Get all your questions about unemployment ready, including the forms filled in today... File asap! File as soon as they let you go.
If you have stock/equity decide now if your going to exercise it. You may have to pay taxes in addition to the exercise price.
Bring all your work stuff from home. Hand it over and get a receipt, nobody wants to play phone tag with a ex to get their stuff back.
If you have access to sensitive systems or passwords, put it in writing what you know and tell them they need to change those passwords now.
Make sure you keep contact with anyone you care about now, before you lose access to the systems.
Be the adult, let them you know these transitions are hard, compliment them for doing a difficult thing so well, make it clear there are no hard feelings. I've had multiple long term highly lucrative consultation arrangements after a layoff.
They literally don't care. Don't tell them "the truth", don't tell them "what's wrong with the company", nothing. Just say you've enjoyed working there and if things turn around you'd be open to coming back.
The best outcome for an exit interview is you leave on good terms so you can use them in the future if necessary. You never know when you'll need a reference.
Again, any criticism or negativity you bring to the exit interview will just be used against you. You'll be labeled as disgruntled, or whiny, or just didn't have what it takes. And that will cut you off from using them in the future if you need to.
There's no point in doing anything but being polite and "professional"1 and doing so gives you the most leverage. If nothing else you can try to negotiate a higher severance. But it also potentially enables the best kind of "revenge".
Like the time I was laid off and instructed to revoke my and my team's access to systems. Yes sir... right away sir. Only the bean counters never verified that there was somebody left in the hand-off plan who could access everything.
Github admin? Not anymore. AWS root account? Who knows?
Honestly the fallout from that, including frantic begging emails for passwords about a month later, was far more entertaining than anything I could have said at the time. Best of all, the head bean counter got fired over it.
And because I was completely "professional" my boss there was super supportive and helped me get my next gig. Still checks in on me once in a while.
1 People often confuse playing the game to believing in it. Use it to your advantage.
I heard the rumored date of layoff and booked a surgery I needed for that morning 8am. I got 2 more weeks / another paycheck because they can’t lay you off when you’re on medical leave. Everyone else was let go that morning. I also did it because I was going to lose my insurance (shit American healthcare system)
I know this isn't the "fun" answer, but I wouldn't. I'm a manager, and I've been on the other side of that situation too many times. I've never met a manager who wants to do it - we'd all rather have enough work for everyone. It sucks but far the most for the person being laid off, but it's a shitty time for everyone.
Plus I've also hired back good employees when work picked back up down the road, so there's the bridge burning aspect to consider.
Bring a lawyer to the meeting, just for fun. Let the hr person stew a bit. Ideally you will be offered a severance package, might as well have the lawyer check it out.
Don’t go? I mean, you’re being fired, what’s the worst that can happen so just don’t go. Go for a walk in the woods or mountains while the company is paying you…
The last time I got laid off, that morning I had sent a PTO request to my boss for a family trip the following month.
I got called into said boss' office for the afternoon meeting letting me know I was being laid off, which I had not been expecting at all. I was given the paperwork to sign, etc. and mostly silently acknowledged everything that was going on. When the boss finally asked if I had any further questions at the end of the meeting, I deadpanned "so, you've approved my request to not come in on _____ days next month?"
I've been 90% sure I was getting laid off a few times. I contracted to one of the big 3 auto companies in engineering/IT and head count reductions were pretty common. Three times it was our department getting cut. I was not overly expensive, did a lot of stuff to fill in gaps, and found ways to improve our teams so I always thought even if something happened to this team I could always land on another team. Once when we were at a site loading engineering sw on the servers my boss asked if I would mind training the sw to the plant the next day. I ended up switching from installs to training and did that for almost 20 years. I was originally hired as a systems analyst. I ended my career working in a manufacturing plant supporting the sw I trained and installed. One of the advantages of working for a large company is they have so many roles to fill and once you learn all the processes/systems you have value at a base level that can be used in many positions
On my last day of a job I brought in chocolate for the office and did artwork on the whiteboard. Kind of just had banter and didn't do too much work that day because... Why would I.
Don’t burn bridges unnecessarily. You never know when a person involved will be somewhere in your future and leaving a good impression on them may have positive benefits.
YOLOing an exit interview and doing it Half Baked style means everyone’s last impression of you is very negative. And the only benefit you get it a bit of catharsis.
Instead, be polite and positive. Then go to Reddit and unleash hell.
Honestly, I’ve given every exit interview honestly. Don’t be bitter but tell them the truth if you’re a relatively normal person.
I’ve never really been laid off but when you leave companies, be honest and figure out who can give you a reference. It’s not always the HR person or your boss. Having hired people, at the reference call moment, you’re thinking, “This person seems right. Let’s make sure they’re not a sex pervert.” or whatever.
I'm with the sensible people. Sure, you could forward "No More Fucks To Give" to the whole company, but simply being a boss about it is the much better option, and more satisfying in the long run.
When my promotion to assistant-to-the-VP at my old job was ripped from me AFTER my replacement was trained I was given the news in a semi exit interview:
Went in to see current boss. She informs me what happened. I tell her that I already know as the VP told me about it already (and cried, he needed the help and was now not getting it and knew I deserved the job). She says she figured as much and offers me 2 weeks of further "work" where I can come in and job hunt instead. I say no thanks, stand up, and walk out.
Called the President and scheduled a 1-to-1 meeting with him over this as I knew it was his brother whining to him about me that caused this all to happen and wanted to give him a chance to unfuck his decision. Fucker spent 20 minutes bullshitting me and was clearly squirming when I didnt budge.
I should've punched him, being the bigger man ain't always worth it.
Get ready for the prefabricated script from HR. Have your questions about benefits, 401k, unemployment, etc ready. Concerning yolo, at the end light a cigar?
Go there in dirty, wet fishing gear and holding a large fresh fish. Slap the fish on the table, pull out a sharp knife, and go to town skinning and filleting it, all while giving a very earnest assessment of where the company is going wrong. But keep a big grin on your face the whole time.
Bonus points if you call everyone in the interview 'Ron' the whole time.