Hot off the press

If you’re still going the traditional route of responding to advertised vacancies to get back into work, this Edinburgh newspaper publisher is doing its bit to help:

We picked up from HoldtheFrontPage this morning that the Edinburgh Evening News has slashed its rates for job advertising as part of its ‘Get Edinburgh Back to Work’ campaign. So maybe that will encourage more jobs being posted.

Meanwhile we’ve been talking this morning with an individual (who was made redundant a while ago and is still looking for work) to identify what makes her enthusiastic and ‘lights her fire’. What would make her jump out of bed in the morning, raring to go? I admit that it was a bit of an uphill struggle for a while as she was struggling to do as we suggest:

Keep your feet firmly planted on the ground and your head way up as high as it will go

And a guy who effectively made himself redundant from a positon last week was talking about going back into an area where he had no real interest, didn’t feel comfortable about how the money was made yet thought at least it was a way he could earn a living…

It’s not just your conversations you have with those who you believe may be future employers, business partners or routes to earning that you need to apply this thinking and approach to. It’s people who are already doing something they love.

If you’re not sure about this one why not look at people around you? If they are mainly those who have accepted their lot and are without aspiration or animation are they the best people for you to surround yourself with right now?

Once you’ve identified your passion why not talk to people who are already working in that field and see what opportunities and roles there may be that would suit your talents?

For example: Becoming a vet isn’t the only way to work with animals…

Could Food be Your Fortune?

I was reading this morning that the food industry has suffered less than many other sectors, partly because we all need to eat – makes sense…

Food manufacturers need Food Technologists (real-life Willie Wonkas – of whome there aren’t that many), Technical and Production Managers.

The food service industry also needs food service people for event venues and executive dining and kitchen staff way up to Commis Chefs and Chefs.

Love all things to do with food and hospitality but untrained?

The teacher in our story earlier this week used her redundancy money to fund her training in a completely different field. Hospitality is recovering and there are apparently entry-level vacancies as well as management.

Here are just two educational organisations that offer courses; there are probably loads more around the country:

Birmingham College

London School of Hospitality and Tourism 

What’s going on in and around your area? Do you need to train or do you already have transferable skills? Who do you know? Which companies could you approach direct? Alongside that you could try specialist recruitment agencies.

Remember: Stand out and be different!

Lady Teacher turned Plumber at 53!

‘Don’t do anything rash’ was replaced by freedom to chase a dream: To be a plumber like her Dad…

£7,000 redundancy from her teaching job at a sixth-form college was invested in buying a van and a one-year plumbing course where, although the only woman in the class, she discovered she wasn’t the oldest: There were plenty of men in their 50s and 60s training to be plumbers, too.

She’s now set up her own business and friends and family are benefiting from ‘mates rates’ while the business gets established.

She said she wishes she’d done this years ago yet would never have had the courage to make the leap had it not been for the push of redundancy.

Moral of the story: Redundancy can mean opening our eyes to new opportunities AND It’s never too late to follow your dream!