next steps uncertain. Whatever you decide, writing a great CV is essential to making sure you make your next steps with success.
Is Rewriting My CV Important After Being Made Redundant?
For many of those who have been made redundant, we advise that you consider switching industries. Oftentimes, it is not your performance or your company’s performance that led to the redundancy, but the shifting UK economy.
As such, whether you planned to or not, switching industries is a likelihood for the recently redundant in today’s job market. This does not necessarily mean switching careers, as there are many transferrable roles. However, you will open up a lot of potential pathways by being open to taking on some extra training.
For a more in-depth discussion of looking towards work, see our page dedicated to those who have recently been made redundant and are considering which next step is best.
Personal Statement
An essential part of a CV that applicants often overlook is the personal statement. At the start of your CV, you need to introduce the reader to who you are and what you are looking for in your career.
Most importantly, you should be as concise as possible, giving a snapshot of all the essential details. You should look at the statement as an opportunity to intrigue the employer regarding your character and to judge if you would fit into the company culture.
For a jobseeker with years of relevant experience, you may want to go into some more depth as to examples of what kind of work you thrive in although that could be left for your section on your job history. However, generally, you should write your personal statement assuming the employer has already read a hundred that day, such that they will want to see information that makes you stand out as a candidate immediately.
If you make your statement too long-winded, the employer may just move on without giving you the time you deserve.
Job History
Whether you have a lot of working experience or not, you should only include the most relevant experience at the forefront of your CV. If you try and cram everything in, the employer will assume you haven’t tailored the CV to this job and so you aren’t actually that interested in it.
You also shouldn’t hide away from the employment gap and the fact your last employer made you redundant. This is a common occurrence in today’s job market, such that the negative impact can only come from being dishonest about the circumstances.
Transferable Skills
If you are switching careers, you should highlight your transferable skills in your CV. If you have lots of work experience, there is no chance you don’t have skills that are relevant to other industries. Changing sectors might require a temporary pay cut but being in an expanding industry will see you rise the ranks far faster than if you were in a company with a contracting market.
There is a deficit of leaders in the UK economy right now, so if you have management experience you will likely find a plethora of job opportunities in a wide range of companies.
