Each Friday and Monday we publish the problems that will feature in a forthcoming Dear Jeremy advice column in the Guardian Money supplement so that readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy's own insights. Here is the latest dilemma – what are your thoughts?
I was made redundant at the end of December, the second time I've been redundant in five years. Previously it took me a few months to find a new job, which I looked for incessantly. I found that I was so desperate for a job that I took one where I really didn't fit in and stuck with it until I was laid off after three and a half years. I'm an architect (in my mid 40s) and I believe that the practice I chose was detrimental to my career development, but with the downturn in the construction industry I was just relieved to be back in work.
This time, I'd like to use the time I'm off work more constructively by upgrading my CAD and design skills, and getting to grips with changes in the industry in areas where I want my career to develop. This will take some time but I'm already much happier than I was at my previous employer.
I've enough cash to keep me ticking over for about six months which in the current slump is probably a realistic period to find work and is, coincidentally, the length of a good sabbatical. So should I tell a future employer, during an interview, that I'm currently on sabbatical? I feel this empowers me more psychologically as I've "made" the decision to make changes in my career as opposed to being a "victim" of redundancy and its negative connotations.
• For Jeremy's and readers' advice on a work issue, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@guardian.co.uk. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or reply personally.
