Outplacement services: what they include and how to use them after a layoff.
What employer-paid outplacement usually covers, questions to ask HR, and what to do if your employer doesn't offer it.
Outplacement services are career-transition support an employer pays for when it lays people off: typically coaching, resume and LinkedIn help, job-search planning and sometimes workshops. If you are being laid off, ask HR whether outplacement is part of your package and how long access lasts. If it isn't offered, you can build the same support from free tools and a structured plan.
What outplacement typically covers
| Component | What to ask |
|---|---|
| Coaching sessions | How many, with whom, for how long? |
| Resume and LinkedIn help | Rewrite or feedback only? |
| Job-search planning | Is there a structured program? |
| Access period | When does access end? |
Questions to ask before you sign
Advice
- Is outplacement included, and with which provider?
- When does it start and end?
- Can it be extended or taken later?
- Is it in writing in the separation agreement?
No outplacement? Build your own
Advice
- Start with the resume and LinkedIn while your network is fresh.
- List 20 target employers and three people at each.
- Set a weekly application and outreach target.
- A career coach is not a therapist. If job-search stress is affecting your sleep, health or daily life, a licensed mental-health professional is the right first call; in the US you can call or text 988 any time.
Disclosure: TryHired makes HIRED, a paid job-search program, so we have a conflict of interest whenever we compare it with coaching or other products. We show free options first and tell you when you probably do not need to pay anyone.
Questions
What are outplacement services?
Can I ask for outplacement in a severance negotiation?
Are outplacement services worth using?
How this page is built
Written by Maid Dizdarevic, a career coach and 8x LinkedIn Top Voice. Everything here is practical advice or a description of how coaching and services usually work; it is labelled as advice, not data. We do not publish success rates, prices we have not verified, or ratings.
- Whether a specific coach or service is good: only references, a trial session and your own judgement can tell you that.
- Your local market: hiring speed and pay vary by field, level and location.
- Outcomes: no coach, service or program can promise you a job, and you should be wary of any that does.
- TryHired editorial guidance, Nov 2, 2026.
- International Coaching Federation (coaching credential issuer): coachingfederation.org.
- National Career Development Association (career-services credentials): ncda.org.