I'm Once... Twice... Three Times Redundant

It's fitting that I reference the great Lionel Richie in my headline for this one, as I once spent a magic hour with the great man in a radio studio, filming him for the Mix94.5 website. What a day that was.

So. A year ago today, I got the dreaded call that anyone who's worked in media probably expects at some stage of their career. Any phone call that begins with the question "would you like a support person present?" ain't going to end well.

I got off the phone with my ex-boss and immediately, your head starts spinning.

Made redundant... again (this would be my third time).

A year on from that fateful day, I thought I'd share my experience in the hope that someone reading this might take solace from my story and hopefully look towards the bright side of life.

This last redundancy, much like my first, saw many of my colleagues in digital receive the same fate. Being the "old man" of the group, I chose to share with them some sage advice when it comes to dealing with the shock news of a redundancy. It was as follows:

1. Don't take it personally

It's really easy to take a redundancy personally. You immediately feel like you've failed, particularly if you're the breadwinner of the family. The first time I was made redundant, we'd just had our third child and my wife wasn't working, which was hard. This time around, with all the kids at school, wifey is working again and that took a lot of the pressure off.

Clearly, not all redundancies are the same. My advice to my colleagues was that this was "simply a business decision", which may not always be the case. I did genuinely believe that in our case, it was a business decision because like most who work in media, you work really hard at your craft because you love it, it's a great job and a great industry to be involved in. You're there because you are liked, you do your job well and you're capable of growing with the role.

Taking that away from a workspace wouldn't be an easy decision, but it's stuff that's out of your control. That really important to remember.

2. Don't burn your bridges

Obviously, getting told you're no longer required hurts. And hurt can lead to anger (the seven stages and all that). It's tempting to leave there with all guns blazing, taking pot shots at people who you may have had issues with over the journey.

But things change, situations change. The guy who made the decision to make me redundant the first time around, left the company a year or so later. The guy who replaced him heard so much about me from my ex-colleagues here in Perth, that when the time was right and they were hiring again, he gave me a call.

Before you know it, I'm back baby. And my second time around in radio lasted for eight fantastic years (after six years the first time).

3. Make sure you get proof of what you do

Clearly, there are protocols that get followed once you've gotten the news. In the case of a digital job, in an organisation like a radio network, you'll lose access to stuff like analytics and social media accounts, for the obvious reasons.

But, you'll probably need a few "feel good stories" about your career achievements as you now look for the next direction. So, it made sense to go find some massive traffic results from the content I had made over the years and record some top-line achievements from said posts.

Being a digital content producer at a radio station generally means that you're the "everything digital" person, particularly in smaller markets like Perth.

• You're the social media manager (producing content, moderating audience, tracking analytics).
• You're the videographer (conception, creation, execution, moderation).
• You're the photographer (creation, manipulation (Photoshop), posting, moderation).
• You're the audio producer (recording audio, sound sweetening, publishing).
• You're the EDM publisher (fortnightly e-newsletters - the joys).
• You're the blog writer. (content, content, content).
• You're the website manager (not just the front end, but the back end too).
• (I think that's it - although in my case, I also wrote and sung on jingles/ads, and was the official "going away video maker" for various staff who had left the building for whatever reason).

As weird as this sounds, it can be difficult to convince someone interviewing you for a position that you're more than capable of all of the above. After all, such a Unicorn doesn't exist, surely? This is where proof of your past work is key, especially if you have good news stories about content that has "gone viral", for lack of a better word.

4. Take time out for yourself

Again, back to the seven stages of grief. If the news of a redundancy comes as a complete shock (which it usually does), it's going to take you time to process it. Usually, a redundancy comes with a payout, so if you can, take some time out to work out what's next.

The first time I was made redundant, I pretty much went into a new role. That was a mistake. Six months later, I was made redundant from that role and again, raced to another role that really, really wasn't for me. If I had taken my time and allowed myself to process what had happened, things might have been different.

5. Talk to people

I'm clearly not a psychologist, but I'd dare say that we all react to shock news in our own way. You don't have to announce to the world what has just happened to you, but it's always helped in my case to at least talk to a few people about it. In all my cases, I was offered a qualified counsellor as an option, but I declined, I have enough people around me who I'm more than comfortable talking to and exposing my inner thoughts and feelings.

I chose to do that with a few trusted friends and confidantes, and put simply, it helps. A lot.

Sadly, this year I've seen or heard about quite a few of my ex-radio colleagues who have received the same fate as I did a year ago. I make it my mission to reach out to them where I can, offering a coffee (or beer) catch up to talk it out. I knew it helped me so much, so I couldn't be more keen to do the same for someone else.

A year on, I'm doing okay. I chose to start my own thing, offering all things digital content at Digify Comms+Content . So far, I've been working with some amazing clients (such as Hall Road Investments , West Australian Football Commission , Firesauce Creative , Newmont Corporation , Allplant Auto Electrics , Fremantle Chamber of Commerce and vdM Consulting (intl) amongst others) and for all the stress of working for yourself, I'm really enjoying the freedom that comes with it. One of the true blessings of this "shift" for me is playing golf every Wednesday afternoon with my Dad. Quality time with my old man in his twilight years, and my handicap has come down from 11 to 6, which is a massive deal for me. And besides, I'm playing golf at Lake Karrinyup (my club), meaning that the potential for new clients is huge.

Whether I ever end up working again in radio, or for someone else, well that remains to be seen. But a redundancy doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, as much as it hurts at the time.