Going into work day after day not knowing if the axe will fall and you will be made redundant is a fearful and stressful time for most.

You may hear rumours for some time, there may be signs that  the company isn’t as busy as it used to be or it can come ‘out of the blue’: to you or your colleagues. If it’s not you this time there may well be a nagging feeling that you may be next.

It happened to me several years ago when I was an Account Director for direct marketing at a global advertising agency. It’s well known in that industry that your job is only secure while you and your clients are contributing to the bottom line. Mine were but only short term and there wasn’t much in the pipeline so my redundancy wasn’t a complete surprise.

I’d kept in contact with ex colleagues I liked, shown an interest in what they were doing, had already let them know I was looking for a change and got a contract to do work for one of them within a month.

And, thinking about it, years before that when I was out of work I phoned a guy who ran a telemarketing bureau and who I’d consistently failed to sell advertising to some time before (he finally admitted he had a watertight contract at very advantageous rates with a competing publication that precluded him using ours).  We’d met once and I hoped he’d remember me.

He did. Whilst he didn’t know of anything going that would pay me what I was used to, he told me about a 2-week job at a fledging institute. He suggested I call the company’s Marketing Director if it was of any interest to me…

That 2-week job lasted 2 years and led to me meeting someone who helped me create my next job in his company.

Here’s another bit of data for you

I worked as an employee for many years at varying roles in different companies before I gradually clarified and had the nerve to follow my passion.

I’ve just checked up and realised that the last time I got a job (that lasted more than 3 months) by responding to an advertised vacancy was in 1982 – 27 years ago.

I don’t particularly remember what the economy was like then but there were a lot more jobs overtly on offer than now.

So my suggestions are

• Know what you enjoy and are good at
• Understand your value and what it could mean to somebody else
• Practise how you can best express that to the market
• Actively seek out opportunities rather than waiting for them to come to you
• Be prepared to be flexible
• Never expect it but get used to rejection as part of getting what you want and need

Get creative!