As I come up on almost my year anniversary at my 2nd job post graduation, I wanted to share a few things that I have learned through my first job transition in engineering.

I put in my two weeks at my former job after I had already signed the contract for my next job. If you time this nicely, I would recommend ending the previous job and starting the new job in the same month. If not, you will most likely need COBRA which essentially is your insurance between jobs in case you get sick, injured, etc. during this in-between time. Because of the way I timed the two jobs, I did not need to get COBRA because Job 1 covered me until the end of November and my new job started the first full I was there so it started December 1st because I started my job before the end of November.

Before Last Day at Previous Job

First, take time to acknowledge and celebrate the change! If you want specific advice about dealing with big life changes, I reccomend this episode of the Engineering Our Future Podcast: https://youtu.be/EZgeCkSKFPE. Luis and Nicolai did an excellent job of covering this topic!

Before my last day, there was few things the company expected me to complete like an exit interview, but don’t forget to make a list of your own! Do you want to get lunch with a specific person before you leave? Teach someone the tips you have learned about a specific reoccuring task?

The last part of changing jobs is the closing our of benefits. For example, if you have a transportation reimbursment program (used for commuting on public transportation), there is a a government imposed $270 per month limit. Unfortunately, I did not realize this in time and lost some money in process. Another reimbursment benefit you may have is FSA or flexible savings account which you will also need to use before your last day or sometimes the end of the month you leave. Not sure what is FSA eligible? Use the website https://fsastore.com/ to either order items or use it as guide of what items are covered. Additionally, make sure to change any benefit email logins from your work email to a personal email as some things you might need access to after your last day.

On your very last day, I recommend sending out an email to at least your immediate team, but you can also include anyone who you have worked with frequently. below I have included a sample email!

Hi All,

As you may have heard, today is my last day at COMPANY. I am so grateful for the time I have spent working with all of you and I value all of the relationships and friendships I have made here since I first started here in XXXX. I sincerely appreciate all of the mentoring and guidance throughout my time here, and I will look back at my time fondly.

I hope I can continue to keep in touch and feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn (if we are not already).  I look forward to working with you all in different capacities in the future! My personal email address is XXXXXXX. 

Thank you,

After Last Day at Previous Job

Even after your last day, I recommend still staying in touch with folks!

I also got my investment like my ESOP transferred over after my last day as this was on a specific annual schedule. I personally trasferred my ESOP allocations into my Roth IRA.

Please let me know if you have any questions about any of the material above or any other topics that you would like me to cover. You can leave a comment below or email me at danitheengineer.blog@gmail.com.