Redundancy and dealing with losing your job

If you’re made redundant or unemployed, you might feel anxious about the future. Get advice on how to develop your skills, access free online courses and find help getting a job.

Retrain or upskill

While not having a job can be a very stressful time, it may also be an opportunity to:

  • identify and improve your skills
  • learn a new skill
  • change your career

Know your skills

You may have transferable skills which you could use in a different job to what you were doing before. If you know what your skills are, it may help you choose the right job and make your application stronger.

You may want to:

Find courses

If you need to learn a new skill or get a qualification, you can find a course or apprenticeship. You might be able to get a free qualification if you're eligible.

You may also be able to enrol on a free Skills Bootcamp to help you develop your skills in a specific sector or job.

Look for work

If you want to find a job as soon as possible, you can improve your chances by:

CVs and cover letters

You may want to update your CV with the reason your employer made you redundant, such as "the company restructured due to budget cuts". This will help make it clear that there was nothing wrong with your performance. 

You can still include all the skills and experience you gained in this role.

You may also want to include this information in your cover letter to make sure the employer sees it.

Interviews

Many interviews are now remote, either as a phone interview or a video interview. 

You should prepare for your interview as this can help you feel more confident. 

To prepare:

Deal with setbacks by building resilience

Losing your job can be difficult to deal with.

Learning how to deal with setbacks may help you manage, both now and in the future.

Help with redundancy

You can get more information and guidance on redundancy by reading about:

If you still feel unsure, you might find it useful to talk about your plans with an adviser.

Speak to a careers adviser

Related content

How to deal with career setbacks

Where to find job vacancies

Networking to find a job

Speak to an adviser

You can call 0800 100 900 or use webchat to speak to an adviser.

We're open:

  • 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday
  • 10am to 5pm Saturdays and bank holidays

We're closed on Sundays, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.