Should you mention the redundancy?
Yes, once you have left, and in one line. It goes under the role in your work history, not in your profile:
Operations Manager, [Company Name], Leeds, Jun 2016 – Sep 2025
Role made redundant when the Leeds site closed.
- Say what happened, not who decided it. "Made redundant in a restructure" is enough. Criticising the employer, or explaining their finances, turns the line into one about them.
- If many roles went, you can say so. "One of 40 roles cut when the site closed" tells a recruiter it wasn't about you. Only if it's true and you know the number.
- If you signed a settlement agreement, check whether it says how your leaving is to be described, and stay within it.
If you're still on notice or garden leave
On garden leave you are still employed and still paid. On your CV the role reads "to Present" until your leaving date, with no redundancy line yet. You can apply and interview now, but you usually can't start a new job until your notice ends, so when an application form or a recruiter asks when you can start, give that date. It doesn't go on the CV.
If you were paid in lieu of notice instead, your employment usually ended on the date your letter gives, and that is the end date on your CV.
The gap after it
How much to say depends on how long it has been, as our guide to explaining a CV gap sets out. Under three months, nothing: recruiters expect time between roles. Three to twelve months, one plain line. Over a year, that line plus two or three sentences in a cover letter.
Anything you did in that time counts: a course, temporary or freelance work, volunteering. Never stretch the dates on either side to close the gap. Reference checks find it, and it costs more than the gap would have.
Same sector, or somewhere new?
If one employer restructured, your sector is probably still hiring people with your experience. Stay, and lead with your most recent results.
If the whole sector is shrinking, look at nearby roles that use the same skills, such as a retail operations manager moving into warehouse operations. That is a career change CV: the skills that carry over come first, then your full history in date order, as our career change guide explains.
Either way, applying in two directions means two CVs. Each advert asks for different things, and one CV aimed at both reads as aimed at neither.
Updating a CV you last wrote years ago
If your last CV was written for your last job search, a few things have moved on:
- Software reads it first. Many employers screen applications with an applicant tracking system, which reads one plain column best. Tables, text boxes and two-column templates can lose whole sections.
- A short profile, not an objective. Three to five sentences on who you are and the role you want next, in place of a paragraph about what you hope to gain.
- What changed, not what you were responsible for. "Ran the rota for 14 staff" says more than "responsible for staffing".
- Two pages at most. Roles from more than ten years ago can be one line each.
- Some things come off: your photo, date of birth, marital status, and "References available on request".
Ours: £9.99, written to the job you apply for next
Send the advert along with your old CV, however dated, and tell us when the role ended and what you've done since. Claude, an AI model made by Anthropic, drafts the CV from that, following our written rules for UK CVs, and every fact is checked against your order before it goes out. The Word file arrives within 24 hours of payment, usually within a few minutes. A person reads every CV and emails you the PDF within 24 hours.
Two things that often come up after redundancy, and how we handle them:
- Years at one employer. Each role you held there gets its own dates under one employer heading, so a long stay reads as progress rather than one long job.
- Applying a level down. We lead with what fits the new role and keep your senior title as it was. A title that has been played down raises questions at reference stage.
The redundancy line comes only from what you tell us, and we never add a reason you didn't give. If your gap is over a year or you're changing sector, a cover letter is where the explanation goes: the CV and cover letter together are £14.99.
- One CV for one job application
- Word file usually within minutes, PDF within 24 hours
- One free revision within 48 hours, for changes you ask for
- Paid once, no subscription
Questions about a CV after redundancy
Should I mention the redundancy in my personal statement?
No. The statement is about what you offer the next employer. The redundancy gets one line under the role it ended, in your work history.
I'm on garden leave. What dates do I put?
You are still employed until your notice ends, so the role reads "to Present" until then. When a form or a recruiter asks when you can start, give that date: on garden leave you usually can't start another job before it.
I was with one employer for 15 years. Will my CV run to three pages?
Usually not. Anything from more than ten years ago shrinks to a line, and if you held several roles there, each gets its own dates rather than more pages. A third page is only for more than 15 years of experience that all bears on the job.
Should I apply for jobs below my last level?
That's your call, and plenty of people do after redundancy. If you do, send us that advert. We lead with what fits it and keep your titles as they were, rather than playing your experience down.
Do I need a cover letter?
Not for a short gap in the same field. If you've been out of work for more than a year, or you're moving sector, yes: it's the one place to explain either in a few sentences.
Can one CV cover every job I apply for?
It works best for the advert it was written to and ones close to it. For a different kind of role, the evidence we lead with changes, so order a version for that advert.