I've had no luck in getting a decent offer (what is it with all the lowball ones??) but as soon as something comes up I'll be out of here. Cisco was my dream job once upon a time. Now, it's a place I can't wait to get away from. How things could have changed so much is beyond me.
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You are realizing the job market is not good. It's only going to get worse for the rest of 2024 and maybe even into 2025. Your strategy should be to KEEP the job you have and make the best of it. You're getting a paycheck.
Skills = Job Offers in a meritocracy
The statistics vary wildly but say 50% of people get a job through networking. Are the people you bring in this way the best? Probably not, but there is some sense of them being a known commodity (well, at places other than Cisco.) Interviewing knocks out the obviously bad but a lot of people who could answer deep technical questions couldn't apply that knowledge to save their lives. Others could do the technical stuff in isolation but couldn't work with others and if you can't afford a bus factor of one that doesn't work. Some of the best people I ever worked with didn't interview well which is where the assessment of "skills" leading to a job offer are made. Even if the employee brings a great bag of skills if the hiring management can't leverage those skills it's still a bad match.
The bottom line is hiring selection is an extremely inexact "science" because both sides need more information than can be gained in the hiring process to know if you have a great match.
Skills = Job Offers in a meritocracy
America is not a meritocracy. You'll have nephews with different last names obtain job offers and promotions without anyone in the org knowing.
@gck+1sz1pPPw
Yup! Weak skills = complaining about the job market. Great skills find jobs even in the toughest market.
Get over it.
(what is it with all the lowball ones??)
Supply and demand says if the supply of employees goes up and the demand goes down the price goes down.
In my opinion, you can't beat office politics without being a Narcissist or Psychopath. People with zero empathy will do whatever it takes to destroy other humans for even $5.
Think of Corporate America as a food pyramid. An elk can't ki-l or survive an encounter with a lion. Most people are elks and have no interactions with lions.
Dude, you need to read a piece titled The Hatchet Man's Playbook. It's all about layoffs and office politics and how to beat them.
@ptp+1sz1pPPw Nailed it about the managers and the "leaders". Not only they don't care they push out people that are technically focussed because they are in a different tribe
1 - Great skills = great offer
2 - Poor skills = lowball offer
I think your skills are closer to option 2
@OP what is a lowball offer? If its less than what you earn at Cisco then that's not worth the move. If it's equal or more, but less than what you were hoping for, I'd move. Considering the job role is what you want. An additional 30K or 40K per year won't make a difference if you don't have a job which could happen if you hang around at Cisco for too long. Good luck!
1sz1pPPw
Absolutely on the retirement and financial independence aspect.
Did 17 years at Cisco, LR'd, did stints at several additional companies. Imho a good goal is to try to make it to 55. Go look up "Rule of 55". Once you hit age 55, you can start annuitizing your 401k; you do not have to wait until 59.5 age. At 55, you can leave current employer, for any reason, and start pulling from your 401k of the current employer.
Plenty of jobs that offer health insurance nowadays at working like 30 hours a week, or can get HealthCare.gov coverage.
Dropped out of a long run at tech, but will occasionally go back and contract. Life is good. Once away from the work baloney and work politics, a decades long haze lifted from my soul.
They have ruined a great company (Cisco), in two ways. First, the senior executives simply do not care beyond making the numbers. Forget innovation. Second, there are mid-level/senior-level "leaders" that have been fast-pathed into their positions because they mark the check-box for a specific hire type to be inclusive; but they really aren't knowledgeable to run those positions.
The goal should be retirement & financial independence. Switching to Apple, Facebook, or Microsoft will be the same politics, layoffs, and bureaucracy.
What do you think happens at the next company you join? All publicly traded companies are the same... some just pay a little better
When you have no job there is no lowball offer.
Just stupid employers who hope they can cheat.
You just grab the first you get and keep searching and jump ships in a blink of an eye
You got tricked by joining Cisco
Still plenty of opportunities out there only if you’re a good one
If it’s hard for you to land something now meaning you should been out of Cisco long ago for better skills
Cisco is a d/y/i/n/g company, your skills from Cisco is irrelevant in the marketplace
Many folks, especially engineering types are rapidly disillusioned with the politicking they find when they join Cisco and how such scant regard is paid to any form of prior technical skills and experience. You will be put into your silo and no one will be interested in your thoughts or ideas.