How did you do it?

[M Paquette]

How I did it? Good question.

Since I was on good terms with the whole management tree, and was in a sort of important individual contributor (non-management position, I quietly verbally informed the managers about 4 months prior to departure. That way they were able to bring in someone, who was co-located in the office I used when I wasn't telecommuting. We worked together on an orderly transition, with him initially shadowing me, then about a month before departure, I shadowed him as he took on effectively all the work.

This probably sounds a bit weird compared to some of the workplaces out there, but this was a fairly large business, chock full of engineers who tended to be pretty orderly and 'grown up' about this stuff.

About a month before departure my boss did mention that I should probably find some way to quietly let others know that I wouldn't be around. Good point. A bulk "OMG! I'm out of here in a month!" e-mail would work, but that's a bit rough to send to 12,000 co-workers. So...

I decided on a more subtle approach. I blocked out my schedule in the company wide calendar app from the departure date to 2032 (as far as I could). That made sure that I wouldn't get meeting invites or be scheduled for presentations without my knowledge. Since I didn't want anyone to be shocked when mail to my company address started bouncing, I tucked this into my work e-mail signature:

Mike Paquette
mpaque@BigFruityCorp.com Warning: E-mail address expires March 7, 2008

Two weeks prior to departure I provided my boss with an official resignation to forward to The Forgotten Old Ones that ran HR.

One week prior to departure I started schlepping company assets from my home office back into work.

About 3-4 days before departure I started not taking things all that seriously. An e-mail from that period:

From: Mike Paquette <mpaque@BigFruityCorp.com>
Subject: Re: CGContextFillRect
Date: March 3, 2008 3:24:12 PM PST
To: Red Acted <redacted@BigFruityCorp.com>

Correct. There's no hidden back-channel between the CGContext and CGColorCreate() to propagate any information on the colorspace to be used in creating the color.

For example, the use of a cat-based colorspace has to be encoded with the color, so that when a CGContext sees that CGColor, it will know how to interpret and translate the color into the destination colorspace.

​

 

[FreeAtLast]

I work for a small company and they have been good to me over the years with months of paid time off and working from home when my son was quite ill. I have been working only part time for about 3 years.

They have been having financial problems and many people have been asked to leave. I have been reluctant to resign as I am the only one that programs their computer systems and I felt I was needed.

They approached me yesterday and told me they could not afford to keep me and that this was my last day.

I was out of there in 20 minutes.

 

[Ally]

I haven't yet, because I will probably work 4 more years. I dread telling people, because I will have to resign to a board. I know they will want to do something like a going away social event and I HATE being the center of attention.

 

[obgyn65]

I do not feel like a traitor for wanting to leave but I will be sad not to continue to see some patients.

Did any of you feel like a traitor for wanting to leave?

 

[davemartin88]

At the megacorp where I worked, we started working on our annual layoff list- I volunteered to go on the list to take a package and get out- one last name I had to come up with and I was ready to get out!

Didn't feel like a traitor at all, we were consolidating a lot of business so someone at my level was going to have to go and I didn't want to take a chance of being the one that was asked to stay.

 

[Midpack]

I haven't yet, because I will probably work 4 more years. I dread telling people, because I will have to resign to a board. I know they will want to do something like a going away social event and I HATE being the center of attention.

Then don't! Just make sure they know you appreciate the thought but don't want any fanfare. I can't imagine they would not respect your wishes since you are the guest of honor.

They wanted to fly me to Corp for a big shindig, asked several times and several ways, I politely declined and it never happened. I let my offsite peers know my reasons so they wouldn't misunderstand my reasons, and they understood. Local tradition is a pizza and beer sendoff, I never enjoyed those. Opted for cake and coffee in the conf room instead, others had done the same so it was not unheard of, whole thing took less than half an hour. You can have things go your way...

 

[rescueme]

I know they will want to do something like a going away social event and I HATE being the center of attention.

When I retired, I felt the same way.

Wor*ing for a multi-national, with folks both here and in Europe, the different groups wanted to "salute" me in some manner.

I made my feelings known, that I would rather that they contribute to a local charity that both DW/me support.

That meant a lot more to me (and DW) than any party/gift that they could have given to me, after almost 30 years with the company.

In answer to the OP, our (multi-national, with 90k+ employees) required a 90-day notice, to allow time to take care of all the necessary paperwork. I retired, rather than just quit, so there is a different standard, IMHO.

BTW, I did get a note from our named charity for the contribution. It seems my "unusual" request went up to senior management and they made a quite substantial "gift" in my name (of course, they got the tax deduction ). It dosen't matter. My wishes were granted...

 

[Rambler]

I have an agreement until the end of 2012, but every time I see my boss (global CEO) he asks me to stay longer in some way, shape or form. As of August last year, I agreed to do it on some terms that were easy for me to swallow. He agreed it was a good idea. Now both of us aren't so sure. In other words, he is asking me again to stay, but more full time and not on the terms we agreed (agreed last year to a deal that would ease me out but keep me present...now the "ease out" part is less easing and more staying). I've given him a tentative yes, but have insisted that I get to spend more time at home in the US...about a week every month to six weeks. He's not so sure. I see him again in a week and hope to get a clearer picture. If it looks like it won't work, I'll stick to my word and stay until the end of 2012. Then when the end of 2012 comes around, we'll see. I may stay...I may go. A lot will depend on how well my parents are doing (getting old), whether we have grandkids on the way, and if he will at that time agree to favorable terms...oh, and I probably should add, if the markets are such that I still feel comfortable pulling the plug. I'm also in a role that I will need to face the Board every few months, and cannot leave on a moment's notice, so they are aware of and have agreed to my deal to ease out, but I think they are getting cold feet. (Although I'm pretty sure we'll be fine, my feet are getting a little chilly as well).

R