Hi John

Sorry to hear this. Regard it as a stepping stone to change, and remain positive. I was offered redundancy when I was about your age. My friend said "If they offer you money take it and run!", which I did. I went contracting, or as people like sometimes like to call it:becoming a consultant. My first contract was with my old firm but in Paris, in the summer of 1998, wonderful. The World Cup was on and I commuted weekly from a local airport. After 3 months  it finished so having registered with agencies I got other work. But back to you; make sure you are set up for retirement. If offered a pension by your previous employer do not take the first pension provider offered, shop around. You will benefit not them! Talk to all your friends and take their advice (networking). I did this and purchased a small investment property, the income from this tided me over until I was elegible for my OAP.

You do not say in detail what your qualifications are or you field of expertise, and you were a bit negative about your lack of software experience. Remember you have to sell yourself to a possible employer. And think laterally, out of the box. Tell 'em what you can do, not what you can't do. I couldn't do software at all. And best of all - retirement is really fun!

Hi John

Sorry to hear this. Regard it as a stepping stone to change, and remain positive. I was offered redundancy when I was about your age. My friend said "If they offer you money take it and run!", which I did. I went contracting, or as people like sometimes like to call it:becoming a consultant. My first contract was with my old firm but in Paris, in the summer of 1998, wonderful. The World Cup was on and I commuted weekly from a local airport. After 3 months  it finished so having registered with agencies I got other work. But back to you; make sure you are set up for retirement. If offered a pension by your previous employer do not take the first pension provider offered, shop around. You will benefit not them! Talk to all your friends and take their advice (networking). I did this and purchased a small investment property, the income from this tided me over until I was elegible for my OAP.

You do not say in detail what your qualifications are or you field of expertise, and you were a bit negative about your lack of software experience. Remember you have to sell yourself to a possible employer. And think laterally, out of the box. Tell 'em what you can do, not what you can't do. I couldn't do software at all. And best of all - retirement is really fun!