Great job searching advice that needs its own thread

From @11GJCEcI-1loa
All that was announced at the Town Hall was that layoffs would begin "ASAP." They offered nothing in the way of specifics - which departments, who first, how many, etc.

Most companies try to complete layoffs very early in the week - on Monday or Tuesday. The theory is that this gives those laid off enough work-week space to begin taking steps toward finding new employment. Otherwise, being laid off on a Thursday or Friday would just mean the employee had the weekend to stew over things without being able to take action.

I would look for calls to begin this coming week, on Monday and then again on Tuesday. These could be 1:1 phone calls with HR attached, though with the number of people due to be laid off this could be delivered in group phone calls. The thing to watch out for, if one is field based, is a midday email telling you to phone an 800# later that afternoon - usually in the 3-5:00 range. If you receive such an email, you should know to expect this to be a layoff notice. If they are doing individual call, you will likely receive an inbound call to your company cell - again late in the afternoon - coming from a member of regional management. The direct-report managers are usually not a part of this process.

Given the number of departments involved, along with the number of individuals they are talking about releasing, I would expect this process to be repeated once or possibly twice over the coming weeks. Looking at the sales calendar, they could very well leave sales people for last, laying them off in 2-3 weeks and concentrating on internal, office-based employees and sales management first. This would conceivably keep the sales peons active on the ground, closing sales for another few weeks before finally getting the boot. Then again, this is Cengage - meaning anything could happen.

If you feel that you MIGHT be in danger of being released during this wave (and 25% of a workforce is no small amount) you might consider using this weekend to prep yourself by doing minor and even some major chores. Just a few of the many ideas you might pursue:

Resume update. If it has been a while (five years or more) before you have updated your resume, do some research on this first. The resume game has changed - drastically.
LinkedIn refresh. Revise your Linked in profile as you would your resume. Make sure that the fact that you're actively seeking new opportunities is highlighted. Consider adding a photo and contact information. You might also pay attention to your contact list: who is missing? Search for and consider adding old bosses, key players in your Cengage career that might be supportive when it comes to finding/securing new work, valued co -workers outside of your immediate team. You might also note and connect with any recruiting firms and people who specialize in publishing . There are lots out there. Include non-publishing companies that might be interesting to work for, too.
Utilize other social media, too. Subscribe to companies of potential interest: Follow on facebook, subscribe to their tweets, connect and/or follow on LinkedIn. If you are unfamiliar, hop on Glassdoor and familiarize yourself with that site. Follow potential companies of interest, being sure to subscribe to their job listing communications.
One thing I did that REALLY paid off well: make a list of 15-30 different companies you would like to work for. Your "A List" of most-desired employers. Do an internet search for the "Careers" page on each of these companies and bookmark that page - placing all Careers bookmarks in a special folder. You can add to this bookmark collection over time, as you become aware of new companies you want to target. Once every 7-10 days or so, pull up and check each of these careers pages for new listings that might pertain to you. This is where most companies first list their new openings – on their own Careers page. Often these listings will appear a week or three before the openings appear elsewhere. Get used to checking this list every week, be one of the early appliers!
Read up on the job search process. Locate and bookmark good pieces on networking, interviewing, negotiating, resume maintenance, as well as other articles of specific interest (job searching as an older adult, starting a new career, freelancing, etc.).
There are a billion more things you might do, but the above will at least put you ahead of the rest of the pack when it comes to being prepared. Best case, you are not laid off and you're pre-prepped for the next scare! Worst-case, you get the bad news and you are already prepared for it.

One last thought for you: it can easily take 3 - 6 months or more before landing a position like the one you have now. Things can happen much more quickly than that, but don't be surprised to discover the process takes much longer than you expect it to. The general rule is to expect 30 days for every new $10,000 of salary you are seeking, but some of these more desirable positions, such as field sales and higher-level product work, can take a very long time to secure. Companies often move very, very slowly when it comes to selecting a new hire. IF you find yourself on the receiving end of a bad phone call in the near future, consider locating and securing a part-time (or even full-time) temporary position somewhere. We are entering the holiday season, which can be ideal for short-term, seasonal work. Look at working 2nd shift in a retail or warehouse or call center setting, which will keep your days free for interviewing and job-seeking activities. A temporary position like this accomplishes several things: it keeps a bit of money rolling in (every little bit is going to help!) and it helps maintain structure in your daily and weekly life. It is all too easy - and too dangerous - to lay about the house, moping and feeling sorry for one's self while trying to muster the energy to search the web for new leads or make that personal connection phone inquiry. A temporary position might help you keep your sanity during what can be a very challenging time period.

Good luck, everyone!

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Pearson provided excellent job search resources to its people during their last downsize. Cengage wouldn't think to offer such a thing, even if they could afford it. With Cengage, it's very much "every man for himself" - whether you are staying on or leaving. It's always been that way - cutthroat - despite the claims of "great culture!" on glassdoor.

The long post is a good one - very good advice especially for people who have not had to look for employment in 10, 15, 20 years. The process is much different these days, and it can be a real learning curve.

In addition to what was mentioned, I would suggest gathering ALL internal documents you can, while you can. Meaning ASAP tomorrow - Monday morning. As someone suggested, your access to EVERYTHING is turned off as your lay-off call is happening, so you will have no ability to go into email or internal websites to get what you want. At the bare minimum, this list would include:

One copy of every performance review document. HR will dig these up and supply you with these now and even after lay-off. Make certain you ask for these!

Pay Stub history going back at least a few months (vital for collecting unemployment) and any pay history you can locate, including evidence of raises, bonuses, etc.

Personal-side emails you don't want to lose - you can print these or simply forward them to your personal email account.

Any photos you'd like to keep that might be stored on a hard or cloud drive. You can attach and email these, if need be.

Any/all evidence of a job well done. Emails expressing congrats. Announcements of acheivement, goal-making and promotion and special project assignment/completion.

It is important to remember this: when future potential employers call Cengage to verify employment, they are referred to a third-party service that Cengage employs to handle such things. The ONLY things this service will reveal is your length of service (hire/leave dates), last position held and the compensation level when you departed. That's it. It is going to be up to you to tell the story of your successful history within Cengage, and the more documentation you can have that tells this story, the better.

Also important are references, so think of who might be able to give you an excellent recommendation now – current/former managers, co-workers, associated employees (key people on other teams you've worked with), even customers!

Losing a job like this can be a bewildering and very humbling experience. Self-confidence and motivation levels can be shattered, even when the potential of a layoff is forewarned. It can be easy to become depressed, demotivated, to lose that sense of self-confidence you once had. Posts like these, here in this discussion, can be very important to folks finding themselves in this position for the first time in years. To-Do lists like these are invaluable, no matter how basic they are!

For instance, one doesn't just compose a resume and send it out there and that's it - these days it is important to revise one's resume for each job sought, employing the same keywords that are used in the job description itself. To NOT do this is to risk the computerized "gate keepers" passing you over, simply because your resume does not seem in agreement with the qualities a company is seeking. This is NOT basic knowledge for all, especially for a 40-50-60 year old suddenly looking for work after a long period of employment.

To the trolls, troll elsewhere. I mean, troll Hanson & Co. all you like, they've earned it, but do try and have some compassion for those about to go through this process in the coming days... thanks.

Is the company providing unemployment resources for displaced employees?

Thank you HR for making this a fun and enlightening process especially when health care for our children is expired and we’re left holding the bag. Thanks for all the useless out of date and oh so obvious tools we need to find a replacement job in just a few days, please tell dear leader, thank you from all of us. Good ideas there to freshen up resumes and bookmark career sites, fantastic, never would’ve thought of that. Perhaps getting our suits and skirts dry cleaned and a new tie or broach to freshen up our appearances? Don’t want to be unshowered and dirty at our interviews do we? Perhaps we need to adjust our timepieces to be sure they’re accurate so we won’t be late for the interview and have a strong grip in that initial handshake and look them straight in the eye.... great.

Good advice. In the past Cengage has usually laid people off on Thursdays. If you get an email from your manager for an ‘Update’ with a meeting request you’re getting let go. Your HR rep will be added to the call moments before the meeting and your boss will disconnect after telling you you’re being laid off. The rest of the call will be handled by HR and by the time the call is over your credentials will be disabled, so if you feel you’re being let go or get that email make sure to get everything you may need (personal files, reviews, etc...) off of the Cengage network.

Cengage announcing huge layoffs is a new way of doing it. Usually it’s done with no notice and meetings later in the day to update people.

Thread regarding Cengage layoffs

Great job searching advice that needs its own thread

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