Were the interactions and guidance helpful?
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They would be more helpful if they actually tried to place people. Their company provides staffing services. I don't see why they can't also try to get LRd people into roles at other companies.
They were not useful for me. Very little detail, just told me things I already knew. I was seeking career coaching for next steps and they just told me to "build my brand". Yeah, I know, I've done that. Got anything else? No? Okay.
Yes, I found it useful. Like many things, you get out what you put in. Make use of the 1-1 coaching sessions and the resume writing service. The other team sessions and videos help pass the time.
Their info sessions are not bad. A lot of the info I knew, but I got a few important points out of it. A lot of good templates available in their resources. They did a resume for me (it was terrible) but it helped me work out what I actually wanted in my resume and I ended up redoing mine from the ground up into something decent. I wouldn't have had that focus without having the bad one. The coach can do interview drills and stuff with you providing feedback. I didn't use any of that, but it is there.
Sign up, explore their offerings, use and take what is valuable to you, go land that new role.
As @1rtr+1rgM7h7A, said, you get out of it what you put into it. I don't have experience with the Randstad version, but I've use LHH services that Cisco provided before switching to Randstad.
Having someone look over your resume for typos, getting the latest advice in the resume trends (chronological vs. functional), how to get over a decade of experience down to 1-2 pages, etc., getting help w/ getting your LinkedIn profile polished and getting it to the point where it's got enough info that it's gets put in the top results instead of at the bottom because you've left out too many sections, and using their job search and/or company research tools is just too good to pass up when it's free. It costs you nothing but your time and effort.
I'll admit, that other than getting my LinkedIn profile to where it was getting traction with recruiter's search results & tweaking my resume, I didn't get too much out of their services. But those two things generated a lot of recruiter visibility for me which did result in my finding a new job.
If you don't want to use them, you'll find a whole cottage industry of Cisco Alum who have become "coaches" to help you recover from the blinding LR you've experienced. They'll commiserate "pro bono" then charge you a hourly rate. (talk about someone capitalizing on your final LR check. Unbelievable)
I laughed when I started getting pings from Cisco people who had gone thru this and wanted to "help" for a price. (one said "the PTSD is real"...eyeroll) Hard pass, if I'm going to pay for a career coach I think I'll work with someone who doesn't have Cisco baggage.
I had them last year. A few things....
- If you aren't ready, you can delay the services for two months
- The coach was super nice but didn't add a lot of value. Keep in mind, my head was in the clouds after lay off. Took me a while to sc--w it back on so take it for what it's worth.
- The professional resume writing was just putting my info through ChatGBT. After I got a couple drafts, I decided to user ChatGBT myself and it almost replicated it perfectly. I would say get it done because it's free then add your own "differentiation" so you don't sound like anyone else who just plugged through ChatGBT.
- Its free. Never say no to free.
Had some experience with them in 2020, when I found myself on the LR list.
Absolutely useless. It seemed like it was the lady's first job ever and she wasn't even trying. Waste of time.
It was in Europe though, ymmv.
Very favorable. I used them after I took the ER in 2020. Great resources to pull from and a very motivating experience. Take advantage of it.
I used them and they were helpful.
They can help you get a resume created and provide coaching on how to identify the best way to land the position you are interested in. They have video's you can watch on how to interview, special tools to search for jobs, etc..
The key is that there are very different approaches to landing your next position if you got LRed a few years into your career, a decade into your career, or even a few decades. It also matters if you were in: engineering or finance or operations, TAC, sales, management, etc.. You may want to join another huge company, or jump to a startup. You might want to leave engineering and go into finance or sales, or start your own business, or do volunteer work, or retire. They can help you think through the right approach for you.
Remember, that they only give advice and you own 100% of the effort to get your next position. They are not a placement agency. They will NOT find you a job.
If you spend a few hours with them and you get 1-2 good suggestions or insights, why wouldn't you leverage this free asset?