Checklist for leaving an (IT) job

Question

Edit: Thanks for the answers clarifying for which things I am not responsible, I am still looking for more detail on how to avoid inconvenience on my side as generally mentioned in one of the answers.

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I am about to change jobs, I have handed in my notice and the relation with my previous employer is good. However, I feel like there are things that I should be doing now and that I may be forgetting them. So I wondered:

Is there a list of last things to remember when leaving a job (in IT)?

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I looked around but mostly found lists about squeezing out the benefits nothing about practical matters, I am looking more about practical things. For example the last few things I did:

• Transfer knowledge
• Inform key stakeholders after alignment with manager
• Remove any personal information/passwords from your computer
• If you use your work calendar as a general calendar, clean it up and then archive your future appointents

Answer 1

You're overthinking this.

Once you've resigned, what you need to do from a work point of view is one thing and one thing only: what your manager says to do. It's their job to sort out knowledge transfer, informing stakeholders and whatever else, not yours. If they say "spend the next month working closely with X so they can pick up your tasks", you work closely with X. If they say "spend the next month making coffee for everyone in the office", you spend the next month making coffee.

With regards to any personal information on your computer, obviously, yes, try and remove that. The better solution is probably not to use your work machine for personal stuff in the first place because there is a non-zero chance that you will lose access to it the second you resign.

Answer 2

The basic list isn't different for IT workers.

• You do what management requires you to do during the notice period. This covers knowledge transfer, or completing tasks. or sitting at home waiting for the last day.

• You do what HR requires you to do regarding paperwork. This includes understanding how insurance and other benefits ends. Do they end on your last day, or on some other date? when is your last paycheck?

• Clean your workspace to retain your personal items and return the company items.

• Plan for what happens when you lose access to company resources such as email.

The basics are the same for all employees, the specifics depend on your exact situation. They vary by company, position, and location.

Answer 3

In case you are not sure about completeness of activities, there are two people that can help you

• Your (existing) manager
• The admin / IT team point-of-contact.

There's always HR, in case you need.

Answer 4

Is there a list of last things to remember when leaving a job (in IT)?

Your responsibility is to perform the work for which you are being paid while you're still employed there. Complete the tasks assigned by your manager and follow the instruction and direction given by your manager. Anything and everything else is their responsibility, not yours.

Answer 5

Though I got some partial answers, people did not seem to get the full scope of what I was asking for and why.

The question already got several downvotes, but here I will share what I did so far, and may update if new insights pop up, or if I run into things that I wish I had done. Hopefully some people still see the benefit in the answer, if not in the question.

Wrapping things up that matter from the employers perspective

As numerous answers pointed out, you pretty much just need to do what is asked to cover your bases in this section. In case your employer is on good terms but not able to explain well what he needs, the usual suspects are:

1. Transfer knowledge on critical activities
2. Transfer critical (information) assets so they may not get deleted together with your account. (Some things may get solved automatically, but if you have some important attachments in your mail they will almost certainly get lost if you do nothing)
3. Return items that must be returned, typically you don't need to take the initiative surrounding your monitor/chair but be aware that it is very unlikely that a laptop or other data carrier does not need to be returned. If you don't want to think about your old job after the last working day, consider being proactive. (Specially if you end your employment with vacation, the communication may reach you rather late).

Wrapping things up that matter for myself as well as the employer

Perhaps some employers have fully ripened runbooks but here are some critical points:

1. Align on a final working day (Not to be confused with the final contract date, keep in mind that in many countries it is actually a joint decision how many vacation days you will be taking vs having paid out.) Also keep in mind that if there is no clear policy regarding paying out surplus days, you should negotiate this before it is too late to take them.
2. Align on communication to stakeholders (It is not up to you to communicate to colleagues or customers if the manager is against it, but assuming you care about your reputation and personal network you may want to push on your manager to go with your suggestions for how to handle things cleanly).
3. Make sure NOT to bring corporate data with you. Perhaps you are using your private phone for work email? Then certainly remove the account on your last working day.
4. Turn on your Out of Office, it may take a while for your mail to be closed properly and people seeing their mails unanswered will reflect poorly on both the company and you personally.

Wrapping things up that matter mostly for myself

1. Make sure not to leave personal information. Are all files in the google drive automatically transferred to your manager upon departure? Then make sure to remove everything that he should not receive. Depending on how you used your laptop it may also have private passwords and such stored on it, to be safe it is probably best to wipe the device completely. (You don't want to find someone else using your Stack Exchange account...)
2. Document agreements: For example, when giving notice to the employer I used my work email address, however to be safe it is good to put the private email on CC so it is documented externally that the notice was given on time.
3. Handle internal stocks/options. You may want to sell these manually, though in practice stocks should be sold automatically if your account closes. I am not too sure about options, it is possible these may NOT get exercised automatically even if they are in the money, so certainly stay on top of this.
4. Document entitlements

• Bonuses to be paid out
• Remaining vacation days to be paid out
• Remaining expenses to be settled

5. Download important information

• First thing that comes to mind is the historical pay slips and annual statements

6. Review (public) places where you used your work email, and update your email

• Communities (StackExchange, LinkedIn, Apache, Slack)
• Perhaps you used the work calendar for private appointments
• Things that need validations/other accounts (Cannot think of these now but feel I am forgetting some)