Feeling lost in the working world/redundancy

[ARichSeamToMine]

hi, I will be taking a voluntary redundancy soon.

Voluntary in that it's a good payout and there are no other suitable roles within the organisation. I don't know what to do next, and I feel as if I have lost sight of how business and commerce works generally. I think this is because I struggle to keep up with technology.

Also it feels to me as if we are not technically in a recession but a lot of similar issues are lurking out there.

One of the first suggestions that has been made to me is to get AI to do my CV and I realised I don't actually know how to use AI, so perhaps I should tackle that first.

Do I just download a program and get on with it and see how I go?
I'm not quite sure where to go from here.

The world has changed so much, quite often I don't even understand the job description for anything a bit strategy led.

So I feel a bit lost.

The future belongs to people who understand technology, I know. I'm approaching 50 and I already feel I am struggling to keep up with the world.

Advice gratefully received. I'm lucky to have a financial cushion, I have some time to figure out my next steps too. But I don't know where to start and I think a whole layer of lower mgmt is disappearing as youngsters are expected to take on more responsibility.

thanks.

Why on earth do you want AI to write your CV?

I'm assuming you have one, even if it is out of date. Get your CV up to date and then you can tailor it to the roles you want to apply for.

Do you know what you want to do?

It was a suggestion made by a friend. She has crafted an excellent career and our big difference has always been that she's keen to jump in and understand tech.

I'm not saying I'm going to do it - I have got my CV ready the old fashioned way! But I realise that AI will know a lot of the buzzwords to use etc.

I am not terribly bothered about the work itself. I have two obvious lines of work open to me so I will focus on those. But I feel as if I need to understand tech better in order to keep moving along at all, not even move up. I think this is true of anyone in business/commerce?

I would hope to retire in 5 years.

Understanding tech better is not the same as using AI to do something like write a CV.
If you sound like a completely different person to your CV in an interview, that is a huge red flag for the hiring manager.

Let me try again with different phrasing....

I feel out of touch with business & commerce.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions as how to get back in touch with things? Any recommended reading etc? Thank you.

I spoke to an employment support agency the other day. We are going to have some appointments, including about CVs these days and about tracking systems in job searches (so CVs have to be human-eye friendly and also robot friendly).

This Employment agency was oddly via NHS Talking Therapies, and waiting list was a couple of months, but sure help available via the job centre if you start claiming contribution-based UC/JSA (used to be possible for six months regardless of savings), and possibly CAB? I know someone who was claiming UC and the Job Centre put him in touch with a CV advisor who helped him enormously.

Buzz words in adverts - agree, nightmare (although sometimes that's the organisations not being clear and getting lost in the jargon!)

Good luck. Agree it's a different world.

Don't get AI to write your CV, write it yourself. You can tell if it's been AI generated and it looks lazy

You can pay someone to check your CV and help with wording, etc

What sort of industry are you in? That would help with recommendations of publications, etc

Can posters please ignore my comment about the CV? Clearly I should not have said it as I'm not going to do it and I don't know anything about AI in order to know how to do it!

Unfortunately it's too late to amend my post.

It was just interesting to me that someone who is much further ahead in their career saw that as a first option. I would be really grateful if people didn't fixate on that.

@Datafan55 Thank you, that's really helpful. I didn't know if I would be allowed to access any of those resources as I won't be claiming any benefits.

But I will look at what the government has to offer generally.

Are you on LinkedIn? If not, get on there and start connecting to people you work with or have in the past. Then also start following (which is different to connecting) people who work in your sector or at organizations you are interested in. You'll then see your feed fill up with posts about the sector and news and what's going on, and it might help you feel like you're back in the loop a bit.

You could also do things like read Wired magazine if you want to know what's going on in the world tech-wise. It's more accessible than you might think as it's aimed at everyone and not just tech sector.

How much do you need to understand business and commerce? Surely you know enough to do your job and other comparable jobs out there. Don't let this friend's tech skills skew your view on how much you need to know. It's clearly not your thing from the way you talk about learning AI or business & commerce - these are a life's work and unless they're your particular thing, you only need enough to get by. Watch some youtubes by all means, but the main thing in this kind of transition is not to lose confidence and get overwhelmed by job searching in the wider world.

Better to network informally - get in touch with old colleagues and friends, go for coffees and pick brains, get a better sense of the reality so you don't over-react to a single perspective. If you're 50 and have a financial cushion and only want to work another five years anyway, the focus should be more on what you want to do and finding the right role that works for you. Talk to a career coach if needs be. And definitely stick with doing your own CV, revised for each role. The buzzwords will be in the ads so reflect those back, but it's the experience which will make you a good fit, not a few words on a CV.

@ConflictedCheetah Thank you, I will try Wired for sure. I am on LinkedIn but will make more use of it.

@Pinkdelight3 "How much do you need to understand business and commerce? Surely you know enough to do your job and other comparable jobs out there"

My starting point is "I don't know what I need to know anymore". I have coasted through the tech revolution due to a very lucky set of circumstances - but now I need to get on board properly.

I'm willing to learn but feel unsure what I need to learn. I guess it will become clearer as I look at job ads and see where my skills are lacking though.

Thanks everyone.

Good luck with it. I'm 47 and got made redundant last month. It's tough out there for sure but definitely let your network help you.

I'm starting some career coaching to figure out what I want to do with myself but if you can't afford that, do read Eleanor Tweddell's Why Losing Your Job Could Be The Best Thing That Ever Happened To You. Some great tips for sorting your head out a d getting back into the game.

I understand where you're coming from, OP. Would your redundancy package include a job coach who can review your CV, or maybe pay for a course?

I have been in the not-for-profit sector for a long time, and when I think of moving into the commercial sector, I realise that I don't know much about how it all works.