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)

Do what the others already said and be mature and professional. Just wear a full clown costume to the zoom meeting. No comments on it.

It depends. If there is any money on the line or don't want to burn bridges then I'd do the smart thing, whatever that is. Otherwise I'd just skip it.

I was in such situation recently and I dealt with it like an adult rather than petty teenager. Don't burn your bridges.

Come in sharply dressed with a top hat, cane, and unbreakable smirk

Always skip the exit interview if you can. It doesn't help you or your former coworkers. It's just an HR box-checking exercise.

1. Finish my ticket.
2. Submit the PR.
3. Log out.
4. Mail back the laptop.
5. Block and delete contacts.

Advice I have heard is decline an exit interview, because those are for the company's benefit and not yours.

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 an emotional support clown

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…

Option 1: Be professional and polite.

Option 2: Scream Leeroy Jenkins and run through the door in the middle of it.

1/2 depends on how probable it is for you to need them in the future.

I'd just play my steam deck for the entire shift up to and including the exit interview

Something like this

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?"

"That's okay, I went on a job interview last week when I called out sick. I'll be making more than you are when I start there.

No show

Hire an emotional support clown. A man in new Zealand hired one because he thinks he was about to get fired.

https://nypost.com/2019/09/13/man-being-fired-brings-emotional-support-clown-to-meeting/

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.