Why did you leave your last job?
It’s a question that, following redundancy, many job applicants
stumble around hopelessly with as they attempt to convince the
interviewer that they wanted to leave when in fact they know
that redundancy is more complicated than that.
It’s true that many people in this situation are ready to leave
at the time that redundancy hits them but the discomfort derives
from knowing that given the choice they would probably not be
sitting in that room at that time. Even if true, many candidates
still believe that redundancy equals failure in the eyes of many
interviewers.
Sadly, this is almost always a long way from the truth.
Redundancy does not visit the untalented. Indeed, it is often
the more able who find themselves in this position, many times
by design.
In fact, redundancy is just one way by which people leave an
employer. The world of work is changing rapidly and the human
resource requirement is changing equally fast. The capabilities
required by an organisation last year may differ significantly
this year. There’s no need to be ashamed if your employer can no
longer use the skills you offer. The answer is to move on to an
organisation where you can add value and to keep your skills up
to date so that you are never caught with skills that are no
longer required at all.
THE CHANGING NATURE OF WORK
The job for life has gone. These days I work with people who are
leaving high street banks and even the civil service following
re-structuring. Many have been with their employers for upwards
of twenty-five years and now find themselves entering the job
market for the first time since leaving school. When they
joined, these employees would have been fairly safe in the
knowledge that if they’d wanted to spend their entire working
life with the organisation, they could have done so.
Whatever the causes - technology, the demands of shareholders,
global industrialisation – it is clear that organisational
change happens now more quickly than ever. Change happens
because organisations need to remain competitive and efficient
and it therefore tends to be driven by operational need (cost
reduction) or from a marketing imperative (increased revenue).
If it is operational efficiency that is driving the change it
may well be that whole layers of management or functional areas
are removed, perhaps to be outsourced.
This inevitably leads to greater pressure on those that remain
who often find themselves with an increased workload.
Furthermore, morale is quite often on a downward slope during
the period leading to redundancy announcements; performance is
often poor and bonuses are reduced.
The first wave of redundancy may be voluntary. Who would
volunteer for redundancy? It’s usually the more talented and
confident people. Those who are not happy at work and believe
they can find a better job outside. Many people in this category
were going to leave anyway. Here’s a chance to leave with a
pay-off as well! Did you consider, while worrying about how you
were to explain redundancy, that you might be amongst a group
who consider themselves to be more capable than most?
Not everyone can volunteer for redundancy. However, it’s rarely
the case that individuals are singled out on the basis that they
are performing poorly. For those that are made compulsorily
redundant, it is important to remember that it’s nothing
personal and it’s not about performance. If a whole department
shuts down in order to cut costs, there is no consideration of
the talent that will be lost. It’s possible that some people
will be re-deployed elsewhere, but not finding an alternative
role does not equate to being unwanted. It all comes down to
whether or not your capabilities are required by the re-designed
organisation.
Note the important point there: it’s your capabilities that are
under scrutiny, not your talent. You may be the best PR manager
the organisation has ever employed. You may have helped raise
the profile of the organisation so that rarely does a week go by
when your company is not mentioned on TV or in the national
press. However, that won’t guarantee that you keep your job if
the decision has been made to outsource all PR activity to an
agency.
The “flattening” of organisations also increases the
desirability of redundancy. Knowing that where there might
previously have been two or three people competing for the next
job up the ladder, with flattened structures there may now be
ten or more people reporting into a single line manager. All of
a sudden the chances of promotion are greatly reduced and the
desire to leave increases. Are you still uncomfortable about the
idea of being made redundant?
So what are the new work arrangements? Employers are no longer
willing to invest so much in the development of their staff and
there are few opportunities for promotion. In order to keep
yourself challenged with new opportunities to learn and grow you
may need to think about changing jobs every two or three years.
Thus you will be building a portfolio of capabilities that you
will offer subsequent employers.
The portfolio career puts the responsibility upon you to ensure
that you make the right career choices. In effect, you are now a
contractor. It may still be the case that you are employed on a
permanent contract but the relationship is just as it would be
if you were there for a short term project or interim position;
you’ve been employed for the skills you have for as long as
those skills are required.
What do you want from the next employer in terms of career
development, lifestyle accommodation, experiences and training?
It’s up to you to identify what your requirements are and either
look for a job that offers them it or ask for them. You need to
be able to look back over those two or three years and feel you
have developed in some way. If you can you’ll have something up
to date and valuable to offer the next employer.
Another interesting feature of the modern workplace is that vast
numbers of people follow careers with a lateral or matrix path
(a mixture of sideways and upward moves) rather than climbing a
ladder. With fewer opportunities for promotion this is not
surprising. It’s not uncommon to see people move from a job
where they managed a team to one where there is either a smaller
team or none at all. In other cases, people move to jobs where
they can do new things in order to widen their skills set. This
may even be a downward step in terms of seniority.
HANDLING THAT QUESTION
In spite of these fundamental changes to the way we work and the
massive increase in corporate change and therefore redundancy,
many people still feel ashamed about being made redundant. The
greatest fear is that they are seen as having failed. “If I was
any good they’d have kept me in some capacity” is often the way
the thinking goes. Not so. Granted, some large employers have
room to re-deploy some staff, but not all have the capabilities
required for the new roles. Where mergers have taken place and
there are two candidates for one position it is often politics
rather than talent that dictates who will be offered the new job
or else it comes down to which personality is most likely to fit
the new organisation. Again, this is no reflection on the
quality of the individual who loses out. For the vast majority,
however, redundancy is part of a cost cutting exercise in which
roles and functions are considered to be an unnecessary burden
on the organisation and are therefore removed.
It’s true that some employers may have concerns and doubts about
taking on people who have been made redundant, but these people
are rare and above all, an apologetic response to questioning
around the issue is only likely to reinforce whatever prejudice
may be present.
Be prepared to answer the question “Why did you leave your last
job?” Be up front and truthful about it. What were the reasons
for redundancy? If it was corporate change or cost cutting, tell
them that the organisation underwent a change programme and give
the reason. Explain that as part of the programme a number of
positions were identified as no longer being required including
your own, and that redundancy was offered. If you lost your
position after a merger, you can talk about how you were
considered less suited to the new culture compared with your
rival for the position. You might be asked to expand upon this
so do prepare for this possibility: How has the culture changed?
How do your values and those of the organisation differ?
Always be positive about your previous employer. Nobody wants to
think that when you leave them there is a possibility that you
might bad mouth their organisation. Explain that while you might
have been disappointed you understand and accept the situation.
You might say that you consider the outcome to be right for both
parties and that you see it as an opportunity. Whatever you
decide to say, be truthful and don’t be ashamed – don’t stop
looking the interviewer in the eye, and don’t go about it on too
much! Treat the issue as if you have no problem with it and
therefore you see no reason for why the other person should have
a problem with it.
Remember, redundancy is just one of the ways that people leave
organisations. Too many highly talented people leave by this
route for anyone to consider that it is only the weak that are
made redundant. It simply is not the case.
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