Career help, decoded — PinkSlipped

Recruiters & search firms

What they do: fill roles for the companies that hire them — contingency (paid on hire), retained (paid to run a search), staffing/contract (paid on placement, often for bridge work).
Who pays: the employer, typically a percentage of first-year salary. Never you.
What it costs: $0 to you.
What people get wrong: expecting a recruiter to find you a job. They find their client a hire. If your profile is one they call, make it easy; if it isn't, don't wait by the phone. A recruiter who charges you is not a recruiter.

Career coaches

What they do: one-on-one work on narrative, search strategy, interviews, pivots, and the harder conversation about what you actually want next.
Who pays: you, or sometimes your former employer through severance.
What it costs: roughly $150–$500 an hour; packages roughly $1,500–$10,000; executive coaching runs higher.
What people get wrong: buying twelve sessions up front before the first one, and trusting anyone who guarantees a placement. Ask for references, ask what happens if it isn't working after two sessions.

Outplacement

What they do: a career-transition program (coaching, résumé, job leads, sometimes office space) your former employer contracts for the people it lets go. Providers include Careerminds, Randstad RiseSmart, LHH, INTOO, Right Management.
Who pays: your former employer, usually as part of the severance package.
What it costs: nothing to you; employers pay from a few hundred dollars per person to $2,500–$10,000+ for executives, for one to twelve months.
What people get wrong: not opening it. It is the most under-used benefit in a layoff. Check the packet; if it wasn't offered, ask for it before you sign — the sentence is at the bottom of this page.

Retraining & credentials

What they do: community college, certificates, bootcamps, and publicly funded training for people whose role was eliminated or who are changing fields.
Who pays: you, unless you qualify for WIOA Dislocated Worker funding through your state's job center, or your severance includes tuition.
What it costs: $0 if funded, roughly $5,000–$20,000 for bootcamps.
What people get wrong: paying for the credential before testing the field. Talk to three people doing the job first; then talk to the job center before you talk to a sales rep.

Free tools & community

What they do: trackers, résumé builders, match scorers, and job-search councils of people in the same spot. Teal, Never Search Alone councils, your alumni pack.
Who pays: nobody; the free tiers are real.
What it costs: $0–$30 a month if you upgrade.
What people get wrong: treating this as the whole plan for a senior pivot or a thirty-day clock. It is the floor under everything else, not the ceiling.

Check your packet for outplacement.

If it's there, activate it this week — the window is usually short and it's already paid for. If it isn't, ask before you sign. One sentence is enough:

“Does the package include outplacement or career-transition services? If not, I'd like that added.”

The severance review item in your Plan will remind you.

Career help, decoded.