“One of the most common things people look for in their job in these current economic times is security. How secure you’re likely to be feeling often boils down to two things: the likelihood of losing your current job and how hard it might be to get a new job if that happened. The bad news is that you have no real control over the first thing; but the good news is that career planning gives you an enormous amount of control over the second.”

Excerpted from “How to keep your cool if you lose your job”, Kathryn Jackson.

We live in difficult times—the global recession has hit New Zealand hard. There have been many redundancies across both the public and private sector. State Services Minister Tony Ryall reported in September that 1402 jobs had been cut from government agencies and five crown entities.

Studies show that redundancy happens to most people at least once or twice during their career—no matter who they are, or what their job is. For some people it can be a demoralising and shocking experience; for others it can be a ‘wake up call’ and set them on a path to something better.

Over the past few weeks we’ve been passing around a copy of Kathryn Jackson’s workbook: How to keep your cool if you lose your job. It’s a great guide for anyone who’s recently lost their job and isn’t sure what to do next.

Jackson’s book is simple, clear, concise. Starting with an introduction and overview of what it means to be redundant and some quick tips, the book soon moves on to discuss the recession, the modern career path, and career planning. The focus is always on staying positive and active—whether that means socialising with positive-minded people, or by making use of your contacts to secure your next career challenge.

The book includes a wealth of information and resources, including:

• Information on the global effects of the recession—seeing your redundancy in a wider context
• How to handle your redundancy as it happens, staying cool and exiting with dignity
• Career planning and career goal advice and resources
• A break-down of all the options (well, most of them!) that are available to you in terms of career movement
• A neat ‘dream job’ chart that lets you rate your previous jobs to find out what really works for you

One of the best things I found about How to keep your cool if you lose your job is the fact that it contains plenty of case studies. Finding out how other people handled their redundancy (some with more success than others) can help you work out how you manage yours.

The book also provides excellent advice on job searching and interview techniques. If you’ve had trouble creating a resume or feel that you need some help in creating a CV that stands out—well, you’ll find your answers here. There’s also an interview checklist and resources such as a job application tracker and a template to help you organise your networking activities. These will be especially useful for people who have been in employment for so long that they are no longer familiar with standard resume styles or interview techniques.

Jackson herself has experienced redundancy in the past, and her book reflects her understanding of the issues confronting the recently redundant. The workbook is easy to read (and use), and we’d definitely recommend it.

How to keep your cool if you lose your job is available from Longacre Press.