'Jobseekers need to let go to find employment'

14:00 23rd March 2009

Jobseekers need to ensure they are "letting go" of the fact they have been made redundant in order to concentrate on finding new employment.

Neil Collman, director of Careershifters, said that people need to overcome a redundancy and focus on the fact that it could help them pursue a career change.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), nearly 50,000 full-time jobs disappeared in the UK between November 2008 and January 2009.

Mr Collman said: "The thing about redundancy is that it can appear on the first face of it as a disaster but actually it does present you with an opportunity because the biggest barrier people have is letting go of their existing situation; it just holds them back."

Figures from the ONS reveal that over a quarter of workers in the London area are considering taking a course in order to pursue a career change and ensure their career is more resilient in the recession.

Less than three-quarters of the working population was in employment in January this year.