Redundancy Reflection: Where I Am Heading and Where I Have Been… A Report
As shared this week on LinkedIn and I have updated this very website, I’m delighted to confirm that I am moving to a new permanent full-time role shortly.
I have been redundant since the 23rd July 2025 and since that time, gave birth to TDii and have been actively seeking a new role. TDii has been a dream of mine but with always the view to start it when I retire..
I am not ready to have the carriage clock yet..
Any period of redundancy is nothing to be taken lightly — and to say that this time has been transformative for me would be an understatement.
I wanted to take a moment to close this chapter with a reflection — to look back on the past few months, the challenges, the lessons, and the occasional moments of humour that brought some much-needed light to a difficult time.
🔹 Thoughts from the Time Between Roles
🧠 Fireflies AI App
This AI app has become invaluable for taking notes and allowing me to stay fully focused during discussions. Ironically, it was also the reason a major public sector organisation rejected my application. Their rationale?
That AI tools would automatically disqualify any candidate using them.
As someone with AI qualifications, the irony wasn’t lost on me. The app merely records and plays back conversations — nothing more. I raised a complaint not out of bitterness, but to prevent another candidate from experiencing the same.
In an era where automation and AI-enabled tools are the norm, I found the reasoning both bizarre and unnecessarily restrictive.
💺 Seating
In one on-site interview, I had a “Johnny English” moment. The chair provided was several inches lower than the panel’s eyeline — leaving me at table height. It broke the ice, but not without a moment of humble levity!
🖥️ In-Office Presentations
During another presentation, I had to use the recruiting company’s laptop — not mine — and therefore lost access to all my notes in PowerPoint. Thankfully, I’d rehearsed thoroughly and kept a paper copy handy. A lesson learned: always be ready to present without notes.
💼 TDii
I’m proud to have launched my own consultancy, Ty Davies Intelligence & Insight (TDii), during this period — delivering presentations, writing articles, and building a full infrastructure and website.
Now that I’m moving into a full-time role, TDii will go into “deep freeze”, but the groundwork is done. I’ll continue to research and publish articles in my spare time — my new role will, of course, be my top and only priority.
⏳ Time Wasters
I was genuinely shocked by the number of “time wasters” — recruiters and fake LinkedIn profiles offering roles that were clearly fabricated or data-harvesting schemes.
The true currency of unemployment isn’t money — it’s hope.
Hope for a positive outcome. I truly wish there were stronger safeguards against these fraudsters, who prey on that hope at a vulnerable time.
💬 The Classic Tenure Question
For the first time in two decades, I was asked, “Why have you changed roles?”
We live in a world of transferable skills. My father-in-law spent decades in the Merchant Navy; today, most people change jobs every few years. Even in the public sector, long tenure is fading. It’s frustrating to be judged on that, especially when redundancy has twice been outside my control and three further times at risk.
I would question the lack of diverse experience with long-term tenure over significant and varied experience. Particularly for those working in the consultancy field.
🗣️ Feedback
Contrary to what you might expect, this is a positive section!
I received some exceptional feedback over the past few months, even from roles I didn’t secure.
To those who took the time to write or call with constructive comments — THANK YOU!
A simple reminder: always give feedback. Even if not requested. It matters.
🥾 Fitness & Focus
During my redundancy period, I trained for and completed a 12-mile Gower Coast Walk for Marie Curie, raising £630.
Originally, I’d planned to walk 24 miles — but wisely pivoted on the day. To train climbed Pen-y-Fan, been featured in the Western Mail, Wales Online, and the South Wales Evening Post — all highlighting mental health and physical wellbeing.
The process rekindled my love of walking — a simple joy rooted in my childhood walks around Llandovery.
🕴️ Recruitment Courtesy
I won’t name names, but one organisation’s interview process was so chaotic that even finding the correct building relied on a security guard’s kindness because I had been given the wrong address.
Plus I only found out a presentation was required to be delivered as I clarified the requirements in an email before the session.
Suffice to say: professionalism matters — and I am grateful I didn’t get that role!
🌟 Recommendations & Testimonials
To everyone who took the time to leave a recommendation or reference on LinkedIn —
THANK YOU!
In interviews, our credibility often rests solely on our word.
Testimonials back that up. They prove consistency of character.
During difficult moments, those kind words became my North Star — a reminder that doing your best and treating people well genuinely makes a difference.
👨👩👦 Family
Ultimately, why do we work? For our families.
I am blessed to have an incredible wife, Donna, our son Ryan, our Corgi Gwenny, and three wonderfully demanding cats Monti, Grogu and Poppi.
They’ve kept me grounded, motivated, and sane.
💬 Closing Thoughts
Redundancy is no laughing matter — but it can be a period of clarity, recalibration, and (occasionally) comedy. If you’re currently looking for work, I hope this reflection brings perspective, perhaps even a smile.
The chair incident certainly gave me one.
And so… the journey begins again.
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