I'd love to hear from people who have left and learn more about any tips you have for navigating the post-Cengage career journey.
What do you miss? What do you not miss? What have you carried forward? What have you left behind? What did you learn from your transition? How would you approach it differently if you had to do it all over again?
@315 Can you name a few of these companies? I’m genuinely curious because my linked in is field with old publishing people asking me for jobs (accomplished people.) And many of my old colleagues bounce from one Ed tech company to another.
I’m out of the biz and never coming back. I’m legitimately curious. It’s not like demographics are in the industries favor. I guess they just pick the corpses of Cengage, Pearson and McGraw which would be a blast.
I'm happy that I was laid off, even if I'm still unemployed six months later, because it was a toxic environment. I loved Cengage's culture when I first started, but it's taken a turn for the worse. Can't be helped with incompetent leadership.
My post-Cengage career has been rather idyllic, and I never left the industry.
It is true, the large corporate concerns (Cengage, Pearson, Elsevier, etc.) are treading water or worse, but that is not at all true of the entire industry. There are a number of smaller & midsized pubcos & true EdTech companies out there who still do things the old school way while somehow being relevant and cutting-edge, even today.
Let's face it, this is a wonderful field to work in. The freedom, the creativity, the passion for contributing to the teaching and learning process, you can't beat any of that. Working where I work feels very much as it did back when I started back in the early 90s, though the pay is MUCH better these days!
@2jr This is what I've never understood. 100% most publishing environments are totally toxic with horrible people. But publishing 90% liberals, who are supposed to be compassionate and caring about people. I've never been able to grasp this concept. I've also worked with "conservative companies." They are completely opposite. Supportive, collaborative and totally open to other opinions.
@OP What I learned about publishing sales is it's not really sales. Sure, you get a number, but your potential customers are already there. It's a captive market. You don't have to truly "cold call," you don't have to figure out how to get to a buyer, and you don't live and die by the monthly or quarterly sword.
That being said, it was a phenomenal training ground for selling a product about which you knew very little and discussing it with some of the smartest people in the field.
Being a publishing rep in the 60s-80's would have been amazing. Used books sc--wed it for the 90's but we made amazing money for what we did, even then. Little to no pressure. No one had any idea what I was doing on a daily basis. Make your yearly number and you were totally left alone....at least I was.
I met some really smart, interesting, quirky people in that business, and frankly, I miss it, but those days will never come back. I was proud to say that I worked in the publishing industry.
When I left the business, I realized that, aside from knowing how to discuss topics I knew little about, I had very little to offer. I wasn't technical, but I also knew that I was uninterested in the daily grind of cold calling and pounding on doors selling a commodity product. So started my own business and never looked back. This also has some enormous challenges, but at least I had my own freedom to do what I wanted.
That's the irony of a sales role in publishing. It's an amazing training ground, but you really leave with no transferable skills.
The interesting thing is that I've hired a couple of seasoned publishing professionals to work for my company. Neither worked out.
Its just a business that time has passed by.
I do 'only phanns' and dip wicks into hot wax and make scented candles I sell with the homeless people downtown. I don't make enough 'modeling' or selling candles, fortunately my husband and my family support me after my iconic foray into publishing
If I could do it all over again, I would have never applied. Left something great to join Cengage, and it was unfortunately a poor career decision. Feel better now that I’ve left - there are other organizations that are a lot more put together with healthier environments. There are some unfortunately poor and highly toxic environments within Higher Ed. The big sales exodus makes sense.
I miss coming in at 10:00 and leaving at 2:00 and "working from home" on Fridays. I got away with this for years because my manager was clueless.
I miss being able to say a project would take two weeks when I could skip lunch and get it done in a day.
I miss the hour lunch in my four-hour day.
I miss spending most of my days furthering my education on the company dime. When I had a paper due, I would spend eight to ten hours in the office working on it.
I miss making $90,000 a year and working about 15-20 hours a week.
It's not until you leave Cengage (and ed publishing) that you realize how much of a junior varsity organization it is.
I miss the pizza parties. I could always handle the bad news of any sort as long as $70 of pizza was provided.
@qc ooof. I take that personally, lol.
One thing I learned about Project Management at Cengage is that the ecosystem isn't modern enough to ingest an actual Project Management system, nor job title. I learned the hard way that higher ups both desire a project manager, but feel them to be rivals of sorts.
That is to say, the higher the ladder you climb, the more contentious the politics are. This isn't always the case outside of Cengage, which is a dying company filled with fiefdoms whose lords defend their territory at all costs, regardless of the flames which encroach their fields.
There are some great people at Cengage. I certainly learned a ton while I was there; but since my tenure ended, I'm finally realizing that I wasn't compensated what I was worth.
After being laid off from Cengage, I’ve had time to reflect—and I’m genuinely grateful to have moved on to a much healthier, more collaborative environment in another higher ed tech organization. During my time at Cengage, I struggled with a lack of support from leadership, especially at the VP level, and navigated a culture in Sales and Marketing that often prioritized politics and favoritism over clarity and impact. Working 70-80 hour weeks just to stay afloat was damaging to my physical and mental health, as well as my personal life outside of the office.
Strategies shifted frequently without direction, making it hard to do meaningful work. Working with HED executive leadership was, for me, consistently stressful and demotivating.
If you're considering a change and something feels off—trust your gut. Leaving was the right move for me, and based on what I’ve heard from others, I’m not alone in that.
The best advice I can give is to learn a skillset that is applicable outside of publishing. And I mean like an actual job title that's recognized at any company (not just "project management"). The biggest upside of Cengage when I worked there was that you could get hired internally for a job that you had no qualifications for if you if you were recognized as a high performer. You could learn on the job and I picked up my current profession that way. While I was learning on the job I backfilled my experience with formal education and also networked through professional organizations where I met people who did th same job in other industries. Those three things helped me get a job outside of publishing when I was ready...and I was able to get a massive salary increase in my first job outside of Cengage.
The biggest trap for high performers at Cengage is getting promoted to industry specific jobs. It's great until the layoffs come and you are trying to find a job outside of publishing.
A few things I learned from Cengage;
I miss absolutely nothing. The world out there is less toxic. It su-ked to be laid off, but it was liberating.
@OP I don't miss anything. I thought I would miss the people, but there are great people at other companies. I've been able to maintain relationships with the people that mattered most to me. I left behind the feeling that I could tolerate feeling undervalued. I learned that loyalty and work ethic only mean so much when a company has lost its values. What I carried forward are the professional skills I developed. If I were to do it again, I would have networked more while I was there.
@OP Post-Cengage has been much healthier. Here's some advice: Nurture and expand your network. Spend a minimum of two hours a week doing that. Take some time to reflect on your must-haves for your next role -- What work do you love, what are you best at, what kind of company do you want to be at (e.g. industry, size, culture, type - like nonprofit or for profit)? Update your LinkedIn and get active. Comment on posts. Share articles and provide your perspective. Given the job climate, your network is the best source of leads. Job boards and submitting resumes online to openings is broken. There are too many applicants and AI gets in the way of being noticed. Don't let the headlines dissuade you. There are jobs out there. Lastly, be patient. Finding a job is hard while you are working full-time but keep putting yourself in conversations with companies and leaders you admire. Cengage used to be a special place, but it's been replaced by leadership that is lost, lacks conviction, has little connection to the market, and is just waiting for the payout. It's all about them. You can find employers who still care about the work and serving the education markets.
Currently applying and interviewing to leave.
Could this be the next ERG at Cengage - Networking, Resume writing, Support?