Resigning tomorrow - questions

[audreyh1]

Congrats!

 

[Brat]

In any case, moot point. Everyone (except my boss) was sad and hated that I was leaving. Bossman (he's never liked me and the feeling is mutual) decided to take my notice personally and said the two weeks was fine (there was pouting; grown man getting all pissy and stomping around. and no I'm not kidding)

....

... At least they knew I tried to make it easier and they can yell at boss if something gets screwed up after I'm gone.

Funny in a sad way. I feel for those who need to work with this jerk going forward.

 

[WannabeRetired]

Congratulations!

 

[braumeister]

I hate to say it, but this is what I expected -- it's the most common scenario.
I don't mean this as a negative toward you by any stretch of the imagination, but the fact is that nobody is as hard to replace as they think they are.

Congratulations on getting out easily and best wishes on your next chapter.

 

[big-papa]

Good luck! As others have said, I also have never actually written a resignation letter or email. Verbal is all you really need to do - after all what are they going to do, fire you? On the laptop, I've done this twice now. Never was successful in having them give it to me, but they usually let me buy it for a fairly nominal price. For everybody's piece of mind, I had their IT department wipe the disk and reinstall the operating system. Then there is no question about what sorts of files might have come with you on the way out the door. In one case, the company's extended service contract was still in effect (the info was on a tag stuck to the laptop). Had to use it to replace a motherboard - for free!

 

[RockyMtn]

Probably best for all that it went down this way. Start figuring out your "consultant" fees for when they call you for help on the big project. Personally I wouldn't do it for anything less than 2x your former pay rate.

 

[pb4uski]

Probably best for all that it went down this way. Start figuring out your "consultant" fees for when they call you for help on the big project. Personally I wouldn't do it for anything less than 2x your former pay rate.

And the longer that you are retired the more you will enjoy your freedom so the price to lure you back will increase.

That said, don't count on it. Mega kept telling me about how much value I added and they they didn't know what they would do without me.... and I kept telling them that they had a bunch of really smart people and I was sure they would figure it out since what I was doing wasn't rocket science... we left the door open to my helping out if needed after I left.... they never called and it didn't bother me a bit.

 

[athena53]

Already ordered a new laptop and accessories.

Congratulations! There's always a learning curve and extra time to get a new computer configured the way you like it with all your mission-critical files in place, but as steelyman said, sometimes a fresh start is better.

When I left I asked if I could keep the company iPhone 4 (a little over a year old, iPhone 5 had since come out). It was up to my boss to make that decision; they told me I could have it for $500. Ummm. right. The number wasn't even my home area code because I worked across the state line. I got myself a nice, shiny new iPhone 5 for $550.

 

[InTheSticks]

Congrats!

 

[sengsational]

Concerning the laptop...one trick I used was to do a drive image backup before leaving and bought an identical used laptop on eBay (amazingly cheap since the work machine was pretty old), to which I restored the image. Worked perfectly! I only did it so I could slowly and carefully get my stuff off the machine, not to use the corporate software long-term. If all you neede were files, the drive image would be over kill, but that made it easier for me to organize things and perform exports of just what I wanted.

BTW, I completely understand your wanting to "do a tidy wrap-up" on your job, not for anyone but yourself.

 

[ChiliPepr]

Concerning the laptop...one trick I used was to do a drive image backup before leaving and bought an identical used laptop on eBay (amazingly cheap since the work machine was pretty old), to which I restored the image. Worked perfectly! I only did it so I could slowly and carefully get my stuff off the machine, not to use the corporate software long-term. If all you neede were files, the drive image would be over kill, but that made it easier for me to organize things and perform exports of just what I wanted.

BTW, I completely understand your wanting to "do a tidy wrap-up" on your job, not for anyone but yourself.

Be careful, some firms (including mine) would consider this theft.

I know my firm considers everything on their laptop to be their property. There is no such thing as personal data on a corporate laptop at my firm. We actually block and turn off all USB ports, disallow connection to outside email services (gmail, yahoo, comcast...), sniff/copy all email being sent to stop this kind of thing.

 

[jIMOh]

Congratulations on this exciting time in your life!

You wrote, "Due to how I feel about this pet project, I am going to give the company the option of having me stay two months to wrap up the big push (the next two months are the biggest and most important of the year for this project)."

Regarding the transition you're thinking of offering, my first instinct was to say to you, let them ask you to provide those things rather than you offer it, only because it seems to me their asking would give you more leverage to get what you want out of the deal.

You might even get some of those manager perks you've heretofore been denied.

Good luck with it all.

+1
submit your two weeks, keep message to 1-2 sentences

then if they come back to you, negotiate.

 

[nuisance]

I really sympathize with the desire to keep your work laptop. Work lets me use a top-of-the-line laptop, and I am going to miss it when I finally leave. I could buy one, but my retirement budget isn't so generous that I can just do that and not affect my other spending.
I've wondered if I should work an extra week or so just so I can buy myself a nice laptop.

 

[meekie]

I'm three weeks into my four week notice, and I've completely checked out. These last few hours/days are lasting forever! Give them 2 weeks, and if they really want to beg, you can think about it.

 

[Al in Ohio]

I hate to say it, but this is what I expected -- it's the most common scenario.

I don't mean this as a negative toward you by any stretch of the imagination, but the fact is that nobody is as hard to replace as they think they are.



Congratulations on getting out easily and best wishes on your next chapter.

I hear that occasionally on this forum, but in some instances that's not true. There are some very specialized technical positions that are now in much more demand than supply of remaining experienced professionals is available, and that can create a huge talent hole that takes 4-5 years to recover from. Most high level management can't comprehend this, especially since they don't deal with the fallout directly.


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[Bestwifeever]

....Bossman (he's never liked me and the feeling is mutual) decided to take my notice personally and said the two weeks was fine ...
very sad that my project team is left scrambling. At least they knew I tried to make it easier and they can yell at boss if something gets screwed up after I'm gone.

Why didn't you just wait to give your two-week notice to coincide with the project being wrapped up so the project team wouldn't be left scrambling, since you were willing to work through its completion anyway?

 

[GravitySucks]

When I left I moved all my files to a shared drive my manager could access, then removed 'my' hard drive and ran a drill bit through it in 5 different places. The drive and laptop were then shipped to corporate hardware recovery center.

I can't imagine a company letting you keep 'your' machine.

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