By Daniel Hunter

As the UK unemployment rate holds steady at 7.8% and organisations across the public and private sectors continue to keep a close eye on headcount, new insights from Fairplace reveal that one in five people see an increase in salary and two in five gain employment in a new sector, after they have been through a programme of outplacement.

Fairplace's most recent survey of people who have been offered career transition support, as part of their employers' redundancy package, found that a fifth (23%) of people found a job with an improved salary. And, while 57% of employees found a new job in the same sector, two fifths (43%) went on to a new job in a different sector.

"It is extremely daunting to be faced with redundancy, especially in such a competitive jobs market," Penny de Valk, chief executive of Fairplace, said.

"Demonstrating you have transferable skills - things like working under pressure, communication skills, team working - that can be applied to different jobs and different sectors is really key when updating your CV and applying for new roles."

Fairplace’s top tips for jobseekers:

· Get organised: start planning your new career from here, think about where you want to go next and what you will need to do to get there. Do the research on your chosen role or sector to see what they are looking for and assess your own skill set with this in mind.

· Make the most of your so-called ‘transferrable skills’ — such as working under pressure, team working, communication, negotiating — and think about how these might be applicable to a new job in a different sector

· Take a good look at your CV, make sure it adequately reflects all your experience and shows a broad range of skills. It may seem daunting, trying to fit a whole working life onto a few sides of A4, but it’s always worth being clear and concise, and focusing on what you have gained from all your experience.

· Use your networks — most workers will have built up lots of contacts over their working lives and leveraging those could well make all the difference when it comes to unadvertised jobs or finding out about what experience is required for a job in an unfamiliar sector.

· Utilise online networking tools — social media is playing an increasing role in job searches so make sure you are platforms such as Linkedin. You will also need to think about how you are coming across on these sites, you need to consider your personal brand and make sure your social network reflects that.

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