Steps for Leaving Your Job Gracefully

1. Determine how much notice to give. Two weeks is standard. For high-level professional and executive positions, allow slightly longer. 2. Schedule a face-to-face meeting with your boss. Then, prepare a positive resignation speech. It should express simply your intention to leave, date of departure and appreciation for the opportunity to work with the company (don't leak a word to the office grapevine until you've had this conversation). 3. Try to negotiate the terms of your leave-taking fairly. Review your projects to determine an orderly transfer of responsibilities and which loose ends you can realistically tie up. 4. Offer to train your replacement. If no successor has been chosen by your last day, volunteer to make yourself available by telephone for a week or two after you've left. 5. After your resignation meeting, prepare your written resignation. Address it to your boss, with a carbon copy to the human resources department. Confirm your intention to leave and your last day of employment. Don't elaborate on your reasons. Keep the memo short and upbeat, since it will remain in your permanent employment record long after you're gone. 6. Schedule an exit meeting with human resources to assess your benefits. Review your insurance benefits. Determine your last day of health coverage. If you're entitled to pension or profit-sharing money, make sure you know exactly how much you should receive and when you'll be paid. Be sure to fill out all necessary forms. 7. Beware of counteroffers. If you're tempted by one, review the reasons you decided to leave. If they're still valid, proceed with your plan of action and politely decline. 8. Handle yourself professionally and responsibly at all times. Resignations can cause hard feelings. Never burn bridges. You may need references, networking contacts or information later.

Source: VGM's Careers Checklists, VGM CareerHorizons, Lincoln-wood, IL.

Saying Farewell



Once you find a great new job, your next challenge will be finding a way to break the news to your employer.

Perhaps you prefer the Johnny Paycheck method: You know, the one where you shout, "You can take this job and shove it" over your shoulder as you storm out the door.

Anger not your forte? Maybe you'd rather procrastinate for weeks, practicing your resignation speech in front of the mirror as if you were receiving an Academy Award for Best Actor. Then, on the day of the blessed event, you rush into the personnel office and blurt "I quit" into the astonished secretary's face.

If you're a really timid type who'll do anything to avoid a confrontation, you may want to wait until late Friday night when no one else is around, slip your resignation letter under the boss's office door, and then sneak out the back like the Benedict Arnold you are.

Or maybe you're the silent type who leaves at 5 P.M. with everyone else, cheerfully waving goodbye to your co-workers. Little do they know you aren't coming back-ever. On Monday morning, your phone is disconnected (just in case they try to call) and your mail carrier has instructions to stamp letters from the company, "addressee unknown." Running away like this has its downside: You can never answer your telephone or doorbell again.

There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there's only one good way to leave your job: Give ample notice of your intentions, express your appreciation for the experience, make arrangement for an orderly transition, and say goodbye-nicely.

Leave like a grown-up and a professional, and your old employer just might treat you that way.

Thought-Starter Worksheet

1. Have you ever quit a job? Or left a relationship?

2. How did it make you feel to say goodbye? Were you sad? Guilt-ridden? Angry? Relieved?

3. How long did it take you to make the decision to leave?

4. Was there a "straw that broke the camel's back"? If so, what was it?

5. Are you sorry that you didn't leave sooner? If so, what stopped you?

6. Do you wish that you'd waited longer? If so, why didn't you?

7. Have you ever regretted a leave-taking? If so, what would you do differently?

8. What is the scariest part of being unemployed?

9. How realistic are your fears?

10. Do you ever fantasize about leaving your current job?

11. What does your fantasy look like? How do you leave? Where do you go?

12. Have you ever burned any bridges on your way out the door?

13. How can you prevent yourself from burning any bridges now?

14. What do you see as the greatest obstacle to leaving a job you dislike?

15. How do you plan to negotiate that obstacle?

16. Before you make the decision to leave, are you sure that you've done everything in your power to fix your current situation?

17. If you're committed to leaving, how do you plan to support yourself during the transition?

18. How long can you afford to be unemployed?

19. Do you have a plan to bring in extra income? If not, can you think of how your skills might translate into temporary or freelance work?

20. If you'd never leave a job without having another one lined up, how do you plan to carve out enough free time to job search?

21. Is there any danger that your employer might find out you're looking?

22. What do you think your employer will do if he or she discovers you're job hunting?

23. Does this scare you?

24. Do you consider leaving an act of disloyalty? If so, would your employer show the same respect and loyalty to you?

25. Being completely honest with yourself, would it be better for you to stay where you are or seek out a new position?

26. Are you acting in your own best interests?