RE: When to leave?

["Sean Brierley" <sbrierley -at- Accu-Time -dot- com>]

I appreciate your work ethic.

I have tried to leave every employer in the best shape possible, even
the one employer who treated its employees rather badly. I failed in one
case, as something that happened after I left was attributed to me by
those who remained, but there's little I can do about that--I left that
employer as I would have wanted, even staying 3 hours late my last day
to make sure everything was buttoned down.

So, what I have learned is, apply the Golden Rule and move on. Do your
best and if it is not appreciated, well, there's little that can be
done.

If I were you, I would finish a current project if it is possible.
Otherwise, I create a roadmap to the project components for whoever will
be in charge of the leftovers and call it a day, week, month, and year.
Certainly, your employer has made a decision with regards to their
bottom line and the work you do, and I would not continue on past
January 2 unless some other arrangement for pay is in order.

Make sense?

Cheers,

Sean 


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Subject: FWD: When to leave?




Forwarded anonymously on request--please reply to list only. Thanks!
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Hi All,

I have a question for the list. I was laid off in a mass layoff a few
weeks back, and they are treating us as employees until the first of the
year when the severance package will start, so I will be paid my regular
wages until Jan 2. We were told that we could leave when we finished our
work, and most everyone has turned in their computer and badge and gone.

As the sole tech writer, there is no one for me to turn my projects over
to, and there is, of course, no definitive moment when I would be
"finished" with my work. Most of my projects were always done for other
departments (not the one I report to) and there is no one who has an
overview of my work.

I would still like to complete a how to guide for the customer manuals  
and
for the custom and standard online help, and there is one group that  
badly
needs help with a customer guide that I agreed to work on with the
understanding that my time was short. I can turn over a partial guide  
that
will need updated screenshots and procedures, or I can hang around to  
make
a guide that is nearly completed. There is also a chance that I can
continue to work as a contractor for a different department (same
projects) after the first of the year.

When do I leave, and when do I become a "stalker?" By staying longer,  
will
I be earning brownie points, or will I make everyone even more
uncomfortable (post layoff stress syndrome)?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Anonymous

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Forwarded anonymously on request--please reply to list only. Thanks!



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solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor,  Microsoft Word or 
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. 
http://www.doctohelp.com

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

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