Redundancy related questions
 

A person I know has been told they are being made redundant. They have 60 days whilst they are still employed by the company. They have not yet met with HR so dont have specific details/dates yet.

What is peoples experience of making that kind of thing public on Linked in? Does it help as more of your contacts are aware and can let you know about possible opportunities (personal messages would have been sent to key contacts already). Does it hinder if potential recruiters or employers see it?
Should the person try and hide it until the actual date they become unemployed? Ie resume would still stay 'til present' before the deadline hits. and at interviews act as if fully employed? (they are going on garden leave)

My friend asked me what I would do in their situation and I could see both positive and negative and wondered how you all had dealt with it. Do any of you recruit in IT - what would you think if you saw it?
Thanks in afvance for any suggestions

I am encouraging them to also get all their family medical checkups and procedures done before they lose the medical insurance - but are their any other tips in this kind of situation?

Re: Redundancy related questions
 

You'll look more attractive if, seemingly, solidly employed.
Shouting that you're being made redundant will taint you.

Re: Redundancy related questions
 

If you (not "you" personally, that's just a figure of speech :o) can "walk" at literally no more than a week or two's notice, I see no advantage, and some considerable downsides to stating that you are being "released".

Wording about "actively looking" should get enough attention on LinkIn, and even then people are going to assume that you're being "pushed", especially if a downsizing has been announced publicly.

Re: Redundancy related questions
 

Presumably the 60 days is a WARN Act notification. That should also mean they have access to any internal job vacancies. Of course that may be moot.

I work - or rather worked until recently - in IT. Quite honestly, at least here in California, few would care. People take breaks between jobs all the time. But I certainly wouldn't blast it from the rooftops as there's no need to. And as the person is still legally employed for 60 days, I wouldn't update their LinkedIn profile with an end date for the current job until after that time.

Their COBRA eligibility, at a price, will commence after that 60 day period.

If they do find another job in the 60 day period, it's a good idea to negotiate a starting date of the 61st day onwards. No need to lose any pay/severance by having to quit to start a new job, as they'd probably legally be required to do. Of course, some do "double dip" and get away with it.

Re: Redundancy related questions
 

Thanks guys. As i've never experienced redundancy myself (here or in the UK) I really wasn't sure how to advise them. I was concerned by the 'taint' but wondered if the increased publicity/leads would offset that - doesn't sound like it does.

Re: Redundancy related questions
 

YMMV
There's no actual 'answer' one way or the other..

Re: Redundancy related questions
 

I'm in a similar situation right now. My company was just bought out and our facility is being closed. I have been told I have a minimum of 6 months before being laid off and will be given at least 2 weeks notice at the time. If I stay til the end, I will get 3 months bonus on top of 4 weeks' severance pay. If I jump ship early, I lose that bonus and severance.

It's a crap situation to be in but I at least have some advance notice. With it being 6 months out, I'm not actively looking. I may put out some feelers but won't look seriously until (maybe) a month before. It may be 2 weeks if it comes earlier than they have said.

Until I'm officially let go, I am still gainfully employed, so that is what my LinkedIn profile will say.

Re: Redundancy related questions
 

As others have effectively said...this.

Your Linkedin profile, resume, whatever should reflect today, not some point in the future.

US will be no different to the UK that it is much easier to find a new job when you already have one.

And while I'm here, talking about Linkedin profiles and resumes, as a hiring manager let me point out that the 2 should match. (Seen too many resumes that tell a different story to the person's LI profile)

Re: Redundancy related questions
 

Updating your work skills in Linked-In is definitely worth doing if you are (or I should say 'one is') in the market for a new job, I made some additions to my profile based on some newly acquired skills and suddenly started getting messaged by recruiters, until I got irritated and removed the keywords that seemed to be triggering their search results. I recall it's possible to make these updates without sending alerts across your network that your profile has changed (if you want to keep things super low key)

Re: Redundancy related questions
 

my own linked in profile is a much weaker version of my resume. Im glad im not the one looking as i hate updating those things (and hence why its weak). I tend to use the site as a way to keep in contact with old colleagues rather than a job seeking tool - but i guess if i was suddenly on the market id have to change attitude pronto.

Re: Redundancy related questions
 

Yes that is exactly right. I was laid off just under 2 years ago. My package included 3 months with a company that specializes in helping you deal with the transition, and a key part is updating your linked in profile and then mining all your contacts for open vacancies. COBRA is important to keep health insurance.

Took me 2 months to find a new position, but mine was via recruiter. I was in the process of working with Keep Your Home California to get a chunk of my mortgage paid, but the new job offer came through just before the KYHC paperwork arrived. And as I was no longer technically unemployed, I was no longer eligible for the mortgage payment.

But the biggest kicker was my company letting me go just weeks before my 4th and final year of RSUs were awarded (I was in a startup that was acquired, and part of the acquisition package was 4 years worth of RSUs). Of course the timing was completely deliberate on their part. That was not a nice way to treat employees considering the company was supposed to be people focused.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Re: Redundancy related questions
 

I've got a few MBA mates and frequently their LI profiles will have something along the lines of " for my next project, I am interested in the following areas, please contact me if this of interest to you". Even if they are still employed and a few have directorships.

Re: Redundancy related questions
 

I have seen some job ads specifically require a person to currently be employed. There can be some real discrimination against those made redundant so you'll be fighting that bias. I'd keep it quiet but really push during the next two months to find a new position.