A 25% reduction in workforce. That was the announcement. One of my clients, with two decades of service, suddenly found himself without a job. The panic in his voice was real. Here's what I told him:

Your title changed. Your skill set didn’t. It's your career that is expanding.

Most of us tie our sense of worth to the job title on the door. So when the door closes, it feels like that sense of worth went with it. It didn't. The trick is being able to see what you're carrying out with you, especially when you're too rattled to look clearly.

In an age of AI disruption and restructuring, the professionals who land on their feet are the ones who understand what they actually bring to the table.

So before the panic takes the wheel, a few questions worth sitting with.

Start with a skills audit

Who do you know?

Not in a transactional, work-the-room sense, but who actually trusts you and would pick up the phone? That's the most portable thing you own, and it survives any restructure.

What are you genuinely good at, underneath the job description?

Not "managed the Northern accounts" but the real thing - you're the one people bring the messy problem to, you keep a team together when things wobble, you can read a room before anyone's said a word.

What do you actually fix for people?

Clients and employers don't buy your title. They buy the problem going away.

What is the impact you had in the last few years?

Revenue won, cost savings, a market opened up. Get specific here, because "strong commercial acumen" has never once got anyone hired.

People skills are your key differentiator

Technology is brilliant at performing tasks, but it doesn't replace trust, or judgement, or the credibility you've built with people who've watched you deliver for years. Emotional intelligence, a tolerance for ambiguity, a genuine curiosity about other people - none of that shows up on a redundancy letter, and all of it walks out the building with you.

Be open-minded. Your next career move might be completely different

I've watched a lawyer turn into a sought-after Chief Operating Officer. A finance manager move into operations advisory. A law firm partner reinvent themselves as a Chief Client Officer. Same person, same skill set, just pivoted somewhere new, and often happier for it.

The hardest part isn't finding your next job. It's being willing to see your expertise differently.

Your career isn't ending. It's expanding.

​Ivan Ivanovitch is an Advisor, AmLaw 200 and international law firms at Ambition, an international search firm. He specialises in executive search for law firm leadership, with a focus on C-Suite and senior roles including Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Director of Accounting & Finance, and CMBDO.

Drawing on a background in both law firms and executive search, Ivan acts as a strategic advisor to clients on team structure, core competencies, and talent strategy, helping firms identify and secure candidates who are the right fit for their culture and business needs.​