*** Update at 7 March 2011 ***
I have been a public servant for some 20 years. I was recently made redundant.
I wrote in this blog about my experiences in facing up to this fact, dealing with the consequences and trying to find a new job. It focused on the personal rather than the political although sometimes the two are too interconnected to separate.
Writing about my experiences helped me focus on what needed to be done. I have just started a new job after learning a lot from the readers of the blog. I will not be blogging here now but I plan to maintain the site as a resource for others who are having to take the same journey we have.
I hope that reading the blog helps you if you are going through this or gives the wider public an idea of what is going on.
Please feel free to comment. I always try to be respectful of other’s views and not to engage in abuse. Please do the same.
If there are resources you think deserve a look please feel free to use the site to let others know about them.
The Redundant Public Servant – March 2011
email: redundantps@gmail.com
Resources for redundant public servants 
have a look at Bear Hunt – Earn your living by doing what you love………..
Thanks for reading the blog and posting a comment.
I will have a look at the Bear Hunt option!
Best wishes
God, I know what you’re going through. When I got made redundant in the wake of Lehmans’ collapse (I worked in the “third sector”, one that relied heavily on bank loans) I thought I’d be able to get work, if not easily, at least without massive difficulty. I was wrong.
14 months later I finally found work again. Now I look at the CSR, and wonder how long it will last. And I know that if it happens again, it’s going to be even worse.
I also started a blog during unemployment. You might like to take a look, at least at the earlier entries: http://www.billynojob.wordpress.com
Dear Billy, thanks for the link I will have a look. Good luck with the job – that gives me a lot of encouragement. RPS
Good luck with your job search. I find myself in the same boat as yourself having been made redundant a few weeks ago from the public sector.
Hi Owd Git, good luck to you too. I hope it all turns out ok. RPS
Another public sector worker who has bitten the dust, a year ago, who finally got fed up of being judged and rejected by people many years ny junior in both life and experience, I have decided to only work on my terms and esentially work as a freelance.
This has meant taking stock of what I am good at, what I am not and what I can learn and then put into practise. A slow process but one that is begining to bear fruit little by little ( helps to have a partner working and a small early pension)
I also decided I would like to work locally if I can so have spent time in volunteering for local projects and getting to know local people and businesses.
I enjoy volunteering but also recognise that it is good for career prospects.
Paul
Dear Paul,
It looks like you have a sound plan and are working at it. That’s great news and shows it can be done.
I hope all goes well for you.
Best wishes
RPS
I was pretty much forced to resign rather than facing redundancy but the destination is the same; uncertainty, looking for work during a recession in which employers have the pick of the bunch while trying to understand what I did wrong..
Should have learned to play the corporate game!!!
The hunt for a better future (or at least a job) has begun.
Hope all goes well for you..
Dear J,
I hope things work out for you.
Best wishes
RPS
Hi RPS
Great blog – I arrived here on this damp Sunday morning via Twitter.
I sympathise for your situation and admire you for blogging about it – if my comments below sound harsh, put it down to a lack of imagination on my part, as I’ve never worked in a career for a long period, as you have. But here goes anyway.
Try these 3 out for size…..
Think freelance: on one of your pages (sorry, now can’t find it) you mention your career being over – no, no, no, far from it, you’re about to join the wonderful world of the freelance/consultant! Your wealth of skills and contacts from 20 years put you in a very strong position to get paid to do the bits you enjoy most.
Think portfolio worker: I’m guessing you’re a man ? 🙂 Look at your future career in terms of a portfolio of work which you can offer. OK, so it’s not only women who do this, but often they’re better at it than men (where women often fall down is not rating highly enough some of the aspects of their portfolio). You’re already blogging (and good at it), so include blogger as part of your portfolio.
Think unpaid as well as paid: why should only the paid work count? why are we happy when someone has an unexpected piece of artistic, creative or business success to hear them defined in the media as ‘dustman’ , ‘pensioner’, ‘unemployed’ or ‘housewife’ etc. If you were to save someone in the street the day after you finish at your job and the local media wanted to do a write-up on you, how would you give your occupation, ie. without stopping to think?
I don’t know where you’re based or what your skills are, but I hope we get to hear more at the end of your six months.
Good luck.
Dear Cathy,
Thank you for visiting the blog and taking time to comment. Your comments are not harsh at all.
In fact they echo a lot of the thinking I have been doing.
You’re right I am a bloke and I know that some of my thinking about the future is definitely trammelled by the past that I have had. I guess the sore spot in my psyche that is home to the hurt casued by the rejection inrehent in being made redundant is sometimes more sensitive that I would like it to be. But I am working hard at not letting that get in the way of designing a new life for me and mine.
Thank you again for your comments and good wishes,
RPS
Hi RPS,
Great blog and a fantastic idea. I have sent you a private email, but I wanted to comment too. Wishing you & your family well for the future. Good luck in your job hunt!
Best wishes
Amy
Dear Amy,
Thank you for visiting the blog and taking the time to comment.
All the best
RPS
Hi RPS and Mrs RPS and all those with hair driers…
I have only recently come across your blog but am now following it avidly…
I worked for thirty years in the public sector but recently “jumped ship” and took a leap of faith, setting up my own company. Your blog inspired me to write about it. http://wp.me/p1enjT-1e
I bet you will soon look back and say “If this hadn’t happened, I would still have been in that job!” (virtual italics and underline on “still”)
Good luck and keep blogging – hope to see the upward curve begin!
Gill
Dear Gill,
Thank you so much for your kind words. I enjoyed reading your blog. Keep up the good work.
Best wishes
RPS
Good Luck. I too am facing the prospect of being part of the deficit reduction despite being in a trading fund, and making money for the goverment!.. Hey ho, I take comfort that as I am poorly paid finding a job won’t be too difficult. But as a single working parent finding a job which is as family friendly won’t be easy.
Good luck with interview, and if you need a RT on Twitter consider it done.
Kind Regs
Kato
Deat kato,
I am sorry to hear that you are in this too. I hope you find something that meets all your needs. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
best wishes
RPS
Hi RPS
I was directed to your blog by my dear friend Gill Philips (Whose Shoes?) and will now follow you just as closely.
I can’t say I’m in exactly the same position as you as I haven’t worked in the public sector and I haven’t been made redundant – but I walked away from a very senior position in the Independent Social Care Sector last November. I would love to say I haven’t looked back since, but I’d be lying – I look back most days, wondering if I’ve done the right thing, only to tell myself that of course I have!
I feel aphrehensive one day, nervous even(I’m the only wage earner), but incredibly excited the next – it’s been an emotional rollercoaster but I’ve started to make the difference that I so really wanted to do. I was unhappy, over a long period of time, frustrated, out of place and felt de-skilled, demotivated and completely at a loss. I can imagine you and your colleagues feeling a little of this.
I have over twenty years experience in Adult Social Care and I am now determined to use that experience to the best advantage I can. I’ve decided to go freelance as it put’s me back in the driving seat and in control of my career. I have so much passion inside me to change the way social care is delivered and commissioned that I’m going to give it my best shot.
Something must have driven you through your public sector career to date. What is your passion and what makes you want to get up in the morning and end the day feeling rewarded? If you really think about this, write the answer at the top of a blank piece of paper – this will help you start your positive journey towards change and hopefully an exciting future.
I wish you all the luck in the world, just make sure you take the opportunity to follow your heart………..
Dear Philippa,
Thank you for visiting the blog and taking the time to write such a heart-felt comment.
I can identify with your blank sheet of paper moment.
On the whole the change will probably do me good! But then Charles I said the walk to the scaffold would do him good …
Best wishes
RPS
What a great blog – only came across it on its last day!
Some of your readers might be interested in our work supporting people to set up micro-enterprises. Many micro-entrepreneurs are ex-public servants who are going it alone on a small scale, often selling support, activities, hot meals, advice etc to people who have personal budgets (or their own money) to spend. There are some inspirational stories out there and these ideas are within reach of many more people than are currently aware of them. You can find info about this (perhaps for your sidebar links?) at http://bit.ly/hFbqfH and at http://www.communitycatalysts.co.uk. Or see my blog: http://alexfoxblog.wordpress.com
many thanks and all the best for the future,
Alex Fox, NAAPS UK
Dear Alex,
Thank you for visiting. I’m not retiring just yet though.
Best wishes
RPS
Hi -I have read your blogs and comments received with great interest. I admire your passion. You might be interested in my husbands blog relating to the march in london on 26 th March to protest about cuts. Its http://glennewstead.blogspot.com
Hi Redundant
Snap!
Maybe something here to help you?
Job Hunting
http://dbatasks.blogspot.com/2010/12/job-hunting.html
Why LinkedIn
http://dbatasks.blogspot.com/2010/12/social-networks-for-dba.html
Hope this helps
whats are you trying to say admin? i didn’t get it?
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