How to deal with Redundancy in the Job Hunting Process

Online, August 25, 2009 (Newswire.com) - Also, before we get into the meat of this discussion, please note, remember and live and breathe the fact that your position within the company has been made redundant, not you!
If this has happened to your position, it happened to your position. You could be the best employee of all time, and if the company folds, it folds. You have not been made redundant, your position has.

Regarding how to bring up the topic of the redundancy of your position, it should be in the cover letter/email or phone call. Not mentioning it will make prospective employers think you've something to hide and it will be the first thing on the interviewer's mind. "Why is this candidate on the market?"

At the interview, it should be mentioned by the interviewer, as in, small talk to address it early on, but there are certain things that you can do to turn it to your advantage.

The interviewer will use past performance (and in particular, longevity) to suggest future performance. If it's a permanent role, they'll be investing heavily in you, so they need to feel comfortable that you're in it for the long haul.

So, the line to take is very sad that the company could not make it through the recession (or for whatever reason) and that you would have been very happy to stay as their product/service offering was exciting, and you yourself had been instrumental in putting the team together and invested a lot of emotional energy into the project. You have many close friends there, and enjoyed the time with your previous employer.
This means to them, that you're a good employee, passionate about the company, a company man, if you will. Rather than, "well, I hated the place anyway!!!"

But also, to try to look on it as a positive, what lessons did you learn from the company in terms of mistakes? Did they go too far too soon? You need to be comfortable (tell them this) that the next company you work for has a strong and robust business plan and is capable of growth even now, this kind line of conversation, which puts the onus of sales back onto the interviewer.
They'll go right off topic selling the company, how wonderful it is. If they don't, if they shrug and say "erm....", you may not want to work there if this is the attitude of the interviewer, who is after all, effectively an ambassador for your prospective employer.

So remember, your position being made redundant is nothing to be ashamed of and not a reflection on you personally, so try not to take it personally. Some of the smartest people you know have been made redundant recently or definitely in the past, so try to accept it and get into a positive frame of mind.
Employers want to see how prospective employees deal with negatives and set backs, so use this one as an opportunity to show your strength of character.

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