Jobs are a significant part of our lives and identity so when we are made redundant, it can often trigger a personal crisis. 

People who identify themselves by their job may start to question who they are when they suddenly become unemployed.  As one of my client’s said to me recently “I always tell people I’m an IT programmer, but I’m not anymore so what do I tell them now”?  

When your identity is so deeply embedded in what you do, it’s not surprising that redundancy can be stressful and devastating.  Redundancy isn’t an easy thing to bounce back from but bounce back you must if you want to move on.  If you don’t, there is a risk it will lead to emptiness, anxiety, depression and a lack of direction.  

So what should you do to get your head back in the game?

Let us start out with a bit of honesty shall we? LinkedIn and me personally, do not have the longest history together. I have only had a LinkedIn profile for about a year.

I’ve been chosen to be a guest blogger for the amazing Ali Hunter from Career Insights. I have the privilege of working alongside Ali as an expert for Network NZ, and I also get to do some of her design work. Let me tell you right off the bat that she has a world of knowledge with all things LinkedIn and beyond. Get in touch with her if you have any questions or need her help.  You will not be disappointed.

Complaining, blaming others and making excuses is easy. We all do it.  Mainly because we can and because….well, it lets us off the hook.

This is particularly true when it comes to making a career change.  Never mind that we are desperately unhappy turning up to the same job we’ve done for the last 10 years.  Never mind that our passion for the job, (if we ever truly had it) has slowly eroded.  Never mind that every day we’re doing our job, we wish we were doing someone else’s.  It's not our fault!

Yes making excuses is easy.  Certainly much easier than putting in the effort needed to make a career change.  You don’t need to look too far to find plenty of great excuses to justify why you’ve failed to make a change.

You’ve nailed the interview, or so you thought.  But instead of receiving a job offer, the only thing you’ve received is the dreaded phone call to let you know that your dream job has been offered to someone else!  Or worse, perhaps you haven’t heard anything at all. 

There is no denying that being rejected for a position is disappointing.  Particularly when you really want the job, admire the company and you’ve already begun to imagine what life might be like with your feet under the desk. Your confidence may have taken a knock, so when the inevitable post interview analysis begins, it’s only natural that self-doubt can creep in.  You may be left wondering why they didn’t want you, where you went wrong, and questioning whether you will ever get a job that you want?  

Seeking feedback from your interviewers can be an invaluable learning process which can help you improve your chances of getting the next job you interview for. Asking for feedback isn’t always easy however.   So how should you approach it? Here are our top tips.

You’ve submitted your CV, nailed the interview, met the fantastic team you’ll potentially be working with and now there are just two little words standing between you and your dream job – “reference check”. 

For many employers the reference check is an integral part of the recruitment process and has the potential to make or break your application; so you’ll want to be sure your referee’s are going to make you look good and not jeopardise your chances of landing the job. 

From an employer’s perspective it’s all about minimising the risk of hiring an unsuitable candidate so for many it’s an opportunity to ask pertinent questions to determine if everything they’ve seen and heard so far stacks up.

There are also those employers however who believe that conducting reference check are a waste of time.  This may, in part, be due to the belief that a savvy job seeker is unlikely to provide contact details for someone who will give them a bad reference.  It’s also true that reference checks are simply more complex these days with organisations becoming more and more cautious of what they say about their former or current employees due to the potential for a legal defamation case.

The subject of references can certainly be a little tricky so as a job seeker what are the legalities around this process that you need to be aware of?