There is never a good time to be made redundant, although the start of the year is one of the very worst, coming just as you have made your resolutions for the year ahead and may well have a load of debt from Christmas spending you thought you could handle – until the bombshell of losing your job dropped.

Right now, thousands of steel workers in south Wales will be facing this scenario, with Tata Steel planning to shut the two remaining blast furnaces at Port Talbot. But there will be hundreds of thousands of people around the country who may be made redundant this year, and millions more for whom it has happened in the past.

The key question is, how do you bounce back and move forward positively? Some people will focus exclusively on practical matters like working on your CV, finding ways to look for work, or retraining options. But, just as important as any of these is the attitude of mind you take.

Building up your self-confidence is vital because it is likely to have taken a big hit. Otherwise, it could undermine your efforts as you will undersell yourself in applications and interviews.

That means a more fundamental appraisal of yourself is required, with the attitude of acknowledging your strengths and potential – including the untapped potential that a career change could fulfil.

By being positive about these aspects of yourself, you can project a much more upbeat and confident image. It will help you throw yourself into the job hunt in an upbeat frame of mind and will be noticed by employers.

It is important to remember that being made redundant isn’t your fault. Just as changes in the steel industry – including the drive towards net zero – will account for the Tata job losses, so all sorts of circumstances not of your making could take your job away.

You need to remind yourself that you were given that job for good reasons and they all speak positively about you. Remember this at your next interview and your chances of success will be much greater.