If you (or partner/relative) were made redundant from high paid job - how long to get another?

[Sizzlysausage]

Hi all. My DH was made redundant over the summer. He was fairly senior and well paid (c.£150K). So he/we are/were very lucky. He has had quite a few interviews since then but no job and plenty of rejections. The common theme seems to be too senior for what he is going for. But when he has gone for more senior jobs, he hasn't even got an interview. Has anyone else had similar? How long did it take to get a new job? I'm worried about money obviously but also his mental health. He's 50, if that's relevant. Thanks!

Not as high earning as your DH, but mine ended up taking a very junior role in a different industry- one he used to work in a while back. It was a massive drop in salary. He eventually went freelance where he earned more, but now the freelance work has dried up completely. It’s tough.

Yes - I think it is ageism. In part. We always knew that he was likely to be made redundant in his 50s - it's quite common in his industry. Which broadly is telecoms and IT. I don't think I'd fully taken on board how difficult it might be to get another job. He's well respected, done well in his career, all that stuff. I'm slightly terrified to be honest.

I think cost of living is hitting companies hard too in some fields, people were nervous of what would happen with the general election, then the budget, even the US elections could be impacting business decisions in global companies……

I know the company I work for is now not hiring new roles due to the NI increase. I suspect this is happening a lot too.

DH finished work in the December the year he took redundancy and quite honestly didn't start looking until feb/march. He was actually approached by an ex colleague with a lead for a position that was opening up and as it was a senior role it took st least two months for everything to be sorted and he started in June.

My DH had lots of hope that ex colleagues would be interested -- but seems to have exhausted that now. The same thing - interviews etc, but all end up saying he's too senior and the job won't be enough for him.

So you work all your life. You get GREAT at your job. Truly professional. And then for whatever reason, you lose your job.

And everything you’ve ever done is meaningless because you are older, experienced and senior.

Is that it?

I don’t think it’ll be his age as often the experience needed comes with age. My partner, mid 40s, got another position very quickly, as did a few others he knows well in their late 40s to mid 50s all senior in IT. It could be not performing well in the interviews, the standard will be very high. How does he feel the interviews go?

Is he applying for appropriate positions? You said they say he is too experienced and the jobs won’t be enough for him.

Been made redundant at 46 and 50. Not as highly paid, but relatively senior.
Took 6 months to find something the first time ended up with 2 offers, both significantly less money and in very different industries. The one I took was much less pressure and hours and was enough to pay bills so I didn't mind the drop in salary.
When that business was bought out I was lucky and saw a job almost exactly like the one from 4 years earlier in a 3rd sector org, rare combination of experience needed and started a week after I was redundant.
My conclusion was look everywhere, update CV on job sites really often (they sort by recent first for recruiters) and don't rule anything out.
I found a skills based CV helpful as it let me show skills separate from industry....so people management, project experience, technical experience, and easy to tailor to each role. (Sorry, know you didn't ask that but I got on better once I changed my CV)

Tech has had boom years and is in a lull. Middle management is always a target in a cull.

There are fewer management roles than practitioner roles, so climbing the ladder carries the risk that three ladder stops abruptly. I stepped back a level into practitioner stuff rather than management because I thought it had more longevity.

Experienced 50 year olds of both sexes are likely free of the childcare headaches so should be more focused. It's sad that so many struggle.

@BlastedPimples IME employers are weird about experience. It is discounted very heavily. Too many employers don't have the insight to see that experience as being transferable.

'We want X years of experience' in reality is 'We want X years of experience in this precise role'. ie they want a clone of the person who is leaving.

Of course there are also the employers who are made nervous by having someone with lots of knowledge and experience coming in.

I was made redundant in September 2021 at the age of 57 and immediately started looking for other senior roles. I got down to the last two for 2 CEO roles and got offered my new role in January 2022 on a much higher salary and in a niche role in a different sector. I started work in March 2022. It was a massive learning curve but I've got to grips with it though I'm working much harder than I have before. My last push in salary and pension build.

I was helped by having outplacement as part of my redundancy package and having good connections with headhunters.

He's had more rejections today. I think we're both starting to feel a bit scared. Apart from the financial side of it, which is terrifying, it's the psychological battle involved. I guess I need to keep the faith for now ...

Is there anything you can do in the meantime to make the financial side less terrifying? MSE's money makeover is always great to refocus in new circumstances. Was he the sole earner or anything you can do e.g. increasing hours etc?

At that salary level it is very unlikely to be something from a job board but you say he has exhausted his network. He should still keep in touch as they may have something in the new year. Another consideration is to move into something completely different, management in the charity sector for example, a portfolio of non-exec roles or starting a business?

DH got made redundant in April, still looking. Late 40s.Telecoms / IT consulting role. It is brutal :(

My partner was made redundant at 55. Never got another job at the same level.

It is brutal and sapping. And getting interviews but not selected is disheartening. It's hard to keep the motivation going on your own and you notice when friends/family stop asking how it's going because they don't want to rub it in.

When I was searching (at 57) I very much tried to set aside set business hours for search each week.

I am a CEO but search is still relevant on LinkedIn as well as registering with relevant headhunters and agencies. I was registered with 8 which were most relevant and searched their current assignments every week. A couple of roles I went for and got down to the final two were through LinkedIn advert a couple through being approached by the headhunter. The one I ended up getting was through approach by headhunter - I'd seen it advertised but didn't think it relevant to me. So I also agree on looking at transferable skills into other sectors including charity sector etc - they are often looking for business and operational improvement, financial, marketing and digital business skills. It's also worth considering interim roles for senior execs/CEOs in charity/not for profit sectors.

I have never done so well through reaching out to contacts - but I do think that can be particularly useful for consultancy projects rather than full time recruitment.

Through my outplacement service support I got my CV reviewed and advised how to maximise my LinkedIn profile. The advice was to ensure I put all the info on my CV on LinkedIn as many headhunters/recruitment agencies search for keywords etc through there and print off LinkedIn profiles as CVs. I also got training and advice on interviews - including a dummy interview and feedback which sharpened me up on learning all my examples of my experience for each competency (S,O,A,R framework).

A male friend who was recently made redundant at 60 showed me a ChatGBT generated supporting statement for a job he was applying for which was really good - you just have to fully review and edit (it had made up some business improvements he hadn't done) but it was super impressive.

Not redundancy but I had a bit of an (early!) midlife crisis and after my last role ended (I work in the interim market, usually maternity cover FTCs) decided to go off travelling etc for 6 months at the end of last year. Prior to that I'd always walked into highly paid interim jobs with ease but since I've come back it's been very, very tough. I'm getting a few interviews but that's it - previously I interviewed really well (and got interviews everywhere I applied pretty much) and I don't think I've lost the knack, so God knows!

A small paranoid part of me wonders if people see the gap, see my age (or what they assume my age to be based on uni dates etc - I was actually a mature student so am older) and think ah, she's just been off to have a baby, she'll probably want another soon! And I can see how if they're taking someone on for a 12 month maternity cover they don't want the hassle of that person potentially getting pregnant themselves and leaving a few months before the end of the contract...

But I'm sure that's not the case 😬

Sorry for everyone else going through this, it's a nightmare!