Show Notes
thenowwhat.co.uk What happens when a job looks perfect on paper, pays well and suits your skills, but the commute feels like taking a ring to Mordor and the hours would wreck your family’s balance? In this episode, I talk about job search reality, life balance, flexible working and why the real question is not just “could I do this role?” but “does this role actually fit my life?” I explore why flexibility matters so much when you’re job searching, what “hybrid working” can really mean in practice, and how to assess whether a role is genuinely sustainable. I also share practical tips how to consider the opportunities in front of you. The episode also includes a conversation with Vicky Ross, freelance Careers Consultant, LinkedIn specialist and career coach, on career fit, flexible work and making better job search decisions. Perfect for anyone navigating redundancy, career change, hybrid working, flexible jobs, work-life balance and the reality of finding a role that actually works.
More from Now What? - Life after redundancy
After the best part of a year and somewhere north of a hundred applications, I've been offered a role and this episode is the honest version of what that actually feels like, recorded a while before I've even started, with none of the hindsight smoothed in yet.
There's a particular kind of unlucky where one thing goes wrong and you can just about laugh about it. Then there's Dan Roberts's 2025, where the wrong things queued up to take turns; right up until the week he finally caught a break and then redundancy turned up two days later like it had been waiting for an invite.
Most people navigating redundancy have spent years being good at their jobs. The doing was never really the problem. The bit that catches people out is the presenting — interview panels, networking rooms, video calls with recruiters — where suddenly you have to articulate your value out loud, to strangers, in real time, without your brain quietly filing everything under unavailable.
Most people treat a recruiter like a fire extinguisher — ignore it completely until something's on fire, then hope it works first time. In this episode, I'm joined by Neil Johns, Director at Merje, a specialist recruitment business working with everyone from startups and FinTechs through to national banking groups and global organisations, to find out what the job search actually looks like from the other side of the desk.
The salary conversation is one of the most anxiety-producing moments in any job search — and when you're coming from redundancy, it's even more loaded. Your last salary exists but it may not reflect what the market currently pays. The pressure of needing a role changes what you're willing to say out loud. And the advice available is either negotiation-bro overconfident or so hedged it's useless.