All posts by moore - 15. page

Leaving a company in a way that is fair to both you and your company can be difficult. When employed, we spend a large portion of our waking hours at work. You may be leaving a group of people you loved, a toxic environment, a place you’ve outgrown, or a place you’ve loved and just need to move on from for personal reasons. Because of the amount of time invested and the multiplicity of emotional circumstances, it can be difficult to leave well. Below are some thoughts on this career transition, however, I’m not writing about why you should leave, just how the process should go once you’ve made that decision. (Note that some of these apply to transitioning positions within a company.)

Before you are thinking about leaving

1. Prepare to leave well before you think about leaving by documenting your decisions, processes and systems. This has the added benefit of letting you do better in your current position. When you write down how you do a task, it gives you the chance to review it and consider optimizations, as well as revisit it in the future and perform the task just as well. Make sure to date all documents. When you revisit a system or process, revisit the document.
2. Watch how other departing employees are treated. Expect to be treated in a similar manner. Some companies want to usher folks out quickly (to the point of just paying their standard two weeks notice immediately and having them depart) while others will be more flexible. Some managers will treat departing employees with compassion and respect. Others may not.
3. You won’t be able to effect change at the company once you have publicly decided to depart. If you want to effect change, stay at the company work within the system.

Once you’ve decided to leave

1. Save and put that money into a liquid savings account. How much? As much as you can. This will make the transition less scary and allow you greater flexibility.
2. Decide on boundaries and stick to them. Being helpful with the transition doesn’t mean you have to be a doormat.
3. It’s always easier to find a job when you have a job. Think about reactivating old networks, inviting folks for coffee, and checking out the job market while you are still in your position.
4. When you decide to leave, give as much notice as possible. Since you’ve been observing how folks are treated and you know your own situation, adjust for those factors. However, I’ve found letting managers know about my departure with plenty of notice ensures a smooth departure. Personally, I’ve given up to two months of notice.
5. I’ve never had a counteroffer, but I’ve read that accepting them is a poor choice.
6. Make a plan with your manager. Take point on this, as you are the person who knows your job best. This plan should be your first task after you’ve told your manager you are departing.
7. Keep a spreadsheet of departure tasks including owner, date to be completed and description. Sometimes important things are overlooked. This is where having documentation (see step 1) is helpful, but also look at your to-do lists, your and calendar entries.

Telling your fellow employees

1. Let the company control the narrative about when you are leaving, including when to tell the team. However, if you are approaching your departure date and no one on the team knows, push your manager to publicize it.
2. You will likely have many reasons for your departure. Pick a major, true, banal reason or two and answer with that when team members ask why you are leaving. There’s no need to get into every grievance, reason or issue you had.
3. Your decisions will have less weight once you announce your departure. This is natural; team members that are staying discount your opinions because you won’t be living with the consequences. Prepare yourself for this.
4. Consider offering to consulting to the company if it makes sense for you and the timing is right. Charge a fair market rate. Realize that stepping into this role may be difficult emotionally.
5. Once your exit is public, your focus should be bringing other employees up to speed so they can do your job when you’re gone. It may feel good to bang out one more bugfix or initiative and if you have time to do that, great, but your primary focus should be on documentation and knowledge transfer.
6. Realize that this transition will feel momentous to you, but that it is far less important to everybody else (both inside and outside the company). A company should have no irreplaceable employees.
7. Treat everyone as fairly as possible. Remember that you may be working with some of these folks in a few years’ or decades’ time.
8. Be professional and courteous (I can’t think of a time when this is bad advice, but at moments of transition it is especially important).

Leaving a job is a very personal decision and will impact your career. Spend time thinking about how to leave well, treat everyone with respect and have a plan.

I’ve been doing a fair amount of interviewing lately (looking for work, not hiring) and there’s always that moment when the interviewer asks “so, do you have any questions for me”. Here are some of my favorite questions:

• How long have you been working at company YYY? This helps me understand their perspective on the company. If they are new, they’ll have fresh eyes. If they have been at the company for years, it’s interesting to understand why they’ve stayed. This can also lead to a discussion of turnover.
• What is a typical day like for this position? This helps me understand what the company emphasizes. This can also lead to a discussion of the development cycle (weekly releases, etc).
• Who are your typical customers? When talking to a company, I always want to know who they sell to. This shows I have an interest in the company beyond just the tech work I’ll be doing. I want to hear words like “wide variety of clients”, “we find most of our customers by referral” or “we’re focused on niche YYY”. Of course I can always do research and see how the company markets itself and see if what I am hearing from the interviewer is consistent with how the company presents itself.
• What do you do when folks are on the bench (if it is a consulting company)? “The bench” is where consultants who aren’t making money for the company are. What kind of projects are they working on? How often are folks on the bench?
• Finally, what is the worst part about working at company YYY? This is the inverse of the “what is your biggest weakness” question that is sometimes asked. But every company has its warts. I’m probably going to find out anyway, but it’s good to ask and get the interviewer’s perspective.

What are your favorite questions to ask interviewers?