Case study

HSE Director Secures New Role after Redundancy and 20 Years with the same employer

A recruiter-led career story — the challenge, the work completed and the outcome.

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The Challenge

After working for the same organisation for more than 20 years, an experienced Group HSE Director unexpectedly found himself facing redundancy.

During that time, he had progressed through several increasingly senior health, safety and environmental leadership roles. However, his CV had not kept pace with his career, and he had little recent experience of navigating the modern job market.

Recruitment had changed considerably since he had last applied for a position. Online applications, LinkedIn, keyword screening and the need to tailor a CV to individual vacancies made the process feel unfamiliar and challenging.

The problem was not a lack of experience. His existing CV simply did not showcase the scale of his responsibilities, international leadership experience or the improvements and results he had delivered.

What We Changed

We started by creating a professionally written Master CV that presented his experience at the right level for senior HSE opportunities.

The new CV:

  • Introduced a stronger Group HSE Manager profile
  • Clearly positioned more than 20 years of HSE leadership experience
  • Highlighted his experience across complex, multi-site manufacturing operations
  • Brought greater focus to cultural change, accident reduction and legal compliance
  • Demonstrated the scale of the teams, sites and international regions he had supported
  • Replaced basic responsibilities with stronger evidence of achievements and results
  • Clarified his strategic, operational and people leadership capabilities
  • Presented his career progression in a clearer and more professional format

We also updated and customised his LinkedIn profile so that it supported the positioning within his new CV and made his experience easier for recruiters and hiring managers to understand.

When suitable vacancies were identified, we reviewed the requirements and tailored his CV to the individual opportunities. This ensured that each application placed greater emphasis on the experience, skills, achievements and keywords most relevant to that particular role.

Throughout the process, he also received recruiter-led guidance to help him understand how the job market had changed and what employers would be looking for.

The Result

The combination of a professionally written CV, an updated LinkedIn profile and carefully targeted applications resulted in interviews and a job offer.

Instead of approaching the job market with an outdated CV and little understanding of modern recruitment, he now had:

  • A professionally positioned Master CV
  • A stronger and more visible LinkedIn profile
  • CVs tailored to the individual roles he wanted
  • A clearer understanding of how recruiters assess applications
  • Greater clarity and confidence throughout his job search
  • Interviews and a successful job offer

His experience had always been valuable. It simply needed to be uncovered, structured and presented in a way that reflected the senior HSE professional he had become.

What He Said

Having found myself with an outdated CV, I looked at a number of sites offering CV writing services and decided to work with Michelle based on the positive reviews. It turned out to be a great decision.

Michelle is extremely knowledgeable, empathetic yet straight-talking, and made the process of turning my outdated and basic CV into a document that actually showcased my skills, abilities and achievements, ready to share with recruiters.

I would highly recommend working with Michelle, as she offers much more than a basic CV upgrade. She also gives insights into how recruiters work and what they look for, along with services around coaching and preparation for interviews.

— Group HSE Director

Has Redundancy Left You Unsure Where to Begin?

Returning to the job market after many years with the same employer can feel overwhelming. Your CV may be outdated, LinkedIn may be unfamiliar and the recruitment process may have changed considerably since you last applied for a role.

You do not have to work it out alone.

Whether you have been made redundant, are struggling to secure interviews or are unsure how to present years of experience effectively, speak to Michelle about the support available.

Your experience still matters. It may simply need to be presented differently for today’s job market.

Interested in the support behind this story?

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Facing something similar? Tell us where you’re stuck and let’s see how we can help.

Tell us a little about what you need help with — whether that’s your CV, a job application, your job search or next career move, or career transition and outplacement support for your employees.

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Not sure what you need? That’s absolutely fine. We’ll explain the options, how we can help and the cost before you decide whether you’d like to go ahead.

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