Computer Jobs -- How to Resign Professionally?

MikeDawg asks: "I submitted a letter of resignation yesterday, and today I'm at home posting stories to my weblog and Slashdot. I gave my employer two weeks notice, and almost immediately, I had my accounts disabled, and my permissions revoked on all the computers at my work, which makes me unable to do anything in my position of being a 'Systems Analyst/Systems Administrator'. I spoke with the HR rep, and gave her my notice yesterday, then I spoke with her today about what had happened to my access, and they honored my resignation... 2 weeks early. (Luckily, I'm compensated in pay for the next two weeks). What I want to know is, how do you computer and IT professionals out there put in your notice of resignation (if you are with a permanent employer, and not contractual), and not get immediately shutdown, and shunned away from the computers? The CIO immediately thought I was going to do something terrible to the system, and destroy accounts, and any other activity that I have access to, but I was giving him notice that I was leaving. What is the professional thing to do?"

Comments

What did you expect?

[Sylvestre]

You're a liability. You got paid. Be happy.

Re:What did you expect?

[Anonymous Coward]

You got paid two weeks without responsibilty to do anything else - take the money and move on, that's being professional...

Re:What did you expect?

[neostorm]

I think he expected to be treated like a trustworthy, normal human being. No one likes being treated like a criminal; people are not liabilities.

The real liabilities are our mistreatment of employees, and how the reaction to lack of respect and trust takes form from them. The majority of the time that an employee does something bad to his or her workplace, it's an act of revenge or bitterness because they wronged and feel disrespected. Contrary to popular belief people do not cause mayhem and mischeif to others for no reason.

What we really need to look at is the behavior of companies towards the people they employ, and the people they consider customers.

Re:What did you expect?

[Achromatic1978]

So someone asks for advice on professionalism and you give this?

99% of employers? They'll have security escort you from the building. The severance is in lieu of notice, as in 'your employment is /severed/ at that point', and you have zero right to be there, and are actually trespassing.

Re:What did you expect?

[ajs]

I've never worked for anyone who thought like that. In fact, I'm pretty sure I WOULDN'T work for someone who seemed to think like that. It's just unprofessional. When I resign, I give 3-4 weeks notice, and I expect the company to make the most of my time. I usually have an equity stake in the company, and I want them to succeed just as much as they do. If your company is treating you this way it is for one of two reasons: 1) they don't trust you or 2) they feel compelled to behave in a detrimental manner because a manager with either too much or too little authority thinks it's their job.

Now FIRING SOMEONE... that's different. In that case, I compartmentalize them starting the day before, backing up anything that they can touch. I then shut off their machine after they leave, remove or lock accounts and remove their remote access if they had it.

This is all as much for their benefit as mine. If they had no means of access after they found out, no one can accuse them of anything.

I also ALWAYS offer to forward people's mail, though that's gotten harder in the last few years. Companies now feel that there's too much of a chance of mail being sent to their old account with proprietary information in it. Oh well.

Re:What did you expect?

[halowolf]

I am a contractor now, having shunned full time work myself. Why? because it is my experience that companies are in it for themselves regardless of the impact the have for their employees. The parent is right, take the money and move on.

I suppose its rather sad having such a low opinion of corporations, but I have seen them screw enough people to not be bothered by the mercenary attitude that I have now towards work. I contract so I get paid the hours that I work and to stop work intruding on the rest of my life.

Re:What did you expect?

[Oculus Habent]

As nice as it is to think that you could work out a notice, it is appropriate for companies to simply shake hands with you and pay you the two weeks you offered.

If the company has done its job, you don't need to be there. If you were to get hit by a bus, would the company survive? Probably? Then they'll get by without you. If they realize they need you desperately, you can consult.

Also, you are a liability. Even if you display no ill will toward the company, they can't be sure it's not an act.

To be professional, you accept the two weeks severance pay, and inform them you are available for consultation, should it be necessary. That's about all you can expect.

As far as the account lockout goes, I was put in a similar situation during a mass layoff when a company changed hands. They laid me off and asked me to train someone to do my job in basically the same breath. They had to clear it with my (by then former) boss, two sysadmins, and the CTO before I could have my accounts unlocked with someone watching over my shoulder. Had I been malicious, I could have done quite a bit of damage.

Re:What did you expect?

[JanneM]

A mature, thoughtful organization would realize a couple of things. First, he is sitting with a whole lot of implicit knowledge about the current assignments. Having him spend the last two weeks document it all and bringing other people up to speed on it is a pretty good idea.

Second, he is leaving. There is a reason for it. Is it the salary? Personal conflicts? The hours? Too little challenge, or too heavy a workload? Is there a problem with the social climate at the IT department? A good organization will want to know, and conduct exit interviews to see if there are points they should improve. Perhaps even catch a disaster in the making before it explodes in their faces.

Third, he is now an ex-employee. He will go out in the world and socialize with his peers at other companies - some of whom his previous employer may well want to hire at some point in the future. If his final impresion of the company is that of a bunch of posterior orifices, that's what he'll be telling people when they ask him about his opinion on applying for a position there. If, on the other hand, they do a good job of taking care of him up until the moment his contract ends, showing interest as above and so on, the impression will be vastly better, and they'll effectively be sending out a PR representative that will be giving a much better impression about the company for years to come.

So yes, there are very good reasons not to just cancel his passcard and give him thirty minutes to pack his personal belongings before having him escorted out by a rent-a-cop.

Re:What did you expect?

[nightcrawler77]

Then what's the point? If everyone at the company knows this is SOP, what does a company gain from immediately terminating someone upon recieving their resignation? It's not like they're terminating you at the moment you learned you were leaving.

Seems like a silly "security" measure to me.

Re:What did you expect?

[tomhudson]

After a certain period, severance pay is worth more than you'll get for your 2-week notice.

If you can get 2 months, why not? If they're treating you stupidly (locking you out of systems, etc., when you clearly could have done any nasty shit well in advance) rather than professionally, return the "favour". They have it coming.

The way they handled it might be SOP, but it doesn't mean its right or ethical. Nobody should be treated like a crook or a pariah. If they want to do that, let them PAY EXTRA for the privilege. Or should peoples dignity be made available at a deep discount Wally-word price, or in this case thrown in free because they have to pay the 2 weeks anyway?

If you're smart, you already have backups. You need them to protect yourself so nobody can make you take the blame for something that "happened" after you left. Same with your email. Same with personal effects. Remove everything the day before you hand in your resignation. You're an idiot if you don't.

Act professionally until they act stupid. Then let the games begin, because you're leaving anyways. And if they don't act stupid, they get 2 more weeks of loyal, professional, courteous service, and the possibility of calling you up if they ever need anything. If they don't - well, they get what they deserve, and know better than to even think of calling you later. You don't need the ag.

Re:What did you expect?

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

I'll tell you the point.

No supervisor, no HR flack and no VP ever got fired for running off an employee that gave notice. OTOH, there's a fair possibility that they could be fired if the employee did something grievious after giving notice.

Re:What did you expect?

[AndyKron]

I've personally never seen anyone being escorted to the door unless it was something they were being fired for. People have always been allowed to finished their two weeks. Hell, we usually need more than those two weeks to pick their brains dry of all their tribal knowledge! I'd hate to have a key person leave the company, leaving us to figure out their job without their input. Ex employees are also usually available for consultation after they leave, too. At least this has been my personal experience, and what I've seen for others that I've worked with.

-AC

Re:What did you expect?

[elakazal]

You are a liability, but you were before, too. It's not like you woke up one morning and found note taped to your forehead notifying you that you have a new job starting in two weeks. If you were going to do something vile with your privileges, and you were remotely intelligent, you'd have already done it before you provided notice. This is shooting themselves in the foot.

Certainly the company can survive without you, but transitions for many positions can be long and costly, and its silly for an employer not to keep somebody around to help prepare for it.

They're certainly within their rights, of course, so take your money and enjoy your time off.

Re:What did you expect?

[kogus]

How resignations are handled are really an indicator of the hiring process, not the termination process. If a company goes out of it's way to hire people who are trustworthy, and treats them with respect while they are employees, then it isn't necessary to lock users out. On the other hand, if the hiring process is slack or employees are treated poorly, then these procedures are an absolute necessity.

Re:What did you expect?

[IAmTheDave]

If a company treated me that way, it would be worth flipping them the bird... along with three customers and a couple of line cooks who happened to get in the way....

I couldn't disagree more. Speaking of professionalism, doing what the CIO did was probably just as professional as your resignation. There may be policies in place that dictate his actions, or more probably, your resignation ended your employ, and they took action to protect their assets.

As others have posted, you get paid for two weeks, so they show professionalism again by not trying to rob you of the pay for the two weeks notice you have given. However, expecting that you'll have carte blanche access to the systems during your two last weeks is a bit silly. Most people spend that time backing up code to personal computers or otherwise stealing IP belonging to the employer.

Re:What did you expect?

[Wavicle]

Your friend was lucky. He was working at a company that was brain dead.

The company should have just escorted him from the building and told him never to come back. Even if it was an office building and he was hanging out in the corridors, unless he has legitimate business there, the company is within its right to have him escorted out if he is disrupting productivity in any way.

Tip to the wise: don't try this at your work. They'll kick your ass out *and* give you a bad reference.

Re:What did you expect?

[shri]

Well, it is all about HOW you give your notice. People who are important to the company should talk to their managers or the senior most person they have access to and explain to them they are leaving and these are the outstanding projects on hand. Explain that you'd like to hand over to the next person and make sure there is some continuity.

You'd be surprised how well such a "pre-resignation" would be handled. It also will give you a good chance to figure out how really important you are to the company.

The problem is a lot of people think they are important... when they really are not.

Re:What did you expect?

[Anonymous Luddite]

I think parent post is bang on.

If the management has _any_ brains, they realize you would have/could have committed nefarious acts _before_ giving notice. The termination of system access is absolutely _not_ personal. It will be mandated by policy in many places and in fact protects the person who gave notice. If you gave notice and something "bad" happened immediately afterwards, server crash, corrupt database _whatever, suspicion would naturally fall on, you the terminated employee, unless you had no access to the systems.

As someone else has said, just take the pay and smile for 2 weeks. Where I work, you wouldn't have got past security the next day... again, nothing personal, just policy.

Re:What did you expect?

[Shakrai]

IT professionals have a lot of responsibility and a lot of power, and can seriously f-up a company with a few clicks.

You could make the same argument for senior management but somehow when they f-up the company they get a nice severance package from the board. I guess a few mil is a nice reward for running a company into the ground.

Hell, let's not even go there. Let's talk about grunt workers. In a lot of companies the janitors/maintenance are almost as powerful (if not more so?) as the IT staff. They have keys to everything, including (in all of the places I've ever worked) the server room. Sure, they can't screw the company over with a "few clicks", but an uber magnet and/or sledgehammer would probably have the same result.

I for one am tired of being treated like a criminal by paranoid employers. Like if he was going to screw them over he would have given two weeks notice and then screwed them over. And don't give me the "it's just business" argument. If it was just business he would have left without giving them any notice. Hell, if you are salaried just walk out the door at about noon. Odds are they'll have to pay you for the rest of the day. That's business.

Re:What did you expect?

[1u3hr]

during your two last weeks.... Most people spend that time backing up code to personal computers or otherwise stealing IP belonging to the employer.

Bad idea; they'll be watching you. "Backup" all your files well in advance of giving notice. I put in a lot of late nights cleaning up my desk, filing stuff away, sanitising my email, making copies of interesting documents, before I left my resignation on the desk and walked out the door. Even in a less-hostile workplace where you might work out your notice, don't do anything at all questionable after you've given notice.

Re:What did you expect?

[Large Green Mallard]

Many companies don't care about the feelings of their current employees, let alone their soon to be ex-employees. It's sad but true. Companies exist to make and retain money for their shareholders, at the expense of all else.

Re:What did you expect?

[WNight]

Good logic, but you miss the point. An employee is no more likely to hurt you after giving you their resignation than before. They likely knew much sooner, so they've had all the time they needed to do anything. You're making up a risk, claiming it *could* cost USD 3.2 ho-jillions per second, and that having the employee killed is obviously a smart move, fiscally speaking.

If that employee was George from Seinfeld, controlled the world markets, and had just had a fight with his boss it might even be true. But really that person is moving, or found a better job, or has some totally non-hateful reason for leaving and planned to use the two weeks to wrap up their work, whose worst crime will be extra networking time with co-workers. Or, if they are malicious, they've likely got an IQ over 7 and they'll have already done whatever they were going to do.

In the end, you create a lot of ill-will within the professions that staff your company. That cog you fired can be replace with a call to HR, but that cog's co-workers and friends now don't see you as a good workplace. There appears to be a flood of tech workers, but some companies just can't seem to find anyone good... The real risk is that an overstuffed security nazi with a fetish for bureaucracy is destroying the assets of good-will, loyalty, industry reputation, and chasing away the R&D core of the business, those who should have the most invested in the company's future.

I've always given notice on a Friday, conforming for no real reason to the M-F business week, and I've cleaned up a bit. Nobody has been weird and canned me immediately, so no harm either way. But, listening to people like you has made me realize that the best time to give notice is monday at 11am, right after the weekend testers report and the project steering meetings, when I've got what feels like half of the shared files in the project open and checked out, and sixteen things and waiting on my simple yes-no. I figure, that way if you're nice, I keep working and wrap up everything happily, perhaps even trying to delay my new job to finish a project. But, if you aren't nice, I'm spared all the actual hassle of my week at work, still got the coffee and donuts, payed for the whole day, and I get to imagine you justifying the huge expense of everyone twiddling their thumbs because they're waiting on my bugfixes that I hadn't reassigned to anyone else, etc...

You see, these security nazis... their silly policies interfere with things they couldn't begin to contemplate, their interference can cause tons of PR problems, etc. Incalculable losses. Better to just fire them immediately. No thinking VP or HR manager ever keeps one of these loose cannons on staff. The potential liability is enormous.

Re:What did you expect?

[arivanov]

This is essentially the American attitude HR (though it is gaining foothold elsewhere). It is the assumption that you are a retard and going to put in peril the rest of your career doing something utterly silly during the 2 weeks notice you have left. It is best described as utterly stupid. After all if you wanted to do something you could have done it before handing your resignation. Further to that are you sure that they have revoked your access from "really" everywhere? I had similar experience while working for an American corp. When I resigned the IT security revoked my user access from everywhere. What they forgot to revoke (and in fact could not revoke) was my root access from two thirds of the European systems. He had to be very unkindly reminded by my boss that A) He did not do his job correctly and gave him a list of systems where he did not revoke my access. After that he formally requested risk assessment and the estimate for potential damage to the systems where they did not correctly disable my access. B) If I actually wanted to make a dogs breakfast of my career I could have done it 100 times. As a result I had my access reinstated for the remainder of my notice period. And the idiots lost their bonus. Essentially it is not you who is unprofessional. It is the majority of American HR which have no idea about the level of damage an average SysAdmin can make and treat them the same as Aales. What HR does not know is that there is a long history of the industry dealing with the few that do damage. Everyone knows the cases like the Dixon's payroll triggers so noone will actually do it nowdays. Sales is a different story - they are expected by their new employer to have stolen the customer database and bring all of their contacts and accounts with them.

Re:What did you expect?

[WNight]

We get that. But if you look beyond the instant you can see that rude and distrusting behaviour to an employee not only turns them off, but all of your current employees.

You've got self-interest, but the smart money is on enlightened self interest - you know, looking at the big picture. Do you cook or feed a golden goose?

Re:What did you expect?

[mwvdlee]

Why do you think a security officer (the one who makes these decissions) would personally know every single employee in a large company well enough to make a decission based on how much you can be trusted?

Although it isn't a nice way te end a working relationship this way, certain positions (such as most in IT) require secrecy and the risk of one employee "flipping the bird" at his soon-to-be-ex-employer is often too large.

I don't think situations such as this should be taken personally unless you're the only employee who would get this treatment in a similar situation.

Re:What did you expect?

[16K Ram Pack]

I agree about the risk POV. Someone who's worked for you loyally for a few years is going to all of a sudden wreck your systems on their way out?

Everywhere I've worked (nearly 20 years), people work their notice, and no-one ever decided to throw a spanner in the works. Ever. Even if hacked off, they just want out. They might want a job somewhere and a referral from a co-worker. If someone maliciously damaged a system on their way out, I wouldn't want to work with them again.

All that said, most people I've spoken to are just glad to get marched out the door. In most cases, they phoned their next employer and asked if they could start Monday, resulting in a nice bonus of an additional month of salary.

Re:What did you expect?

[SanityInAnarchy]

I don't know about you, but in a sysad job, I usually hack together quite a few custom scripts, and I like to take them with me. Neither me nor my employer considers it "their" property if I, for instance, roll my own punchin/punchout system that emails my hours to the boss. Not that I'd be heartbroken to lose it, but it would be a PITA.

And yeah, I should be backing that up, but I generally let my bosses know what I'm up to. Try to make friends, have mutual respect.

OTOH, what have they got to lose, at that point? If I wanted to cause problems for the company, I'd do that before giving them my notice, or any sign that I'm looking for work elsewhere. If I didn't want to cause such problems, the last couple weeks would be better spent documenting my work or training my replacement than sitting on my ass -- not to mention that the new admin could call me up if he had problems.

Re:What did you expect?

[SanityInAnarchy]

If you concede the parent post's point, thought...

It's not like they're terminating you at the moment you learned you were leaving. ...Your point makes no sense. Alright, I concede that the higher-ups might have a hard time understanding this, but if the employee did something grievious after giving notice, why fire the HR flack or VP who didn't fire them? After all, a malicious person is just as likely to do something bad after giving notice as before, so you're effectively firing the HR/VP for not being psychic enough to know whether the employee would do something bad, ever.

To summarize, it's a pointless "security" measure, and the only reason it's implemented is office politics among those who can't tell how pointless it is.

Re:What did you expect?

[RawGutts]

You kidding me, H.R are the biggest idiots they are the same people who are looking for certain "Keywords" on the resume and could not care less about hiring a "good" IT person. H.R. folks are clueless wonders of the world.

Re:What did you expect?

[keraneuology]

When I was laid off from one major company (outsourced to provide support at another major company) the boss-type person was amazed that I actually stuck it through until the last day, continuing to work as if nothing had happened. It was unfathomable to the powers that be that they could announce a layoff and have the person continue to show up day after day: the very thought that somebody would treat them better than they treated him made their little heads explode.

Re:What did you expect?

[r0ckflite]

Are you like 15 years old or something? They were polite. They probably had a policy. They politely paid him and let him go. There is nothing unethical about that. He wasn't treated like a criminal, people weren't looking over his shoulder. Are you injecting personal experiences into his story? I would love to be walked out when I gave two weeks notice. The only thing I'd want would be a few hours to say goodbye to some friends at the company.

Re:What did you expect?

[Syberghost]

I know of a contractor once who looked up from his desk and saw his boss from the contracting company going into the office of his boss at the client. Ordinarily this guy would have stopped by to say hello first, but he didn't. The contractor assumed, correctly it turns out, that he was going to be fired. He immediately started erasing entire systems.

Now, that company handles things very differently. If you're going to be fired, somebody will come get you and escort you to a conference room. There will be a security guard with them. While you're in that conference room, somebody will be locking your accounts. If you're a contractor, they won't call your boss to come in; they'll talk to him over the phone.

Fortunately everything was backed up. But think what would have happened had this dork gotten two weeks of notice? He could very well have started by corrupting all the backups, and set up his erasing to be automatic and take out EVERYTHING.

Now imagine you're the IT policy maker who allowed that to happen, and the shareholders are looking for who to sue.

Re:What did you expect?

[poot_rootbeer]

I am a contractor now, having shunned full time work myself. Why? because it is my experience that companies are in it for themselves regardless of the impact the have for their employees.

That's funny, because as an IT decisionmaker at a company, I have shunned contractors. Why? because it is my experience that contractors are in it for themselves regardless of the impact the have for the company that's giving them money.

Re:What did you expect?

[ScrewMaster]

The last full-time position from which I resigned was some twenty years ago. The day before I resigned I removed the few personal items from my office (I mean, why wait until after you're escorted out to try and retrieve your personal property? If you're going to quit, prepare for it.) Coincidentally, the next morning I was called come into the owners' office (both of them) and was asked if I really wanted to work for them. I said, "no", and after they got over the shock (it took them several seconds to recover) of one of their programmers say he'd rather be elsewhere, they hauled out the big company checkbook and wrote me my final paycheck and severance pay, according to my contract. I was then asked to clean out my office: more shock when I told them I already had, so I just left the building and that was that.

Truth is, more than most other kinds of employees, software engineering and IT personnel are dangerous to have around if their loyalties are no longer squarely aligned with the organization's own. Could a janitor cause a corporation-wide dislocation in network operations? Could a mid-level manager insert a time-bomb into source for the company's latest product? Certain classes of employee, if so motivated, can produce negative impact that extends well beyond their immediate workgroups.

I agree with another poster, it's generally worse when a worker is fired than when he leaves of his own accord: but sometimes that leaving is motivated by issues that might cause him or her to do something stupid on the way out. The best thing a company can do is accept that the employee is no longer theirs, lock them out of any resources to which they had access, and escort them out of the building. In most cases that I know of, they are allowed to return to their office under supervision to retrieve their belongings. That is the most "professional" way to handle it. At that point, all that matters is whether the company honors its remaining obligations to that worker (severance pay, continuity of benefits, etc.)

Re:What did you expect?

[iamacat]

IT professionals have a lot of responsibility and a lot of power, and can seriously f-up a company with a few clicks. Any sane employer doesn't want that to happen.

Critical thinking 101: If an IT person wanted to mess up the system, he/she would put the means to do so in place before giving the resignation notice. Any sane employer rewards considerate behavior that goes beyond job description. They may well want this guy to come and fix some small problem later.

What's the question again?

[XorNand]

Umm... what's the question again? You did resign in a professional manner. Is this the first real IT job that you've had? What you experienced is standard operating procedure for any organization with even a half-assed security policy. They aren't your computers. Why are you taking it so personally, esp. since they've paid you for those two extra weeks? ::rolls eyes::

What I'd like to know is what didn't make the front page because this got posted instead?

Re:What's the question again?

[lewp]

Is this the first real IT job that you've had?

Stating the obvious, but... DING DING DING!

This happens everywhere, and is normal in IT. It's two extra weeks of paid vacation from somewhere you obviously didn't want to work anyway. What's the fucking problem?

Re:What's the question again?

[ThJ]

I think the thing is that he actually wanted to say on for the last two weeks. He gave two weeks -notice-. He didn't say "I'll just leave now and you can stop paying me in 2 weeks" he said "I'm working now but I'll leave in two weeks". They cut him off immediately, almost as if they didn't quite understand his notice or something...

Re:What's the question again?

[syousef]

What you experienced is standard operating procedure for any organization with even a half-assed security policy.

Any organisation that's going to be afraid of what their IT professional is going to do once they've decided to leave, and who is still under an employment contract has real problems. If you can't trust the people you employ when they're obligated to you, why can you trust them to stay when they haven't handed in their resignation?

Perhaps the culture is a little different in Australia, but I've never been locked out of a computer system just because I resigned. They've gotten every day's work out of me that they could - it was expected that I remain professional.

Honestly if someone's going to do damage to a company they'd just do it before they send their letter of resignation. If you can't trust your staff under the usual safeguards once they say they're leaving, you don't have a decent security policy to speak of anyway.

Access should be terminated on the last day of employment.

Re:What's the question again?

[RodgerDodger]

You are a risk, you wanted to terminate the employment relationship, and your employer wanted to terminate the risk you pose.

Excuse me, but... where's the risk? Anything the OP wanted to do to "trash the system" could have been done before he handed his notice in. How does immediately cutting him off (and probably pissing him off in the process) decrease the risk?

it's not a professional or civilized world

[yagu]

Up front Disclaimer: I am a disgruntled former employee of a Telco... laid off after 21 years

You, kind sir, proffered as professional a resignation as necessary. There are no reciprocal gaurantees, and in the IT field it is more typical than not for you to be treated nearly as if you were a criminal.

Systems you once managed for your employers now are at risk. Former peers are now potential spies. Do not be surprised to be treated like you have some sort of exotic, deadly, contagious disease. Don't expect anything for references other than affirmation you actually did work there.

This is the fine world of trust we have achieved as a civilised and evolved society. Trust not.

I will still always give professional courtesy (e.g., sufficient lead time for resignation) but I've left the corporate world with a sour aftertaste.... It sucks, that's just the way it is.

Re:it's not a professional or civilized world

[bobscealy]

Just because you have user accounts cancelled and the like it doesnt mean that the company you work for is being hateful or unprofessional in any way, they are just protecting thier interests. In fact, it is probably a good thing even for you that you have access revoked where you could cause damage - how many times does someone tender a resignation and when something goes wrong 3 days before they leave it is automatically thier fault. It seems like in this guys case the employer has actually been quite nice to them, even if it seems a little abrupt.

Re:it's not a professional or civilized world

[Lord_Dweomer]

"your pet projects documented so the next guy can live with them for the 30 days he takes to rip them out and put his ideas in place instead"

You know.....speaking of projects in progress and documentation...If they're going to cut you off from systems as soon as you give your letter, you might as well leave it undocumented. Particularly if you don't like the company and want to get back at them.

You see, they might need critical documentation from you...and if you're no longer an employee there, well...I'm sure you'd be more than happy to provide said documentation as a consultant with your hourly fee of 4x what they were paying you.

Re:it's not a professional or civilized world

[grammar nazi]

Good call Lumpy. I consider what you stated to be 'standard operating procedure'. You don't want to burn bridges... even if you know your projects will not be continued and you hate the firm. I left a firm that, after i left, blamed me for everything. My ex-coworker told me a quote that the evil much-hated director said about me... "His performance was bad, but at least he wrapped up his work here nicely when he quit." I spent my last 2 weeks documenting and wrapping up my projects. I didn't work long hours during those two weeks (everybody worked long hours at that firm) but i worked hard and non-stop during the day to make sure everything was ready to be handed off.

It's not a matter of vengeance or 'getting back' at an evil boss or faceless firm. It's more of a matter of being professional and always doing the right thing. In my case i hated the boss and the director of my dept. I felt that if i finalize my projects, then i would no better than them. I knew i was much better than them and acted that way.

Sounds like you did the right thing

[hedronist]

Based on how you described it, you probably did nothing wrong, and they probably did the right thing.

Companies are rightfully paranoid that a departing employee -- particulalrly one with root access -- may decide to do something nasty on the way out the door. This doesn't mean that *you* would do this, just that they can't take a chance. Of course, if you had intended to do something nasty, you could easily have set it up before tendering your resignation. The best thing to do is act like a professional and understand that what is in your best interest and in the company's best interest are no longer related.

I'll assume they're paying you...

[NevDull]

If you got an extra two weeks of vacation, enjoy it.

When I quit HP, they paid me to stay at home for two weeks, and my unused vacation. 6 weeks of pay for 2 weeks at home. Time to recover and prepare for my new job, buy new clothes, and figure out the bus schedule.

The professional way to handle it is to stop whining and enjoy.

And that's why I'm a consultant

[Wabbit Wabbit]

how do you computer and IT professionals out there put in your notice of resignation (if you are with a permanent employer, and not contractual), and not get immediately shutdown, and shunned away from the computers?

That's why I've been a consultant for, oh, just about the past 12 years (more or less). Even then, I've tried to be good and give 2-4 weeks notice when I saw things going south, but management never seems to appreciate it, even when you offer to document your work, make yourself available for a brief period after you leave, etc...

Fact is, the moment you resign, you're a pariah. But if you do all the "right things" you can at least leave with a good conscience, and not have anything come back to haunt you.

Random Thoughts...

[PocketPick]

From what it sounds like, you did everything right. Two weeks is an excellent time period to offer notice. You aren't dropping out of the company like a light, but you also aren't creating an awkward, 'lame-duck' position where the company has to keep the thought in the back of thier head that you're leaving in say, 6 months.

Also, unless you're leaving for competition, the CIO probably didn't think you were going to 'do something malicious'. It's probably just company protocol, and in fact, I would consider the quick removal of accounts to be 'lite'. I've worked at companies where as the minute strikes your time of non-employment, 2 security guards immedietally escort you out of the building.

Re:Random Thoughts...

[Anonymous Coward]

A friend of mine (an IT consultant) gave his employer almost 2 months notice. Worthy to mention, he was on a newly acquired H1-B visa, but he decided he wanted to go back to his country of origin to work there. Not only he wasn't escorted out by security staff, but his boss gave him advice on how to negotiate with his new company. All in turn for a good feedback on the exit sheet. I'm not kidding at all.

On the other hand, I was laid off a bit over one year ago. I was told about it on a Friday (I'm guessing it always happens on a Friday...) at 4pm. By 4:10pm my account was no longer operational. Like my first idea would've been "Let's steal these guys' buggy code and sell it to their rivals!". Duh. It does leave a bitter taste in your mouth. I shaked everybody's hands and I only said "F___ you all!" for myself on the way out.

From a security standpoint, your boss has it all covered. From a human relantionship point of view, he was asinine, or has followed an asinine company policy. I'd be surprised to hear this would happen in a lot of places. But in any case, you know you would've been honest, so why do you care if they treat you badly? You wanted to leave anyways, you just lost the (traces of) respect you had for them. Their loss.

This may come out as a cliche, but it's always for the best. My current boss likes me, I got a KC bonus, they're applying for my green card and I'll probably be promoted soon. Given that you resigned, you probably have good plans laid out already. your Enjoy your paycheck and the unexpected vacation.

--B

Re:Random Thoughts...

[dbIII]

It's probably just company protocol

In other words the sign of a HR section that is both out of touch and has too much power. There are very few technical jobs where you can treat people like lego blocks - there is almost always a serious advantage that can be gained by a changeover period where the new person gets to know the site specific details instead of spending days trying to work out - even with very good docs it can take a long time to find the right ones. I've started off in the situation where there was a room of over a dozen NT4 servers and the function of only one was known by the remaining staff - sometimes you don't have time to go through the docs before you have to solve problems (and in that case it was a few days before the docs were even found). Two hours with a former employee may well have saved a couple of hundred hours.

It's very common to get "paid out"

[winkydink]

In lieu of keeping you there during your resignation period. Why risk liability over a couple of weeks of sysadmin pay?

my 2 pesos on the situation.....

[schematix]

IMHO both parties in this case did exactly what they were supposed to do. You gave them the courtesty of a 2 week notice and they accepted that and decided it was time to move on. In work environments today that rely heavily on computers and networking, it is not worth it to them that you might be leaving because of a grudge you may have. They have no way of knowing if you are leaving on amicable terms or not. If you have a bridge to burn with them you could easily cost them thousands of dollars (and likely much, much more) in damages due to lost data and productivity.

If it were me I would approach my boss and let them know that if they won't give access, there is no need to be around, but you'll be happy to answer any questions that they might have. However tell them that you'd be more than happy to twiddle your thumbs (in a more polite way) for a couple weeks until you've given them their time. I'd guess that they'd be willing to let you go with pay. If not, Worst case you can try to improve your solitaire skills for a couple weeks and get paid to do it.

In any case, both sides have fulfilled their obligations to each other in a completely professional way.

Re:my 2 pesos on the situation.....

[schematix]

They could always talk to you.

And you could always lie to them.

I guess it depends on where you work.

[mpn14tech]

The places I have worked at and turned in a two week notice, it is usually a 2 week scramble to document everything I did and get some poor unqualified individual up to speed. On the last day I make sure that the new person in charge either disables all accounts I had access to or make sure that they changed the passwords.
You want to eliminate any possibility of doubt if something goes wrong after you leave.
So while their actions may be seem extreme, it really is for your protection as much as it is for theirs. I would not take it so personally.

Uh, you got a vaction...

[ellem]

This is EXACTLY how is should be handled. Do NOT let a leaving Sys Admin on you system. You did nothing wrong. They did nothing wrong. Enjoy your end of the year festivities.

Re:You're not the one with the problem

[Mindwarp]

You did everything professionally, it's the company that is acting immature.

The company isn't 'acting immature', they're acting to limit their security liability. This is Standard Operating Procedure in pretty much every large organization I've worked for, especially if you're high enough up the corporate ziggurat to be privy to confidential information or sensitive software/data.

Take the money, enjoy your two weeks paid vacation, and don't sweat it. It's not personal, it's business!

As said before, this is quite common

[dougmc]

As everybody has said, this is quite common, and there's not much you can do about it beyond picking jobs where they actually trust you (which usually happens in the smaller outfits.)

The next time you resign from an IT job, there are things you should do before you resign if you want them to be done --

-- take your personal computer hardware, books, papers, etc. home. Before you resign. If you wait to do it after, you may not even get the chance (as they show you the door), and you'll have to argue with them about it. And if you do get the chance, they may be watching you like a hawk and you'll have to justify it.

-- same goes for your personal files and stuff you want to save. Save it off the network and computers BEFORE you resign. Some companys are cool about this sort of thing, some aren't. Don't take the risk. This is also a good thing to do if you get wind of layoffs coming up that you might be involved in.

-- If there are any projects you want to see completed before you leave, complete them before you resign.

He's trying to deal with his feelings...

[everphilski]

He made a professional resignation, they said no thanks but paid him for two weeks anyways. This is standard business practice and was financially beneficial for him. (two weeks free pay?)

What he's probably dealing with is the feeling of rejection: if they could drop him on a days notice was he really needed? He'll just have to be honest with himself about that but he will just have to get over that himself. Again its a standard business practice in many places and not a reflection of his character.

-everphilski-

Due Diligence

[Kadin2048]

I think the reason this is done, even though it seems illogical on the surface, is because of the company's responsibility to act with "due diligence" in regards to security.

If you as an employee compromise the system or act as some sort of mole or corporate spy, after you're busted when the shareholders come down on your boss, he can say "Well, hey we had no way of knowing he was bent, we had no warning that this was about to happen. It could happen to anybody."

But let's say you put in your resignation, then backdoored their network on your way out because they didn't cut off your access until two weeks later. This time when the Powers That Be come looking for blood, your boss is SOL: he could try saying "well, we had no idea he was bent..." but the shareholders are just going to respond "He had just turned in his resignation! He was on his way out the door! Why did he still have access?" And your boss becomes the next one on the chopping block, and depending on the nature of the business possibly liable for fines as well.

So really your boss, and your boss' boss, and probably their boss' boss, all the way up the CoC, are just covering their asses by pulling your access as soon as they get a hint that you're not going to be a career employee.

Re:You did the right thing... it's their problem.

[ucblockhead]

Honestly, it could be worse. There are shitheads that would have cut off his access and demanded that he come in for two weeks anyway.

Re:Liability

[Maxo-Texas]

Unfortunately, they have insurance liability if they don't lock you out and something bad happens.

Because someone, somewhere gave notice and then got mad during the last 2 weeks and did something nasty.

Make your letter of resignation short

[kiwicmc]

One guy I worked with wrote a three page letter detailing the company and all senior management's flaws. Depending on how big the pond you live in is, this is not a good idea ...

C

Smile and leave, or....

[jdehnert]

The best way to deal with this is calmly and professionally. If they want you out right now just say thanks and go.

If they expect you to remain for those last 2 weeks with no access to the systems, break out a pad and pen and start writing down all of the things you know you have access too, and work with your co-workers to ensure you no longer have access to anything.

On top of that, spend some time to pass along info on those systems you are the only one that knows anything about.

Beyond that it's not bad to sit around and make it known your available to answer questions before your time is up.

Face it, the more professional you are, the better your former employer and co workers will feel about you later. That never hurts when looking for references.

Re:Lucky Bastard

[xenocide2]

Of course, the master's response to the effervescent personality of the nearly-parted is to respond, "Why, yes, it's GREAT that you'll be gone so soon! I only wish we could make it faster!"

That should at least deflate their sails a bit ;)

This is a GOOD thing

[draxbear]

It's a matter of perspective.

The employer is doing themselves, but more importantly YOU a favor with this behaviour.

Why? Well besides the nice paid two weeks off, you are now officially not responsible.

If they didn't do this you are vulnerable to accusations at a later date if something goes wrong with a server that is traced to a point in time you were on your two weeks to bail.

Yes it's possible you could have sabotaged something before giving notice, and tough luck if they catch you at it. However you can't be held responsible for anything from the point of resignation onwards if removed as he described.

Saved from a living hell!

[OldCrasher]

I have seen those 2 weeks you longed for turn into a living hell. You are a lame duck in those 2 weeks. No wants to speak to you, except to talk about the weather, or how some dimwit in purchasing just ordered a ton of toilet paper. No one gives you any constructive work to do, just 'write down everything you know about anything this company does, and that you had a hand in programming, over say, the last 99 years...' You were saved from someones timetabled exit startegy that would have had you doing 35 debriefings, none of which would have been attended, and seven planning for the future meetings, none of which you could care a hoot about.

That 2 week notice, and its subsequent conversion into personal TV time, saved you from a whole lot of really boring nothing. Now, go home, get in the car, switch off the GPS and head in which ever direction you see a hawk flying, and don't stop for anything other than gas for 500 miles.

Live a little; the new job is just as likely to suck the life out of you as the old one did.

I wish it were like that...

[Tangurena]

At the most recent company I worked for, I also gave 2 weeks notice, but was called on Sunday to "not bother coming in again." I was surprised that my boss also wanted a written explanation of why I was leaving. GOod for me as I got to move my start date at the new company up a week.

Resignation letters should never be more than:

1. I will be resigning my position at $COMPANY.
2. My last day of work will be $DATE
3. (optional) My current mailing address is $ADDRESS

No more need be stated. As a new person was starting the following Monday, it would have been smarter for me to stay those 2 weeks training the new guy. As it was, they get to do it themselves.

It is almost impossible to actually explain fully and honestly why you're leaving without sounding bitter or nasty. Gee, Mr BossMan, I'm getting a 50% pay raise, 75% shorter commute, working with new technology, doing interesting (very not-boring) stuff, and the new place uses source code control too!

At least most places are not as bad as banks: if they overhear you talking about leaving, that will be your last day at work.

Re:Australia isn't First World?

[bakes]

You forgot to mention that South Australia has one of the highest numbers in the world of serial killers per capita. I never really understood why that was so until I read your post.

That's exactly what they *should* do

[gujo-odori]

"Don't have a cow, man."

I've been in the sysadmin and security fields for a number of years. As many others have written, this is SOP in many shops and is exactly what they *should* do. Yes, it's also true that a really nefarious person would have already planted all of his/her backdoors, trojans, whatever, well before resigning, but not all nefarious people are that smart, and some people just get a bug up their ass at the last minute and do something foolish (it's not common, but neither is it non-existent). Plus, if you think they might be a bad actor, or you just have really stringent security policies, you can put the person on leave and immediately start a security audit of everything they touched or might have touched.

If I gave notice tomorrow,I would not only expect to be immediately placed on administrative leave, I would hope for it. Beats showing up for work those two weeks :) But since I'm a manager, I probably wouldn't get that lucky. If you were a sysadmin on my staff, I'd pull your access immediately and put you on leave, too. It wouldn't be personal, or any kind of reflection on your work. It's business, and it's good security policy.

As far as how to resign professionally, speaking as a person who was rank and file for a long time and who currently managages a security staff of eight people, a letter of resignation should contain just the facts, and the bare minimum at that. It should state that you are resigning, and the effective date. That's it. And it should be written in polite and professional language. It doesn't need to say why (that's none of anyone's business), and really shouldn't. If you just can't help yourself, "To pursue other opportunities" is the best thing to say.

Whether you have another job or not, or where, or why (really) you're quitting is not any of anyone's business. If people ask, you can tell them, or you can politely respond that you'd rather not say. Or tell a small lie and say you're going to pursue other opportunities, but aren't yet sure what shape they will take. Even if one of my staff resigned and told me that, and I later found out they had another job with our competition, I wouldn't be angry (OK, maybe I'm not your average boss, either); they don't owe me that truth. Why you're resigning and what you're going to do next is your business. All you owe your company apart from a letter of resignation as described above is a final two weeks of work up to your usual standard, if they do choose to have you work rather than put you on administrative leave.

Fuck 'em

[evil_one666]

This is their problem, not yours. You have been professional, they have not. Move on.

Only in America

[sita]

Seriously. Only in America does one assume that an employee who quits or is terminated would try to do sabotage if there has been no animosity before. Really, why would anyone sabotage stuff after they hand in their resignation? There was plenty of time before. People who routinely revoke employees privileges before the last day of employment should have their heads examined. They are a bit more paranoid than what is healthy. (Paranoia and believing in conspiracies seems to be a major culturar trait in the US, so it might be difficult to find a shrink to actually cure you, but still.)

Debends on the Job and the Situation

[Tangential]

I run a small = 100 person consulting firm and for the most part, when people resign, we let all positions (including systems) work out their notice, with 1 exception. We rarely let sales people remain around because once they've resigned, their interests and efforts are generally oriented towards their new job and not towards laying the foundations for sales they'll never finish. I almost always let them go immediately, with a couple of exceptions. Retirement is one and spousal transfer is another. In those cases, it is a transition planned over several months and generally involves a smooth and gradual handoff of accounts.

When my Systems guys resign, we generally involve them in the interviewing of successors process and we have them help up phase them out of our systems.

When consultants resign and they don't currently have accounts that they are managing, we take them up on the offer to leave anytime in the 2 weeks and let them leave for their new job immediately. They generally give 'up to 2 weeks notice.'

Once piece of advice to anyone resigning. Unless you detest the organization and would never return, don't burn any bridges. Remain helpful and cordial or you will have insured that you never return.

Are your feelings hurt?

[gelfling]

Otherwise I can't imagine why you would care. And let me sharpen that point by stating that for the vast majority of you out there, the old saw to not burn your bridges is in fact nonsense. The likelihood of you returning to an ex employer except in the circumstances of immediately returning as a contractor, are near zero. You want to leave and they don't want you back.

So, get over the hurt feelings stage, take your 2 week sabbatical to lay whatever prep work with your new employer you can. In fact, I make it rule to never state whether I'm actually taking a new job or not. That's not your old employer's information to chew on. If they ask, politely be vague about 'a few options cooking right now'. This helps avoid the discussion of non competes, etc. Basically it's not their business.

Next, if you're locked out then you are also free to refuse to help them in any other way as well. If some soon to be ex coworker comes to you with a question related to your former duties you should answer them in only the most general terms or not at all. Otherwise you're warranting a system you have no control over and may have already been changed in some way. I would also send a note to HR stating that since you have been locked out you cannot be held responsible for the condition, failure, state of any device from that date forward, for any reason. If you have to do it in a hardcopy letter because you're locked out, all the better.

Also remember to tell them to change your voicemail password on a given date.

Google DoD STD 5220.22-M and get a piece of freeware that can wipe your disks per that standard. Tell your soon to be ex employer you are doing that unless of course there are published rules that forbid you from wiping your disk.

Throw the card keys, swipe cards and cable locks over your shoulder, wave buh bye to the square badge and leave.

Here's why

[Del Vach]

I used to work at an executive outplacement firm where we'd basically help people who got laid off, usually en masse (a service their former employer paid for). My job was mainly resume and cover letter-centric, but our consultants actually went to the locations and helped with the big, 'So long and thanks for all the fish" meetings.

Most people are just depressed and angry, but some people will try to get revenge. One of our consultants was meeting with an exec, told him he was being laid off, and he basically ran out of the room and started making lots of phone calls to cancel a big event he had coordinated for his company. So while it's not fair to most people and I do think it's generally like pouring salt in a fresh wound, some people will strike back as hard as they can, and those edge cases are the reason the 'good' ones get the same shaft.

Re:2 good reasons for sending a leaver home on pay

[MaxRahder]

1) Morale of other staff - There is nothing worse than hearing somebody tell you that grass is greener where they're going.

I think there's nothing worse for the other staff than seeing how shabby a company treats someone who has worked hard helping the company meet its goals. I've been at three companies where someone on my team was disappeared by HR. In all cases the person leaving wanted to do the right thing to minimize the effect of their departure. It was a depressing blow to the entire team when the company acted on the assumption that the person -- and by extention, any member of the team -- was an immanent threat, despite the person's history of loyal professionalism and service.

Make them see that they need you.

[Deputy Doodah]

I've always included on my resignation letter a list of tasks I need to complete before leaving. That tells them that you haven't lost your work ethic, you're just moving, and it shows them that they still need you.

I resigned from a job last year, and my boss honored my two week notice because he could see he still needed me to finish up my projects. This is a guy with a reputation for showing people the door.

Of course it's also important to communicate a positive reason that you are leaving. For instance, I left my job in California because I couldn't afford a house in that state. Yeah I had some beefs, but I didn't mention them. I made them clearly understand I was not leaving out of dislike for the job. It's to your advantage to do this even if you actually do dislike your job.

It turns out that the company I'm with now has entered a partnership with my old company and I find myself working with my old boss as a peer. Leaving on a good note has allowed us to get along pretty well. You never know how the leaf is going to turn so be careful what you say.