June 26, 2015 at 9:27 am
The 'exit' statement that I made when I left the bank (after 4 years of working there and ~2 weeks of being intermittently belittled and insulted by some of the people I didn't work with), as to go around to everyone on the IT floor (DBA, dev, manager) that I knew, say goodbye in person and then go to the sysadmin and ask them to disable my AD account right there and then before wishing the sysadmin team all the best.
This industry is way too small and way too polarised to intentionally make more enemies.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
June 26, 2015 at 9:45 am
GilaMonster (6/26/2015)
The 'exit' statement that I made when I left the bank (after 4 years of working there and ~2 weeks of being intermittently belittled and insulted by some of the people I didn't work with), as to go around to everyone on the IT floor (DBA, dev, manager) that I knew, say goodbye in person and then go to the sysadmin and ask them to disable my AD account right there and then before wishing the sysadmin team all the best.This industry is way too small and way too polarised to intentionally make more enemies.
Agreed. The past is the past: best outcome is usually for you to fade into the background as soon as possible. Make your mark in the greener pastures you're moving to, and aim to not leaving a large steaming pile on your way out of the old pasture.
When it's all done - you don't want to be that one exit interview that everyone remembers. That's about as destructive as those misguided facebook pictures/post that continue to haunt you years later.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
June 26, 2015 at 9:54 am
I know someone who was disappointed to get a Survey Monkey exit interview. The gist of the survey was as to whether the company was good, outstanding or exceptional as a place to work.
The best exit I saw was kept very quiet by the DBAs. Change management had been sitting on a large number of change requests that had been thoroughly tested, peer reviewed and were well within the capabilities of the most junior DBA to execute. In sitting on those changes the Change Manager caused much stress and overtime and production incidents in the DBA camp.
The senior DBA on his last day implemented 25 changes eliminating the top 25 causes of late night callouts.
Change managers should see their role as facilitating successful change by the appropriate application of disciplines and processes. They should not see their role as blocking change at all costs.
June 26, 2015 at 10:09 am
David.Poole (6/26/2015)
I know someone who was disappointed to get a Survey Monkey exit interview. The gist of the survey was as to whether the company was good, outstanding or exceptional as a place to work.The best exit I saw was kept very quiet by the DBAs. Change management had been sitting on a large number of change requests that had been thoroughly tested, peer reviewed and were well within the capabilities of the most junior DBA to execute. In sitting on those changes the Change Manager caused much stress and overtime and production incidents in the DBA camp.
The senior DBA on his last day implemented 25 changes eliminating the top 25 causes of late night callouts.
Change managers should see their role as facilitating successful change by the appropriate application of disciplines and processes. They should not see their role as blocking change at all costs.
If there is a specific incident or policy that prompts an employee to voluntarily leave, then I see nothing wrong with voicing it to HR or management on the way out, so long as the comments are to the point and without vindictiveness, and especially if the organization solicts comments in an exit interview or survey. That type of feedback can be constructive for the organization.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
June 26, 2015 at 1:20 pm
"Have a nice life!"
June 26, 2015 at 5:22 pm
Best one I heard about:
Guy nailed his shoes to his boss' office door and left a note for him to try to fill these 😀 Pretty funny
June 26, 2015 at 5:46 pm
David.Poole (6/26/2015)
I know someone who was disappointed to get a Survey Monkey exit interview. The gist of the survey was as to whether the company was good, outstanding or exceptional as a place to work.
That's the primary reason why I don't participate in surveys.
--Jeff Moden
June 26, 2015 at 5:47 pm
Steve Smith-307669 (6/26/2015)
"Have a nice life!"
For some reason, to me, that's dripping with sarcasm. I'd never say such a thing on an exit.
--Jeff Moden
June 26, 2015 at 5:48 pm
GilaMonster (6/26/2015)
This industry is way too small and way too polarised to intentionally make more enemies.
Best comment on this whole thread!
--Jeff Moden
June 26, 2015 at 6:54 pm
Not prone to post videos but Jimmy Fallon of the Tonight Show did a hashtag bit on "How I quit" it contains some pretty funny ones.
Shawn Melton
Twitter: @wsmelton
Blog: wsmelton.github.com
Github: wsmelton
June 28, 2015 at 8:33 pm
Those Fallon ones are pure gold.
June 29, 2015 at 7:21 am
Jeff Moden (6/26/2015)
David.Poole (6/26/2015)
I know someone who was disappointed to get a Survey Monkey exit interview. The gist of the survey was as to whether the company was good, outstanding or exceptional as a place to work.That's the primary reason why I don't participate in surveys.
Where I work, once a year we're asked to evaluate on a scale of 1 to 5 the performance of the organization, our supervisor, and ourselves.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
June 29, 2015 at 7:39 am
GilaMonster (6/26/2015)
The 'exit' statement that I made when I left the bank (after 4 years of working there and ~2 weeks of being intermittently belittled and insulted by some of the people I didn't work with), as to go around to everyone on the IT floor (DBA, dev, manager) that I knew, say goodbye in person and then go to the sysadmin and ask them to disable my AD account right there and then before wishing the sysadmin team all the best.This industry is way too small and way too polarised to intentionally make more enemies.
If I had to guess, the insulting comments probably came from coworkers outside the IT department (accounting, marketing, customer support). My experience in IT has been that we generally put our feelings aside and get along, even if we don't all agree. It's not the one who argues loudest, but rather the one with the best argument who builds consensus and wins the debate, because we're engineers after all. Where I work, it's OK to have typical IT geek quirks, but folks who have a counter productive personality quirks that interfere with getting work done simply don't last long (management included). It's all about getting the job done right and on time. I'll say that to our credit.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
June 29, 2015 at 10:36 am
Nope, no last email. I can say my good byes in two weeks.
July 2, 2015 at 5:00 pm
The really sensible comments here are those from Gail and Jeff (that's pretty much as usual).
I've usually limited myself to things like emailing my personal email address to friends (friends who were colleagues and had only my company email address), wishing individuals well, and other purely social (as opposed to professional) things.
Once I did it a little differently. In 1975 when I decided to leave ICL (I'd had 45 great months with them, but the next three months had been utterly depressing) I talked to the divisional director (VP in USA-speak) in a local bar, and said "I don't like the ivory tower you've transferred me into, and I don't think I can cope with the guy who runs it, so I've started looking for a new job - are you willing to provide reference if needed?"; the result was that I stayed with the company for another 21 years
.
I found over the years that I quite often ended up using a company I used to work for as a supplier of something or as a customer for something, or being recruited by people who worked with me (or worked for me, or that I worked for) at former employers, or recruiting them. So it would probably be a bad idea to send some goodbye that would lose potential friends.
Tom
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