UbUMade redundantFinding workWhat makes you smile
Made redundant · Finding work · What makes you smile
Find the part of your CV that makes you smile.
Before you send another application, find the bit of your career you would do again for free.
The question most CVs never ask.
A CV lists what you did. It does not say what you liked. After redundancy most of us go straight back to the job boards looking for the job we just lost. That can be a way of avoiding a better question: which part of the work was actually good?
My example.
Reading back through my career, the part that made me smile was bringing new products to market. It was the one part where I thought I offered real value and experience. So I stopped applying for director roles and built my own business around it.
It might be a step down.
The role that fits the part you enjoy may have a smaller title, or smaller pay. That is allowed. A step down in title can be a step up in how the days feel. Work out what you can afford first, then decide with your eyes open. Do not take a lesser role out of panic. Take it because you chose it.
It might not be a job.
For me it ended up being a business. For you it could be freelancing, interim work, consulting or a move into a smaller company. Look at the work first and the shape of the job second.
Try one thing today
Open your CV. Put a smiley face next to the one thing you most enjoyed doing. Just one.
Six steps to find it.
Print your CV, or highlight it on screen.
Read every role slowly, as if it were a stranger’s career.
Why: Slowing down is how you notice what you skipped past.
Mark every line that makes you smile.
Not the impressive ones. The ones you enjoyed. Draw a smiley next to them.
Why: Impressive and enjoyable are two different lists. You want the second.
Look for the pattern.
Which smiles repeat? Starting things, fixing things, teaching, selling, solving, building, looking after people.
Why: One smile is a moment. Three is a direction.
Ask two people who know your work.
“What am I best at? What did I light up doing?”
Why: We are bad at seeing our own value. The people around us are not.
Search for the work, not the old title.
Put the activity into the search box. Include smaller companies, interim roles and consulting.
Why: Titles mean different things in every company. The work is the same.
Decide what you can afford, then decide.
Work out the lowest income you can live on. Then look again at roles you dismissed.
Why: A step down you chose is not the same as one you were pushed into.