Deb Perelman at eWeek recently shared some advice on how to quit your job with your bridges intact. Too often smart employees let their guard down during their final days, and they do things that may actually damage their career. Perelman polled coaches, recruiters, and workplace experts to create a list of steps that can help you leave your job with class:
- Be sure you’re making the right choice. Sometimes that dream job isn’t. Do what you can to give it a “test-drive” first. (Often this isn’t possible.) I know a man who quit his job last fall, but was back within a week.
- Get your story straight. Don’t lie, but be sparing with the details. It’s fine to say why you’re leaving, but don’t let emotion lead you into revealing too much.
- Write your resignation letter. Again, stick to the facts. Emurse has some sample resignation letters and some advice: “Resignation letters can be as much or as little as you would like. Keep them positive and remember that the end goal is to maintain a positive relationship with the employer.”
- Tell your supervisor first. Follow chain of command. Telling your buddies first can cause repercussions. (Is this true?)
- Be prepared for a counter-offer. You may be a valuable part of the company’s plan, and they may attempt to get you to stay. This is one reason it’s important not to lie about why you’re leaving.
- Stay for your two-weeks notice. Don’t leave your current company in the lurch. It puts them in a tough spot and looks bad to your new boss. Give the company time to replace you.
- Work out your transition plan. The more you can help our company train your replacement, the better it reflects on you. I’m spending months helping to ease the transition as I leave the box factory. This is good for everyone.
- Leave in good standing. It’s easy to mentally check out of your job long before you’re actually physically gone. Resist that urge. Remain diligent to the end.
As tempting as it may be to blow off your current job once you have a new one, it’s important to remain professional. You never know when you’ll need a reference from a former boss, or when you’ll be working with former co-workers. Quit your job gracefully, and options will remain open to you.
[eWeek: How to quit your job with your bridges intact]
This article is about Career, Hints and Tips, Planning
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The reason I want to leave my job is what some may consider emotional, etc. To me it’s the last straw. In short; I am currently working in retail. I have wanted to quit for a while but have been putting off looking for something better. As fate would have it, my spouse recently had to go in unexpectedly for open-heart surgery. When I asked for the day off before his surgery, the store manager said NO. I won’t get in details what else was said but as of now I am on FMLA for up to 90 days. My immediate manager has been fairly supportive and I’m pretty sure I will still have my old position saved and waiting for me. Despite that however, things will most likely only get worse.
I do not want to go back there but how do you say I quit when you are on FMLA leave?
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I’m in sales, i’m an emotional person, and when i get stuck with an incompetent, arrogant, POS, lousy, no good, rotten sales manager, i can guarantee you i will speak my mind and tell them where to stick it. I have never yet had it come back to bite me, and i don’t care if the candy ass “experts” say it’s “not professional” and it could harm your career. If a company treats me fair and
and the manager is a stand up guy, i will work with him, if not, i will push back like there is no tomorrow.-
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At the beginning of this year I quit my job to move to one closer to home (I had moved house to be nearer my partner). My boss was great, let me know she was sad to see me go. My resignation letter thanked them for the great working position I’d had there. Definitely no bridges burned, and my boss told me if I ever wanted work to be sure and give her a call. As it happened, things didn’t work out in the new job and I quit there after the second week, working even though it was severely affecting my health. Got a doctors certificate for the two weeks notice. That boss never even contacted me to ask why I’d quit – I gave no reasons in the letter, but I’m pretty sure she knew why: the nasty phonecall she’d made to me the second day of my second week. Anyway, I went to see my old boss who was delighted to see me as she had some vacancies come up, and she put me right back on staff. As an added bonus, because I’m travelling so far to work, she does her best to put me on the longer shifts so I’m not spending my whole pay on travelling.
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I am leaving for a competitor, but don’t have the heart to tell my boss, whom I really like, and they will be absolutely MAD at me if I tell them. I told a lie, and told them I was going to a different industry, and even gave the name of a factory. Should I tell them I lied? Or not worry about it? I hate to lie, but I also did not want to be escorted out the door.
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