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This paper examines redundancy as a critical life event, focusing on the relational and temporal contexts of individual action. A biographical methodology is used to explore the perceptions and experiences of individuals who were seeking a new career within a larger sample of those who had experienced redundancy in the Welsh steel industry between 2001 and 2003. Comparisons are drawn between the experiences of three groups of 'career changers': those who were already planning new careers prior to the redundancies, those whose pursuit of new careers had been triggered, resourced and legitimised by the redundancies and those who were at a cross-roads, experiencing unresolved tensions between new future projects, present contingencies and past identities. The paper advances theoretical understanding of the temporal and relational contexts of action, drawing on Emirbayer and Mische's (1998) framework and contributes to wider debates about critical life events and fateful moments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]