Forgotten who I am after 2 children and 2 redundancies

[Chocolateyclaire76]

Before having children I spent 14 yrs working within fashion in London and loved it. We moved to the countryside once I became pregnant and due to the commute, I decided not to go back to work.

Fast forward 6 yrs and I made the leap back into employment last September, within the same industry, and I soon realised how much I’d changed. It all felt so pointless and I knew I wasn’t performing well. After 3 months we came to an agreement and I left. Two months later I was offered a job as a recruitment consultant - new job, new industry, new challenge, I thought. The job was mundane but the people nice however after 4 months I was made redundant as they couldn’t afford to pay me.

I’m now sat at home feeling totally lost. Sometimes I don’t even know who I am anymore.

Can anyone relate to this and offer some advice on moving forward, productively?

I can relate. Redundancy, given notice on flat, separation and relocation in the last 10 months. Thankfully I've had help from family. I'm looking for work at the moment as well as trying finish a professional qualification, which I'm not as interested in, but know I have to a single parent.

Do you really need the money or could you retrain and do something else? Volunteer?

It's impossible to go back to something from the past as so much changes over time, inevitably. Just keep moving forwards.

Think about:
what you enjoy doing/motivates you and conversely what you don't enjoy doing;
what your strengths and weaknesses are;
what is important to you (pay, progression,recognition); and
what type of business/working environment.

Do you have close friends/partner/family that can give you an appraisal? What they like about you and what you're good at? I had a friend who wrote one for me and I found it surprising as she had included things that I would not have thought of.

I looked at my old Morrisby profile from school recently. Sign up for £108 and get a career profile.

www.morrisby.com/career-changers

Also exercise regularly as this will help with your mental health.

Thanks for your advice and yes I do have a partner who I can talk to and he’s really understanding, thankfully!

I’m trying to start a little cooking business at the moment, as I enjoy it, but when I have slow days I just keep thinking that it won’t work. I know I need to give it time.

I guess I’m waiting for that penny drop moment where I’ll realise that’s why my job didn’t work out, or that’s why I was made redundant. As they say, everything happens for a reason!