“Any employer who is hiring won’t look at your redundancy as a reflection on you”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question:

After my role being made redundant after just over a year, how do I bounce back from such a hard blow? I’ve been told by my ECD that I'm ‘highly employable’ but how am I meant to believe that when I’ve got the cut?

My self-confidence has taken a massive hit and the job market is in a bit of a dip. How do I keep myself motivated after such heartbreaking news? How do you bounce back after redundancy?

Katie Cadwell, co-founder of branding studio Lucky Dip and The NDA Podcast:

I’m really sorry that happened to you. You’re right in saying the market is difficult at the moment, and you’re certainly not alone in being affected by that. There was a survey last year that said 30 per cent of UK businesses expected to make redundancies in 2024. Which I know doesn’t make it any easier, but there are a lot of people who have been in your position. And even more people who can empathise – including any potential new employers.

Being made redundant is a business decision, not a personal one. If they had any problems with you or you weren’t meeting their expectations, they would have let you go. Redundancy can be a cold process; it’s often a numbers game. Trying to decipher ‘why me’ is going to lead to a list of ‘negatives’ only you can find.

Any employer who is hiring won’t look at your redundancy as a reflection on you. They’re well aware of the harsh realities of running a business. They may have made redundancies themselves. What they will pick up on is your confidence. You need to truly believe that this has happened due to circumstances out of your control, and that you have a lot to offer.

It’s not surprising your confidence has taken a knock. But your ECD believes in you, and they’ve been working with you for a year. To try and build yourself back up, there are a few things you can do.

1. Ask for some references. Reach out to team members, bosses, even clients, and ask for a couple of sentences about working with you. Not only are they useful for an interview, but it’s a good pick-me-up to hear some positive things.
2. Head out for some portfolio reviews. There are lots of people who run portfolio surgeries or 1-to-1 sessions. Reach out to your favourite creatives and ask for 15 minutes of their time. You’ll get some constructive feedback and pick up some confidence in your work and presentation of it.

There have been many patches of time where the industry has slowed down (recessions, pandemics) and it always bounces back. I know you will too.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

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