DH lost job - advice

[bakingmummy21]

DH has lost his job at the end of probation. Last year he was made redundant but got a pay off which saw us through to when he got a new job 7 months later. This time he gets 1 month.
We’re obviously looking at reducing spending as much as possible and he’s job hunting but I just know it could take a while.
Any advice? Do we ask for a mortgage freeze? Anyone have experience of that?!

@bakingmummy21 do you work? Do you have dependant children? Do you have savings or other capital, excluding the home you live in, over £16,000?

Money saving expert is an excellent source of information, about budgeting and benefits and work. Is head there if I was in your position. Good luck with it

first check what benefits if any you are entitled u.c. and also check with your local council (its a separate tax relief) for an council tax relief for low income. Check on entitled 2 by putting in your financial situation int he calculator

Ask for your council tax to be spread over 11 months - this will lessen the blow but out away the first payment from this months last wage - so you are one month ahead.

What you do with your mortgage will depend on what type you have, if its not interest only - you could ask to swap for a while.

Whilst job hunting it maybe an idea to get temporary work and if you can increase your hours at work?

citizen advise have a good budget calculator on their page to input all your outgoings.

See what subscriptions you can ditch and if you can reduce your gas and electric direct debits slightly - but do read the meters monthly to make sure you're not getting into debit.

but on't delay in applying for benefits as they will not back pay them and they could indeed help to tide you over

Thanks for the comments. Yes I work full time, not much option to increase hours further. We have some savings in shares which we could sell. Currently just working out how long this would last us. We can look at reducing our childcare by taking our youngest out of nursery but this obviously has an impact if he gets another job we’ll have lost the place. The mortgage is the main issue, we moved a couple of years ago and upsized based on our salaries then and the economy has changed significantly since. We’re on a capital repayment so I’ll call the mortgage provider today and maybe we can go interest only for a short while 🤞

We have some savings in shares which we could sell

you may not qualify for benefits, depending on the amount

look at reducing the days at nursery rather than pulling out altogether?

As you are working full time, a part time job for dh would increase the income but also allow time for job searching - even 20 hours per week would bring in just shy of £1000 per month net

Just a thought but ask about the Government Charter when you speak to the mortgage company as this gives you 6 months interest only with no effect on your credit file.
There is also Breathing Space as a possible short term option: www.gov.uk/options-for-dealing-with-your-debts/breathing-space
Alternatively speak with CAB or stepchange for advice - good luck x

Thanks yes we’ve cut nursery days down to 3 from April to allow for temp work / job hunting and our mortgage provider has the charter so can do 6 months interest only. DH gets paid until mid April as he had some accrued holiday days and then savings should take us a few more months. After that we will change the mortgage if we need to (conscious we only get 6 months so don’t want to do that immediately if we don’t have to). Feels like we have a bit of a plan - the uncertainty is just so difficult though.

As your money situation isn't too terrible by the sound of it, here's some practical advice.

First thing is not to panic.

Second thing is for DH to find out what any references from his ex-employer will say. Hopefully it'll only confirm his job title, start date and end date. He may still be able to ask them to agree references even after he's left if they're willing to be a bit nice about it. It's worth asking.

He can then either leave his last job off his CV, or explain it away as a short-term contract at his interviews.

Next, he needs to get his CV up to scratch. Focus on achievements over responsibilities. Provide data, for example; "I restructured the team, resulting in an increase in customer Satisfaction of 30%" instead of "I was responsible for managing the team and ensuring customers were satisfied by our service".

Keep him applying "upwards". If he has 50% of the skills and experience needed, that's good enough to justify applying for roles.

Get him to do online training to improve his skills/knowledge. Even if he doesn't pay for any certificates, the improved knowledge should help in interviews.

Male job hunting a full time job 9-5, Monday to Friday. Have him apply online and also follow up by calling the recruiter. He will then get himself at the forefront of recruitment agents minds. They may then actively start pushing him to their clients.

Get him on LinkedIn, both posting content and commenting on others, daily. Also have him connect to others in his industry, both at his level and above. Also hunt down recruiters in his industry and connect with them - they often post roles on there before they hit the job sites.

Indeed, cv-library, reed and then any industry-specific job sites. Check them every couple of hours, sorted by latest jobs first. If he can get in early, a recruiter is more likely to see his application before it gets lost in a sea of applicants.

What industry is he in by the way?

Thank you, he asked about references and that’s all fine (just dates), and yes I was also thinking he could say the role was a contract. He also has a good explanation as to why it wasn’t the role for him. In his industry it’s very common to move roles frequently so I don’t think it will cause too many issues. Fortunately (or unfortunately) he spent most of last year job hunting so it hopefully won’t take long to get back into it and he has plenty of recruiter connections. He’s in advertising technology. Last year the job market was horrendous due to lay offs and no hiring. It feels like it might be slightly more stable this year.

Well he's going to have to find temporary work, hospitality, shelf filling. It's all very well being in a niche industry with it's ups and downs but he needs to knuckle down and do something while looking for the next position.

Sign up with a tempting agency like Hays etc as well.