Member Article

Public sector workers looking to the future

Are you cut out for self-employment? It’s a question that more and more people are beginning to ask themselves as the job market becomes increasingly competitive and they look for new ways to earn an income. With unemployment at almost 2.5 million and new job opportunities scarce, self-employment no longer seems quite such a high risk option.

Nowhere is this currently more relevant than in the public and not-for-profit sectors, where thousands of workers are having to find new ways to use their skills and earn an income. With the help of My Future Unlimited, a specialist training programme from north east firm New Skills Consulting, many are considering using their expertise to work as self-employed consultants and freelancers.

Making the move into self-employment isn’t necessarily easy; it takes hard work, resilience and determination to succeed. But, as My Future Unlimited participant Emily Sweetman proves, many former public sector workers are more than ready to take on the challenge.

Emily had wanted to go freelance for a while but was anxious about financial security and stability. Then, after 20 years in local government there was an option to take voluntary redundancy, so, despite the dire economic forecasts, she decided to take the plunge.

My Future Unlimited came about at the perfect time for Emily, a few months before she was due to leave work. “I knew this would cover the issues I was most concerned about: legal and financial questions, winning new business and, as I’d be working at home, whether I would need to get out of my pyjamas…”

“It was reassuring to hear about these things from people who had ‘been there, done that’. There were useful handouts, tips and lessons from the facilitators, as well as from the other participants who generously shared their recent experience on the road to self employment.”

Emily left work on 1 August 2011 feeling full of confidence (tempered with realism!) about her new independent consulting venture, Emily Sweetman Limited. She had one contract in the bag and picked up two more in her first week and really hasn’t looked back. “I would heartily recommend My Future Unlimited to anyone contemplating self-employment or freelancing. It’s an enthusiastic, no-nonsense canter through everything you need to consider, with mentoring and networking support thrown in. For me it has been a great springboard to a new future.”

As people who left public sector employment to set up in self-employment before building a consultancy business, we at New Skills Consulting know exactly what it takes to make that transition successfully. We’ve taken everything we’ve learnt throughout the process and put it all into a highly practical one day workshop.

To find out more about the programme and how it could help you to earn an income as a consultant or freelancer, please contact claire@newskillsconsulting.co.ukor visit www.myfutureunlimited.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Claire Graham .