As ex-cisco who made it through about 15 of these only to get clipped in the 16th, I will say in hindsight (about 5 years) it was one of the best things for my career and my life. Got me out of the Cisco rut, free from chasing RSUs and taught me that you should date a company and never believe you are married to them (you are $ on a spreadsheet to decision-makers unfortunately). Layoffs are part of working in tech, big tech, small tech, any tech. For big companies its a tool for small companies it's survival. It taught me to always have my resume tuned and that I am ALWAYS on the market. There are a lot of companies better than Cisco out there and there are also a lot of stinkers. The key is to keep your skills up, embrace the change, dont be afraid of mistakes if you learn from them and you will go far!
1 reply
"taught me that you should date a company and never believe you are married to them" So true !! Never be so dependent on a company that you are out of your job market skill sets !