For some reason, countless men and women view resigning as the simplest of acts: tell your boss you have found another data processing job for more money, or with more challenge, and leave it at that.
That isn't sufficient, not if you are setting your sights on a long-term and successful career in the field.
I write a monthly column in Management Accounting Magazine called "Managing Your Career." A young man wrote and asked my advice on the proper way to resign from his present job. My basic response was to congratulate him for caring enough about the resignation process to seek advice in the first place. That attitude will stand him in good stead over the course of his working life.
The key ingredient in resigning is to leave on the most positive of terms. It isn't a time to vent your frustrations with the job, company, or boss, nor is it a time to tell your immediate supervisor what's wrong with the way the data processing department is run. If you have established a friendly relationship with your boss and are asked for your evaluations prior to leaving, that's one thing, but avoid falling into the trap of gratuitously offering negatives.
Your resignation should be in person, followed by a short, courteous letter confirming your intention to leave, stating the date of your departure, and, I recommend, adding a line of two indicating how much you have enjoyed your time with the company, how much it has contributed to your knowledge and growth, and how you hope to keep in touch with its people in the ensuing years.
The reason a verbal resignation is not sufficient is that it puts nothing in your file. A few years from now - should you be looking for a reference from that firm - that letter of resignation, when dragged out of the file by someone who never knew you, establishes a positive view of you in that stranger's mind.
Some final thoughts on resigning:
- Don't succumb to the temptation to confide in your boss that you are "thinking of leaving." This compromises your employer's position as a manager and can set up bad feeling when you actually do resign.
- Keep it professional. If you have a good working relationship with your current boss, be prepared for the possibility that he or she might take your resignation as a personal rejection. With these people especially, it's important to keep the reason for leaving on a purely career basis, stressing that the new job offers certain challenges within data processing that you feel you should pursue.
Resist bragging about the new job to your fellow employees. That will only create bad feeling. And don't breach any confidences built up during your years with the firm. Make an extra effort to establish close bonds with your fellow employees. Networking, at all levels of a career, is one of the most effective ways to build it over the long haul, and establishing and keeping contacts will always benefit you.
