As the title says - most of my team is part of a wider group of people at risk of redundancy, currently going through consultation.
I have until end of next week to put forward my preference for any proposed new roles. Only 2 of those roles are realistic options for me, but I’m unsure of the best way forward.
Without going into too much detail, job 1 is a bit of a stretch and, while doable, wouldn’t be enjoyable at all for me. Job 2 is more like my current role but would mean working closely with the only remaining member of the current team who I find it difficult to work with.
Another choice would be to preference that I don’t want to put myself forward for any role, meaning a likely end date of end of Sept and a small redundancy package which would last me an extra month at best.
I’ve known for a while this is coming so I’ve been speaking to a career coach and that’s really helped get my cv in order and prep me for interviews. Last month I got through to the final stage of an interview for a role I really wanted but was ultimately not chosen because of my current situation (I didn’t want to hand my notice in before bonus pay in April and before knowing the potential new roles at my current company) I got great feedback from that process and feel much more confident in navigating future opportunities.
My role often means I’m working extra hours early or late, and while I’ve been trying to stop doing those extra hours, it is just the nature of the role that it’ll happen occasionally.
My gut is telling me to preference to exit, not work any extra hours and use that time until I exit in Sept to find a new role, continue to build my skills, and take on some freelance work where possible. Tbh at this point I’m already doing this, a few hours a week of learning, same for applying for jobs and reaching out for freelance work.
If I went with job 1 or 2, I know it’ll be a stressful few months and at the end of the process, if I was successful, I’d still want to look for something else, but I’d be concerned my free time would be eaten up again by the demands of the role and I’d be stuck and miserable.
Financially, I could probably manage until the end of this year if I was unable to find a new job, which is a good position to be in, but still gives me pause. And my head is saying “go with option 2, at least you’ll have something, and continue to job hunt in the background”.
So, if you were in my shoes, which option would you go for?
Option 1 - go with my head. Preference for one of the roles, knowing that if successful I’d have more financial security but be miserable and may get stuck in a role I don’t want.
Option 2 - go with my gut. Preference to exit, use my free time to apply for a new role, risk that if I don’t get something, I’ve only got a few months of financial security.
TL;DR - going through redundancy consultation. Do I preference for a role I don’t want long term and continue to look for opportunities elsewhere if successful, or do I preference to exit in Sept, apply for roles in the meantime - shorter period of financial security but also less stress for a few months?
Thanks!