New IT Job In the Bag! Great, Now What?

You did it. You applied for, were selected for and accepted your dream  ITjob (or close to it). Alternatively, you've hated the last 2-5 years at your job and you are now finally getting out.

What do you do? Well, we’ve both stormed the transitions and have some nuggets of wisdom from both our experiences and what recruiters tell us.

This is No Time to Tweet, Face-to-Face conversations Only!

First and foremost, inform your manager as soon as possible (tell the person you report to, not his boss or HR; you should follow the chain of command). They will want to work on your replacement right away, and the sooner you talk to them, the better. Tell your manager first; don't tell everyone else (i.e., co-workers) and have your manager find out last; that’s a stellar way to leave a sour impression and get a bad reference in the future.  When informing your manager, don’t unleash that short-list of the top 5 things that he/she did to drive you mad; it will be very unprofessional. You have one singular focus over the next two or more weeks: go out on a high note.

Helping to Back-Fill

If you think that the company you are leaving is a good place to work, do everything in your power to find your replacement (tell your manager you can help). Talk to recruiters you know, talk to your colleagues, and send out e-mails letting people know that your company will be looking for your replacement. First, it's always great to help others (“pay it forward”). Second, your bosses will think very highly of you. And, finally, other people will really think you are classy person.

Updated Responsibilities and Transition Planning

Next, start to compile all of the information on what you do. Go through your e-mail, IT systems documentation and calendar to review all of the tasks that you have performed over the last year. Ideally, you would have already started doing this before you started looking for a job, however, we recognize that sometimes day-to-day things get in the way. That said, the more you can document, the more you will help your current employer, your replacement, and, at the same time, make yourself look good.  Actually, as part of your documentation, your manager might be grateful for the offer to come up with an updated job description of the duties for the candidate that will replace you.                      

Additionally, if there is anyone you can train to perform your responsibilities before you leave, either permanently or on an interim basis, we urge you to make that suggestion to your management and then to act appropriately. Your last days at a job are not the time to slack off. They are a time to shine. The more people in the organization who understand what you do, what your rationale is, and what your goals are, the better able they will be to continue what you were working on. This once again goes to making you look like the professional that you actually are or are pretending to be.

Mikhael Felker is an IT pro who has worked in Defense, Healthcare, High-Tech and Non-Profits. He teaches, writes, and speaks at numerous Southern California venues about technology. See here to check out all his Tom's IT Pro articles.

David Lam is a chief information and security officer with 24 years of IT experience. He has been certified as both a Protection Professional and Information Security Professional by ASIS, is on the Information Systems Security Association board in Los Angeles, and holds a Six Sigma Black Belt.

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