What to do if a restructure happens to you

Phil Rumbol
Cadbury
to agency 101

One of the best bits of advice I had was to meet lots of people. Even if you are struggling to see why they might be relevant, someone that person knows can often be more relevant. Getting out and meeting people helps to clarify things – and it can confirm what you don’t want to do and enable you to see new opportunities that you didn’t previously see. Take a restructure as an opportunity, explore, work out what you want and go for it.

Paul Trueman
Mars and Cadbury
to LG and then MasterCard

After 14 years of working in Mars and Cadbury, I thought I probably shouldn’t look at another chocolate bar for a while. Headhunters and recruiters will always try and fit square pegs in square holes, but you have got to look at what is behind people’s ambitions and what they want to do.

 

Cathryn Sleight
Coca-Cola
to Unilever

I always asked myself five questions when it comes to considering my career – will I learn something new? Do I have the potential to be brilliant there? Will I be working with people brighter than me? Are the company’s values in line with my own? And will I have fun?

If you are offered the opportunity to experience something different, such as consulting work, and learn something new, then I would say go for it.

Nick Bampton
Viacom
to Channel 5

If you like doing the same thing every day, you have to be very careful because at some point it will change, and then you will feel great disappointment. If you enjoy the feeling of never being comfortable, you are very adaptable to change which is a very effective attribute to have.

 

Joe Clift
Lloyds Banking Group
to consulting

Be really clear about what you want out of the situation if there is a restructure.

Keep your head and don’t panic. Be clear about what you would aspire to get out of that situation – more often than not there are other roles within big organisations. You need to discuss with your management what is likely to fit and whether an alternative role is genuinely developmental.

I have seen people a little junior to me who have gone and done something where the tacit agreement has been to stay in a role that isn’t perfect, but the employer wants to keep them in the business and they want to stay. This certainly works if they then move on to a role that will kick their career forward.

It is never wise to jump for the first position that is offered to you and if that means you do consultancy until such a time as you land the right role, that is fine.