Your last two weeks: how to hand over a job well

The handover document in five sections

Keep it short enough that someone will actually read it. Five sections cover almost any job:

1. What the job does: your regular tasks, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly, with how long each takes.
2. What is in progress: each open piece of work, where it is up to, the next step and any deadline.
3. Where things live: the folders, systems and logins someone needs, without writing passwords into the document. Arrange access through IT.
4. Who to call: the key contacts inside and outside the organisation, and what each one is for.
5. What is coming up: known events in the next three months, such as a renewal, a report, an audit or a busy season.

Write it in the first week of your notice, not the last day, so there is time for questions. Save it where your manager can find it after you have gone.

Who needs to know what

Agree with your manager who hears about your departure, and when, before you tell clients or suppliers. Then work through the list: your manager and team first, then the people who depend on you inside the organisation, then outside contacts, introducing whoever will take over. A short email that names the new contact, copied to them, makes the transition easy for everyone.

Your notice period is the one in your employment agreement, or reasonable notice if it sets none, and shortening it needs both of you to agree. Some employers pay out your notice instead of having you work it, which needs some form of agreement. Others keep you employed and paid but ask you to stay home, known as garden leave, which must be agreed in writing, and during which you are still bound by your agreement. Either way, do the handover in the first days, or offer a call afterwards.

Protecting your references

Your last fortnight is what people remember. Keep turning up, keep your standards, and do not coast. Be generous with your time for questions, even about work you would rather forget, and avoid complaining about the organisation to colleagues who are staying.

Your employer does not have to give you a reference unless it has agreed to, though it should give you a statement of service, which records your role and dates. Ask for the statement before you leave, and confirm with the people you would like as referees that they are willing, and how best to reach them after you have gone. Return everything that belongs to the organisation, from laptops and phones to access cards, before your last day.

Taking your own wins record with you

Once you leave, you lose access to the systems that hold the evidence of your work. Before you go, write down your achievements while the numbers are still in front of you: projects delivered, results with figures, feedback you received, skills you built. Keep only your own record of what you did. Never take the employer's confidential files, client lists or data, which can breach your agreement and the law.

In jobtracker.co.nz, Your Career keeps your wins as you go and turns them into CV bullets. When a job ends, it keeps that job with its dates, pay record, wins and notes, and you can download everything we hold for you at any time. You can see a worked example in the demo, which needs no account.

Closing the loop with contacts before you go

The people you worked with are the start of your network for the next job and the one after. Before your last day, send a short personal note to the colleagues, clients and suppliers you want to stay in touch with, and connect on LinkedIn if you have not already. Say where you are going if you are comfortable doing so.

Check your final pay, too. Final holiday pay must be paid on or before the pay day of your final pay period, and if you leave within your first year it is 8% of your gross earnings, less any holiday pay you have already received. Unused sick leave does not have to be paid out unless your agreement says so. Our article on how to resign in New Zealand covers notice and final pay, and our article on what to say in an exit interview covers the conversation on the way out.

Take your record with you