What Were Your Final Months of W*rk Like?

[Idnar7]

It seems to me that once it becomes common knowledge you are leaving a job you are treated differently. No longer invited to important meetings, no longer asked your opinion, no longer included in functions, etc. You become a kind of ghost employee. For every job I ever left I wanted to do the best to train a replacement. In most cases it was not solicited or accepted. When trying to train a replacement I actually had them fall asleep. None seemed particularly interested. My final job I was asked to stay on for 6 months as a contingency (my job had been eliminated). For busywork I was told to document everything that had gone on in the 12 years I had led the project. As I had nothing else to do I threw myself into the task. When I left no one asked me for the document, no one asked me for my opinion on the future of the project, no exit interview. Just turned in my badge and left. I notice other people in similar positions had the same treatment. Not sour grapes, just wondering if others experienced this type of thing. Worked at the same mega-corp for over 30 years. Have some felt engaged until the day they left? Just kind of a gnowing feeling that you wanted to contribute but it wasn't wanted.

 

[steelyman]

Although I have no doubt it happens, none of that happened to me. If anything, people wanted to talk to me more. If for no other reason, just to hear me be ridiculous. At which I was expert

 

[BellBarbara]

I agree 100%, that is why I am surprised people give such long notices. I was planning to retire in April, but got laid off in Feb in a huge re-org. Basically no one talked to me even though they told me I should be available to support the change. I work remotely, so it was so strange. In fact, my password expired and I didn't even bother to recover it.

The same thing happened to my husband....they asked him to record his "thoughts" on all the technical systems he installed - of course during the last week there. LOL He offered to do a presentation and they could film him - but then no one set it up.

That is why I recommend giving 2 weeks notice.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

It seems like things end not with a bang...but with a whimper.

 

[travelover]

I found out that I was getting an early out offer in October but my last day was not until March 1. I kept it a secret as long as possible. Those last couple of months were tedious. I came in late, took a long lunch hour and left early. No one really wanted to deal with me knowing that they would have to do it all over again with my successor. I didn't take it personally, it is human nature exacerbated by the company culture.

 

[REWahoo]

OP, what you describe is precisely why I did not let my direct reports know I was retiring until 30 days before I pulled the plug. I did tell my boss of my plans five months in advance, and the folks in the executive office suite all knew what I was retiring, but they all agreed it was best to wait until I had a month to go before announcing my planned departure. That allowed me to avoid a prolonged period of lame duckyness...

 

[pb4uski]

I didn't experience any of that but I had a somewhat unique role as a subject matter expert so people in the field would call me in when they had a client issue within my wheelhouse. While I let my boss and other leaders of the practice know I was leaving months in advance, we soft pedaled it, made no big announcement, and let it leak out over the last month or so. People kept coming to me for consultations up until I left - in fact I even got a couple calls after I left since I kept my home office phone number.

I can see that it might be an issue for more conventional situations.

 

[Dawg52]

Although I have no doubt it happens, none of that happened to me. If anything, people wanted to talk to me more.

Same here. For me, I was busy as heck up to the end. I retired just after our annual audit so I was busy with auditors and trying to train my replacement at the same time.

I left on good terms and they gave me a nice retirement party and gifts(golf cart). The cart turned out to be a payment for lot's of phone calls/questions for a few months after I left. But I didn't mind, they were usually quick and painless.

 

[LoneAspen]

That is why I recommend giving 2 weeks notice.

Seconded. I've never given more than two weeks, and never would. I'll do anything during those last two weeks to make the transition as painless as possible. Train replacement, stay late, work overtime, weekends, whatever. But two weeks is it, and once I'm gone, I'm gone. I never look back - have to devote 100% of effort on that new job, not the old one.

 

[karluk]

One of my coworkers and I were the only two trained specialists in a technically demanding job, and we both retired within a couple of months of each other. Our supervisor knew about the situation a year in advance, but had difficulty getting permission from management to hire replacements until it became a crisis. Then the first round of hires was a complete bust - the one guy they brought in turned out to be great at interviewing but totally incompetent actually doing the job. Then my coworker left and I was doing two jobs for a while. Luckily the second round of interviews turned up two good replacements, who started only a couple of weeks before my last day.

All in all, a rather dicey transition. I certainly never felt ignored or neglected, but both my coworker and I spent the last six months of our careers as caretakers, doing the routine day-to-day tasks but not allowed to start any more ambitious projects due to the uncertainty of what would happen after we left.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

My days and weeks were filled with sheer boredom, lack of enthusiasm, apathy and anticipation of not having to participate in the near future. Time crawled by slowly.

 

[Alan]

I enjoyed my last few months, handing over my projects and training my replacements, never felt like a lame duck. I continued to attend the usual meetings etc.

 

[LoneAspen]

My days and weeks were filled with sheer boredom, lack of enthusiasm, apathy and anticipation of not having to participate in the near future. Time crawled by slowly.

That sounds like me right now, but I'm still (hopefully) two years away from giving notice!

 

[rodi]

I've told folks at work that my goal is to retire at 55. (I'm 51). I've also told folks that if I get a severance - stick a fork in me, I'm done.

When I pull the trigger I plan to give 2 weeks notice - just the same as if I were changing jobs. Period. I'm a good engineer - but I can be replaced... The powers that be have made it clear that they consider all engineers to be exchangeable commodities and no one is irreplaceable.

 

[JLoft]

A new worldwide standard for announcing a retirement has been set. If the pope can give two weeks, then certainly anyone else can also.

 

[RockyMtn]

My last six months were pretty calm as my replacement was named with about five months to go. I spent the last few months travelling around to various operations saying my good byes to my colleagues/clients of the last 20+ years. As I wasn't going to be around I avoided getting wrapped up in budgets for the coming fiscal year which was a huge relief. All in all a very pleasurable way to fade away into the sunset.

 

[CoolChange]

A new worldwide standard for announcing a retirement has been set. If the pope can give two weeks, then certainly anyone else can also.

I had not thought about this but may steal it if my BS bucket ever completely overfloweth.

And, thanks for making me smile this morning!

 

[Independent]

When I retired, I gave three months notice. I also said that I'd be willing to work "a little longer" if my boss had trouble replacing me.

I ended up working an extra six months.

It was better than most work. I was working on the type of project I enjoyed, and I finally left when the project was over (and he really did find a replacement). I could blow off some of the corporate HR stuff I never liked. The only problem was that I was a little too busy. Year-end bonuses came up after I had retired, but retirees are eligible for partial bonuses. I got a check and a nice letter from my former boss thanking me for staying.

I wasn't at all like quitting and going to work for a competitor.

 

[Meadbh]

A new worldwide standard for announcing a retirement has been set. If the pope can give two weeks, then certainly anyone else can also.

Yes, but will you fly away in a helicopter?

 

[martyp]

I knew what the OP described was going to happen to me so I was prepared. We announced my retirement in mid-Sept with my departure date being mid Dec. My staff were reassigned to other supervisors within the first month. From then on it was pretty slow up until Thanksgiving. After that there was literally nothing to do. I came in late, took long lunches, and left early. No one cared. I got a nice retirement party and that was that.

 

[scrabbler1]

I gave one month notice but then again I was working only 2 days a week so not counting the day I gave notice I worked only 9 more days.

I was already a bit of a ghost worker because I was there only 2 days a week. And I worked on mainly one project (with people outside my division) so it is not like I had lots of coworkers coming over to me much any more. I still attended those annoying biweekly management meetings but there was little mention of my upcoming retirement.

I was told who would be inheriting each of my other duties so I put together emails on the topics and folders with key info. I sorted out all the stuff on my large cubicle tabletop into piles so others could take what they needed. But I had no official meetings with anyone who was inheriting my few projects. As for the one main project, my goal was to finish it by my last day, which did, barely, with less than an hour to spare.

They had a little gathering at my desk to give me a card and few farewell trinkets (including $160 in cash they did not spend on a luncheon I declined to have - I hated them). But nobody accompanied me downstairs at quitting time, so I had to turn in my ID card to the building security after I went through the exit turnstiles.

All in all, rather uneventful which was just fine with me.

But the trip home on the trains was a battle to hold back tears as I neared my home station and walked home. It felt amazing but strange at the same time knowing I would never be taking that long, awful, most despised commute ever again! When I went through the front door of my apartment, I yelled out, "I'm Free!" as I dropped my stuff on the floor and just stood there for a minute after closing the door.

 

[JLoft]

Yes, but will you fly away in a helicopter?

Maybe they will, but as I was watching a James Bond movie last night, remember what always happened to the helicopter just after it flew away from the latest SPECTRE hideout?

 

[Midpack]

I noticed my boss in mid Jan 11, and told him I'd like to leave in Feb, Mar at the latest. He panicked and begged me to delay, 'it will take quite a while to find your replacement' (turned out he gave the position to the internal candidate I spent 15 years developing, as I expected all along...). The company had been good to me for the most part, so I agreed. We set a date that was 5 months out, but I told him I did not want it announced until 3 weeks before I left. After thinking about it for a while, he asked that we announce 3 months in advance. I told him it was a mistake, but he was intent, so I agreed.

As expected, it was awful to work with people (local, but especially Corp & field) for 3 months when they knew I was leaving so far in advance. Some outside people were afraid to involve me in projects that might not conclude before I left, others decided they'd try to bury me in projects before I left (might as well get all they can out of me). I was the site manager, so fortunately I did not have a problem with being excluded from anything, they all (about 80 people) reported to me until the last day. When I left on Jun 30th, I was beyond ready to go...

I agreed to an announcement well in advance against my better judgement, I never should have given my boss that much notice - 'no good deed goes unpunished.'

As for time passing, Apr and May were horrible, days just seemed to drag on forever. When Jun came around with only 4 weeks left, time started to pass quickly again (thank goodness), though I don't know why.

 

[JLoft]

But the trip home on the trains was a battle to hold back tears as I neared my home station and walked home. It felt amazing but strange at the same time knowing I would never be taking that long, awful, most despised commute ever again!

Quote on the cover of this week's Forbes attributed to Sir Richard Branson: "The idea of backing off - it just seems such of horrible waste of everything I've learned."

But then again that might pale in comparison to

When I went through the front door of my apartment, I yelled out, "I'm Free!" as I dropped my stuff on the floor and just stood there for a minute after closing the door.

 

[Stanley]

I agree 100%, that is why I am surprised people give such long notices. ssword expired and I didn't even bother to recover it.

I gave 6 months notice because I did NOT want to be dragged to meetings, involved in work drama, and have to take classes for things that I would have no effect on and I did not want to effect me. People left me alone with the exception of a few people who coveted some of the office supplies and doo-dads I had accumulated.