Nigel Crossman
For a high percentage of people redundancy would probably feature fairly highly on their list of the worst things that could happen to them; but the common belief that redundancy equals disaster is not always the reality. Nigel Crossman is one man who turned his redundancy into one of the best things to happen to him.
After working in retail for 30 years, at the age of 46 Nigel was unexpectedly made redundant. Although this initially came as a huge blow to him, he became determined to turn his situation into an opportunity and began to view the events as a chance to start again.
Nigel automatically began searching for work in the retail field, largely because this was the industry he had always worked in; it was all he knew. His efforts went unrewarded and he began to feel disadvantaged by his previous job role which had left him with a limited knowledge about a lot of things and with no real area of expertise.
“I had 30 years experience in retail but my last 7 years were wearing 10 different hats, I didn’t do ‘A’ job I did what ever was required at the time, from store manager to IT trainer to project manager”
Having been used to a salary of £30,000 plus a company car Nigel began to question whether he could realistically find a job at the same salary level, and was absolutely determined not to take a drop in salary. He started to have doubts as to whether a career in retail was what he really wanted. Having always wanted to run his own business, but never finding the right moment to take the plunge, Nigel finally came to the conclusion that his redundancy was the ideal opportunity for him to learn a new trade and start up the business he had desired for so long.
“While I was employed, I thought I can’t give up a secure job to go and start fresh but when it’s taken away from you and you have no secure job you have a completely different outlook to it”
Realising it was a “now or never moment” he decided to take his redundancy money and use it to re-train. He was in the ideal position of having money and time on his side; he had the money to pay for training and the time to do it.
Training in a traditional trade appealed to him for a number of reasons; the most influential being the constant supply of work available in this field. This provided him with the much needed reassurance that once he was fully trained, his skills would be in demand.
“It was a choice between being a plumber or an electrician, but as I don’t like wet stuff, I would have hated plumbing. I’d always tinkered with electrics and have rewired my own house so I had an interest in it”
After spending time considering various training providers and what they had to offer, Nigel chose New Career Skills. The quality and structure of the training programme offered by NCS attracted his attention. The fact that the training programme is structured in such a way to allow people to work at their own pace, together with the exceptionally thorough programme content, were just two of the factors to influence Nigel’s choice.
“The package over all just seemed to out class the competitors. NCS offered something which would equip you with all you needed to know to allow you to go out on your own as soon as the programme finished”
During the training programme Nigel took over a small car valeting business which provided him with enough of an income to cover his living expenses, therefore preventing him from spending all of his savings whilst completing the training programme. Nigel had no difficulties in establishing a balance between running a business and studying.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing, having not had any experience of serious studying for over 20 years Nigel understandably found the home study aspect of the training a challenge to start with. However with the patience and support of NCS tutors, coupled with Nigel’s own determination he quickly began to enjoy the learning process and within just a few weeks became confident in his abilities.
“My tutor was absolutely fantastic, really really helpful, he will go out of his way for you, I still email him now months later, he is still more than happy to answer queries”
On completion of the training programme Nigel was thankful that support and resources were still made available to him by NCS. In addition to the continuing availability of tutors to provide support and answer queries Nigel was also provided with valuable advice and guidance by New Career Search. As an after care service provided by NCS, New Career Search is designed to give people a helping hand, whether their goal is to start up their own business or secure employment with an established firm.
Nigel currently runs a successful electrical business called Blue Lightening Electrical Ltd based in Guildford. When asked how he feels about his re-training experience with New Career Skills Nigel replies whole heartedly “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done”. He is overjoyed to finally be his own boss and believes if the work remains consistent he will be well on his way to achieving a salary level to rival that of his last job.
For Nigel determination has finally paid off he has turned a possible disaster into a triumph.
A 25 year old university educated former office assistant, now employed full-time.
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