When It Comes Time to Quit: Dos and Don'ts
At some point in your career, you will probably make the decision to quit your current job and move on. How you leave your job and the impressions you leave on your boss and coworkers are just as important as the quality of your work when it comes to how people remember you. Your resignation has the potential to create a lasting and important impression on those around you.
In your excitement about your fabulous new job and in your haste to wrap things up with your current company, try to make a graceful exit. Here are some suggestions:
Do Resign in Person
This is a serious conversation and it deserves a conversation, not just a letter. Ideally, this should take place in an in-person meeting. If your boss is traveling and you can't wait until he or she returns, then you should consider whether it makes more sense to speak with the boss on the phone or to have a face-to-face conversation with your boss's boss. Two weeks' notice is still the norm for most professional positions. Resist the urge to broadcast your news to your peers and co-workers before you have spoken with your boss. You and your boss should also agree on how your resignation will be announced internally.
Don't Resign by Email
Maybe I am old school, or just old (now 14 years into my professional career), but to me, resigning via email seems sort of cowardly. One of my pet peeves is when people hide behind email to avoid difficult conversations. If your boss has any soul, he or she will appreciate your forthrightness and dignity in initiating a difficult conversation.
Don't Be a Jerk
Take the high road. The "resignation conversation" is not the place to air your grievances and a litany of the 101 Things That Are Wrong With This Company. This is immature and unprofessional. Of course, your boss will certainly want to know what compelled you to seek other opportunities, but put this information in terms of what is right for you about your new job, not what is wrong in your current position.
Worst Way to Quit? Dos and Don'ts
Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com Editor
Diplomacy is defined as "tact and skill in dealing with people." While it's always a good idea to be diplomatic in your personal and business dealings, it's especially important when you are leaving a job.
The world is much smaller than we sometimes think. You never know when or how paths will cross again, especially considering the fluidity of today's job market. When you're leaving a job, it's not the time to burn bridges. Years down the road, you never know who will be interviewing you for that job you're dying for or who will be hired to sit in the cube next to you.
Here are some dos and don'ts to consider before your last day, whether you are leaving by choice or not.
Do use professionalism and courtesy in announcing your intention to leave the company. Advise your direct supervisor first. Then tell colleagues and department staff.
Don't do it at the last minute. Give your employer advance notice so there is enough time to arrange for your successor. Generally, acceptable notice is two to four weeks. Work with your current and future employers to set a time frame that works for both them and you.
From India, Coimbatore
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746At some point in your career, you will probably make the decision to quit your current job and move on. How you leave your job and the impressions you leave on your boss and coworkers are just as important as the quality of your work when it comes to how people remember you. Your resignation has the potential to create a lasting and important impression on those around you.
In your excitement about your fabulous new job and in your haste to wrap things up with your current company, try to make a graceful exit. Here are some suggestions:
Do Resign in Person
This is a serious conversation and it deserves a conversation, not just a letter. Ideally, this should take place in an in-person meeting. If your boss is traveling and you can't wait until he or she returns, then you should consider whether it makes more sense to speak with the boss on the phone or to have a face-to-face conversation with your boss's boss. Two weeks' notice is still the norm for most professional positions. Resist the urge to broadcast your news to your peers and co-workers before you have spoken with your boss. You and your boss should also agree on how your resignation will be announced internally.
Don't Resign by Email
Maybe I am old school, or just old (now 14 years into my professional career), but to me, resigning via email seems sort of cowardly. One of my pet peeves is when people hide behind email to avoid difficult conversations. If your boss has any soul, he or she will appreciate your forthrightness and dignity in initiating a difficult conversation.
Don't Be a Jerk
Take the high road. The "resignation conversation" is not the place to air your grievances and a litany of the 101 Things That Are Wrong With This Company. This is immature and unprofessional. Of course, your boss will certainly want to know what compelled you to seek other opportunities, but put this information in terms of what is right for you about your new job, not what is wrong in your current position.
Worst Way to Quit? Dos and Don'ts
Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com Editor
Diplomacy is defined as "tact and skill in dealing with people." While it's always a good idea to be diplomatic in your personal and business dealings, it's especially important when you are leaving a job.
The world is much smaller than we sometimes think. You never know when or how paths will cross again, especially considering the fluidity of today's job market. When you're leaving a job, it's not the time to burn bridges. Years down the road, you never know who will be interviewing you for that job you're dying for or who will be hired to sit in the cube next to you.
Here are some dos and don'ts to consider before your last day, whether you are leaving by choice or not.
Do use professionalism and courtesy in announcing your intention to leave the company. Advise your direct supervisor first. Then tell colleagues and department staff.
Don't do it at the last minute. Give your employer advance notice so there is enough time to arrange for your successor. Generally, acceptable notice is two to four weeks. Work with your current and future employers to set a time frame that works for both them and you.
From India, Coimbatore
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Hi Peer,
Surely, a very good post. I fully agree with the point that sufficient notice should be given by every employee before leaving a company. I would like to add one point:
In today's fast-paced recruitment environment, I have often encountered a belief that providing a shorter joining time to a candidate is better for our TAT (Turnaround Time). This is a classic example of contradiction where we, in HR, are discouraging the right practice of a notice period and, in turn, pressuring the recruiter of the other company.
Just think about this... If the notice period becomes an industry norm to be respected by all professional employers and employees, it would save recruiters from a lot of trouble and maddening pressures.
Regards,
Poorvi Shah
Hyderabad.
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Surely, a very good post. I fully agree with the point that sufficient notice should be given by every employee before leaving a company. I would like to add one point:
In today's fast-paced recruitment environment, I have often encountered a belief that providing a shorter joining time to a candidate is better for our TAT (Turnaround Time). This is a classic example of contradiction where we, in HR, are discouraging the right practice of a notice period and, in turn, pressuring the recruiter of the other company.
Just think about this... If the notice period becomes an industry norm to be respected by all professional employers and employees, it would save recruiters from a lot of trouble and maddening pressures.
Regards,
Poorvi Shah
Hyderabad.
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