beatredundancyblues.co.uk Coming Soon

Hi Everyone

I am mega busy at the moment creating my beatredundancyblues.co.uk website, it will be very similar to beatredundancyblues.com with all of your favourite information pages but with a blog added for much more interaction with you. This way you can let me know what you like and what you don’t and what other help and support you need in your quest to find employment.

Watch this space for the official launch of beatredundancyblues.co.uk

My web host who hosts beatredundancyblues.com has decided to stop people from using RVSiteBuilder  to build any new website by removing it from their system. As my site is built using this, I now have to get access to my site admin panel through a link. I was informed that eventually the RVSiteBuilder will be dis-continued completely. beatredundancyblues.co.uk was due to be launched at the end of this year but in light of this new challenge, I am creating it now and transferring it’s valuable information over to beatredundancyblues.co.uk. I have to do this manually and re-format it before adding it to the new WordPress.Org site for beatredundancyblues.co.uk

For those of you who are not familiar with beatredundancyblues.com and what is is about, here is an except from it:

This website is designed to give you easy access to a wealth of knowledge, experience and skills needed to survive redundancy and get back into work. No longer do you have to trawl through website after website trying to find the information you want, you can get it all here at the click of a button. Make your job search easier by getting instant access to these sites at the click of a button. Find an area that interests you and get right to it. Click for instant access to Job Sites Click for instant access to Recruitment Sites Click for instant access to Courses Sites

This website is essential for anyone who is: Redundant Unemployed Changing Career Job Hunting Lacking In Direction Wanting Motivation Needing Help Looking For Support

I have to say that using WordPress.org compared to the .com version has been far more challenging than I thought it would be. What experience have you had with the .org version compared to the .com? Have you got any advice or hints and tips on how to get the best out of using the .org version?

On thursday this week, I am going to an awards ceremony by the police to be awarded a Good Citizens Award. I feel honoured and humbled to be getting the award and thought I would let you know.

Write soon

Sandra

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Launch of beatredundancyblues.com

Hi Everyonebeatredundancyblues.com is finally here The launch of beatredundancyblues.com has been greatly anticipated for some time and I am proud to announce that as of now, on Tuesday 26th of March 2013, beatredundancyblues.com is finally launched. beatredundancyblues.com is a content rich site. It is a free resource of information, help and support for anyone who is: Redundant or about to be made redundant Job seeking Currently unemployed Wanting to change careers Lacking inspiration Needing motivation beatredundancyblues.com includes: A free report – 10 Mistakes to Avoid whilst Applying For Work Access to job sites from within the one site Access to recruitment sites from within the one site Access to courses from within the one site Health and wellbeing Interview advice Motivation Inspiration Interview advice Time management Self-employment beatredundancyblues.com is designed and built with you in mind, to help motivate and rejuvenate you back into work. Please take time to browse the site and let me know what you think?

In the meantime, stay positive, Sandra Bellamy.

What’s Holding You Back? – Skills and Experience

Hi Everyone

Now that we have settled into the new year, you will probably have noticed a lot of posts about goal setting and how you need to take action in order to move forward with your life. These posts are an invaluable source of information and inspiration and they are absolutely right, if you want to achieve your desired outcome, you need to take the steps to get there by setting goals and then acting on them but in the next few posts I want us to take a look at what may be holding you back from setting goals in the first place.

Sometimes in order for you to move forward you must reflect on the past and assess the present to see what changes need to be made. If you keep doing the same thing then you will always get the same result. If you are not happy with the result then you need to change what you are doing and there is no time like the present, so what are you waiting for?

Let’s consider some of the things that may be holding you back.

Not having the right skills or experience

There is no easy way to say this, if you haven’t got the right skills and experience for the job role that you desire, in these difficult economic times, you need to either obtain them or learn to convert previous experience and learnt skills into transferable experience and skills and if you can’t do that then you probably won’t get a look in because the competition is so tough.

Do not be fooled by a job advert that states: “Previous experience is not essential as full training will be given for the right candidate.”

If the interviewer can get a person with previous experience who has the correct basic skills, the right attitude for the job and is the right fit for the team, then they will go with them instead of someone with little or no experience. When I was a retail manager I recruited my own staff  and I advertised for the experience and skills that I required and yes I still got applicants applying with little or no relevant experience and as time is money in business, usually I would sift theses applications out on first look as I had a large number of applicants. Of the applicants that were sifted out there may have been some that had the right attitude or were a good fit for the team but because I didn’t put them through to the interview stage I would never know this, so having the right skills and experience is essential.

When I wasn’t working, on the odd occasion I would apply for a job that was out of my sector and one that I had little or no relevant skills or experience in, just as I thought, I would get a reject letter or worse, nothing at all. Upon analysis, the reason I got a rejection letter was because I appeared on paper to have some of the skills and experience that were relative to the job and some transferable skills but obviously not as good a offering as someone who blatantly had the skills and experience in that sector and therefore I wasn’t surprised I was rejected and took it on the chin. When I received no reply whatsoever, it was because on paper there were barely any skills and experience relevant to the role for which I had applied, so why should the employer bother to reply to me when it looked like I had randomly decided to ‘give it a go’. An employer wouldn’t like this attitude and to be honest neither do I and when I became a manager I understood that and if I were to apply for a job now I would always tailor my CV and Cover Letter to the Job specification and that’s why I get responses when a lot of other people don’t, so if you are struggling to get responses, now you know the secret, why not try it for yourself?

If you want to gain the skills and experience to get a job you desire, you need to do voluntary work, work experience and you may need to take a course as well.

To read about what else may be holding you back be sure to read the next post, until then, whatever you do, stay positive.

Sandra Bellamy

B is for Breathing Space (A-Z of Redundancy)

Hi Everyone

When you enter into the world of Redundancyland it can be a hard pill to swallow. Emotions that you haven’t experienced for a long time, may rear their ugly head and if it is the first time that you have been made redundant, you may feel bewildered, anxious and all alone and that can be just for starters.

For some of you, the business where you worked may literally have collapsed overnight and redundancy will have happened so fast that you barely had time to think, let alone manage to make plans for your future or indeed for the next day. Whilst others among you, will find that there were rumours spreading that the company you worked for was in trouble over a period of months before you got officially told that there was no longer a need for your role.

Whichever is the path that took you to get here, I am here to tell you, you are not alone. I have been made redundant twice and in general, a job for life is now a thing of the past. No longer are employers looking for a person with years of experience in the same role, they are looking at how adaptable and flexible potential employees are to have been able to hold a variety of jobs and gained many transferable skills.

One of the most important things that you must do, is to allow yourself breathing space, by this I mean, time to take everything in that has happened to you, to process it in your mind and to allow yourself the time to think, what is it that I really want to do with my life? You also need time to settle into the idea of not working in that role anymore. I know some of you will be screaming at me right now, saying “I have got a job to go to, I don’t need breathing space.” To those of you who share that viewpoint, I say good on you but please give yourself time to think and reflect on if the job you have taken to replace the one that you were made redundant from, was the right job choice for you. It can be easier to take a job out of desperation than it is too allow yourself the time to think of redundancy as the opportunity of a lifetime to pursue your dreams.

My top five tips for why you need breathing space:

1. To give yourself time to get over the initial shock of redundancy.
2. To allow grief to run it’s course.
3. To think about what other career you could pursue and research ways to make it happen.
4. To make a plan of action for your future including how you are going to get your dream job.
5. To pursue a course needed to improve your chances of getting a job in the role that you want.

When I was made redundant for the second time in 2009, I decided to pursue my dream of being a published writer and of setting up a website to help people who have been made redundant to get back into work. If I can do it, I know you can too.

Reach for the stars. They are yours for the taking.

Remember, always stay positive.

Sandra Bellamy

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Enabling the less abled into employment

 

Hi Everyone

You are probably waiting to read the A-Z of Redundancy that is coming soon but in the meantime I wanted to share with you something that happened today.

I got invited to take a tour of St Loye’s Foundation in Exeter. That is essentially an education establishment for people with disabilities, or to use the correct terminology, the less-abled or differently-abled. Their website address is: http://www.stloyesfoundation.org.uk This year they are celebrating their 75th Anniversary of being a national charity with the aim of getting people into employment.

Their mission: “With our range of services, we support people with physical or mental health conditions and disabilities into lasting employment.”

I was given a tour of the Foundation by Community Fundraiser Phil Roberts.  The building was light and airy and well equipped to meet training needs, with one computer per person and a lot of them. Spread over two floors the foundation offers a number of in-house courses to 18 years and over, that include:

• Horticulture and Land based Skills
• Hospitality and Catering
• Microsoft IT Academy
• Health and Safety in the Workplace
• Business Skills
• Computer Aided Design (CAD)
• Childcare
• Health and Social Care
• Food Hygiene
• Book-keeping

And the best thing is, they will put you up in residential accommodation if you don’t live in Exeter and want to attend a course. That is subject to proof that you have got a disability and DWP terms and conditions. I would advise you to contact your local Disability Employment Advisor at your local Jobcentre Plus to discuss your options and eligibility and you can speak directly to St Loye’s Employment Team by phoning 01392 255428 to find out more about the courses.

Their address is: St Loye’s Foundation, Brittany House, New North Road, Exeter EX4 4EP.

Every person that I was introduced to at St Loye’s, made me feel welcome and at ease. The tutors were on hand to give one-to-one support with courses such as Business Administration and CAD design and I got the feeling that it was a place where people could feel comfortable and supported in their training and respected as an individual.

Some exciting news  – Soon they will be offering courses to people who are vulnerable but don’t necessarily have a disability. This means that if you are unemployed, over 19 years and claiming JSA, you will be able to take advantage of a number of training courses for free that you will find hard to get for free elsewhere in Exeter and that you may find hard to get at that level for free in the South West. For example, I have been told by an employee that they will be offering ECDL Levels, 1, 2 and 3. So log on to their website again in a few weeks time to gain access to courses for updating your skills or training for a new career. http://www.stloyesfoundation.org.uk

Remember, stay positive.

Together we can beat redundancy blues.

Sandra Bellamy

 

Course you can

Hi Everyone

It makes me feel sad when I hear people say they have applied for many different jobs and they have not even had a reply!

Why?  I ask myself.

Speaking from an ex-recruiters’ perspective, it can be for a number of reasons.

1. A poorly written CV
2. No cover letter or a poorly written one
3. Lack of experience
4. Lack of skills
5. Lack of knowledge

The thing is, you can do something about all of these and if you keep getting the same answer, for example, no answer at all, then it’s time to change what you are doing because it obviously isn’t working.

There are a number of people and places that can help you to write a good CV and cover letter and that is something I can help you with as part of my new redundancy services.

With regards to lack of experience, skills or knowledge, that is something that you need to learn for yourself and what better way to do it, than by going on a course.

This is particularly true if you are attempting a change of career and you are competing in a market with plenty of people who do have those credentials.

By going on a course, you will be able to decide if your new career, is one that you are passionate about and if it’s the right ‘fit’ for you.

A course will also:

• Raise your self-confidence
• Raise your self-esteem
• Give you an idea of what the job may entail
• Make you feel you are doing something worthwhile
• Give you direction
• Give you a sense of purpose
• Enhance your communication skills
• Show you have something ‘current’ to offer a new employer
• Make you feel better
• Give you a sense of fulfilment
• Give you a greater sense of achievement
• Make you realise, you can do it

So search your local college or university prospectus to find out more about various courses.  Many hold open evenings so that you can talk through your options.

Search the web for long-distance courses or other local courses.

Ask at the job centre, what local places hold free courses if you are on JSA.  There are often places that you can go to, to get a free or heavily subsidised course but you need to ask about these.  I have found a fair few in my local area.

Speak to your family, friends and contacts.  They may have gone on a course you didn’t realise they had been on and word of mouth is a good way of hearing about it.

Good luck and let me know how you get on.

Stay positive

Sandra

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