Resignation Letter
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It's a formal announcement of one of two things: 1) I'm terminating our contract on such-and-such date or 2) I want more money and this may force you to offer it. Either way, keep it short and polite, give the last day of employment and give no reasons. Hand deliver it (or leave it on his desk) marked "private and confidential" Remember, your new employer may want to take up references and there is a lot your current employer can say "between the lines" without giving you a "bad reference" itself.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
Maybe it's a good thing that all my current employer can do when called for a reference is to confirm dates of employment :laugh:
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I would say that a resignation letter should contain as little as possible. Specifically: 1. Don't give reasons for leaving 2. Don't make it personal 3. Don't burn bridges Basically, you never know when you might run across your former employer, so it's best to keep things civil. The resignation letter should: 1. Give the last date you will be present (don't forget to check your employment contract for any mandatory notification time) 2. Assure cooperation in a smooth handover before that date The resignation letter may: 1. Indicate availability for consultation after your last day of employment (for a fee) 2. Mention that it was a pleasure to work with them
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill
Mention that it was a pleasure to work with them
So if it wasn't, leave it out or lie?
Pete
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Mention that it was a pleasure to work with them
So if it wasn't, leave it out or lie?
Pete
I did say that it was optional.
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill
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There has been lots of discussion about CVs, covering letters, interview questions. But what happens if it all goes well, how do you get out of where you currently are? How do you go about resigning? What should a resignation letter contain, is it just a piece of paper for HR to file or does it serve any actual purpose? Is "Dear boss, I'm off x weeks from today, love Chris*" enough or should you pad a little? *I'd use your own name, but you get the idea.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
I knew a guy that was an amateur cartoonist. When he resigned he drew up a full page single frame cartoon that showed him pissing on his boss' desk. I think that sent a quite descriptive message about how he felt.... Sorry if this offends anybody. I just thought it was so funny that I should share it here!
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There has been lots of discussion about CVs, covering letters, interview questions. But what happens if it all goes well, how do you get out of where you currently are? How do you go about resigning? What should a resignation letter contain, is it just a piece of paper for HR to file or does it serve any actual purpose? Is "Dear boss, I'm off x weeks from today, love Chris*" enough or should you pad a little? *I'd use your own name, but you get the idea.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
Be Professional, Kind, and Thankful. Leave on good terms. Managers understand that people come and go; that's just life in business. You may find out the new job isn't so awesome until the honeymoon is over [6 months in]. Everyone is on their best behavior during an interview [including the interviewer], but people's real personalities come out 6 months to a year later. Maybe you'll find out your old job wasn't so bad after all? In that case, wouldn't it be great that you could contact your old manager about returning to your prior employer! Or, at the very least your old manager could give you some job lead contacts.
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I would say that a resignation letter should contain as little as possible. Specifically: 1. Don't give reasons for leaving 2. Don't make it personal 3. Don't burn bridges Basically, you never know when you might run across your former employer, so it's best to keep things civil. The resignation letter should: 1. Give the last date you will be present (don't forget to check your employment contract for any mandatory notification time) 2. Assure cooperation in a smooth handover before that date The resignation letter may: 1. Indicate availability for consultation after your last day of employment (for a fee) 2. Mention that it was a pleasure to work with them
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill
As the saying goes, "it depends." I've written one resignation letter in my professional career - after 18 years as chief sysprog with an Enormous State University's computer center (and that was 32 years ago; I'm still with my second employer). In my case the reason for leaving was disgust with the university's administration - an opinion shared by the computer center director. I gave the director a heads-up almost a year before I left that I was looking for another position, and in my formal resignation promised to stay through a major installation to help it go smoothly. Since then I've twice been a manager (and both times escaped without serious injury) so I see the resignation letter from both sides. A few comments: * If the departure is amicable, say so. "I've been privileged to work with the highly professional staff at World Wide Widgets but have found new opportunities to develop and use new skills elsewhere". Volunteer to help plan the transition to backfill your position. Don't say that if it's not true, but in that case don't lie. * Note that if the departure is amicable (as was mine), ask your co-workers who think highly of your qualifications for permission to give their names and (perhaps personal) phone numbers to potential employers. Your employer will almost certainly refuse to disclose anything more than your dates of service, but that doesn't mean that you can't tell co-workers that you approve them going into detail. (No, this isn't part of the resignation letter but it's something to consider). * The "normal" expectation by an employer is a two-week notice that you plan to leave, but the employee manual, contract, or other document may require longer notice. If possible give a lead time long enough to make a smooth transition (assuming no need to say "I'm gone"), but consider whether that will trigger security procedures. Many companies have a policy that any employee with access to sensitive data will be terminated immediately upon receipt of a letter of resignation, then be given a payment equal to the salary they would have received between notice and departure (typically called "payment in lieu of notice"). * If you think it necessary to explain - either in the letter of resignation or in the exit interview with HR - problems that led to your resignation, BE POLITE and to the greatest extent possible, describe the problem and not the personalities involved. Even if your current employer refuses to disclose the details of your work a potential employer may hea
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There has been lots of discussion about CVs, covering letters, interview questions. But what happens if it all goes well, how do you get out of where you currently are? How do you go about resigning? What should a resignation letter contain, is it just a piece of paper for HR to file or does it serve any actual purpose? Is "Dear boss, I'm off x weeks from today, love Chris*" enough or should you pad a little? *I'd use your own name, but you get the idea.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
To me it depends on how the gig went. I've given notice of over a month to deserving employers where there was mutual respect along with a letter as Mr. Pfeffer suggested above. The worst was a two-hour notice [no letter, duh] because there was no respect. The only reason it took two hours was so I could say good-bye to those worthy fellow employees. I did spend some time with the company president to let him know the why/how of what I was doing in the hope that the "survivors" would be treated better. The last thing I did there, just before walking out the door, was tell the horrible manager how horrible he was. Again, for the survivors. I knew I'd never be invited back but sometimes ya just gotta tell folks what's up.
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I would say that a resignation letter should contain as little as possible. Specifically: 1. Don't give reasons for leaving 2. Don't make it personal 3. Don't burn bridges Basically, you never know when you might run across your former employer, so it's best to keep things civil. The resignation letter should: 1. Give the last date you will be present (don't forget to check your employment contract for any mandatory notification time) 2. Assure cooperation in a smooth handover before that date The resignation letter may: 1. Indicate availability for consultation after your last day of employment (for a fee) 2. Mention that it was a pleasure to work with them
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill
I had no problems "burning a bridge" (actually, it was barely a rope across a river) several years ago. It didn't help that I was being forced to work 60+ hour weeks on a project-from-hell. It didn't help that I was owed over $5000.00 USD in backpay. It didn't help that we lost our insurance coverage - seriously, no insurance for well over two years - it makes me appreciate the ACA. The straw that broke the camel's back? After walking out (and driving away) pissed, then coming back after cooling off some - the owner of the company had the audacity to make me choose between my education time (I was taking, at the time, both of Stanford's MOOC experimental courses - ML Class and AI Class - and doing well in both) or working long hours on a dumbass web application (which the client kept changing the specs on - lovely). I value my education much more than that job - and I let him know with both barrels. I also let every other remaining employee there know as well why I was leaving (it was a very small company - 5 people or so). I never got my backpay - despite sending a year's worth of Dunning notices - even a letter from my lawyer. Unfortunately, I didn't have the money to pursue it further (and even if I had, most of my money would have been eaten in lawyer fees). In the end, I found a new place of employment making 10K more, with benefits. I completed my studies, too. A few months later, two other people had quit (one told me he saw the writing on the wall when I left). A few months after that, the owner bought out his partner, and his partner moved away. Time passed, and after a brief stint with a couple of coders who couldn't make heads or tails of the code (seeing as the totally fubar'd the company website - which was based on our custom framework) - the company, AFAIK, imploded. On paper, I think it still exists as a name - but it no longer sells it's web development services. It's been years since - and I don't regret one thing about my method of resignation. There was no respect for me as a person or an employee, so I didn't feel like I needed to respect that company or employer in return.
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I had no problems "burning a bridge" (actually, it was barely a rope across a river) several years ago. It didn't help that I was being forced to work 60+ hour weeks on a project-from-hell. It didn't help that I was owed over $5000.00 USD in backpay. It didn't help that we lost our insurance coverage - seriously, no insurance for well over two years - it makes me appreciate the ACA. The straw that broke the camel's back? After walking out (and driving away) pissed, then coming back after cooling off some - the owner of the company had the audacity to make me choose between my education time (I was taking, at the time, both of Stanford's MOOC experimental courses - ML Class and AI Class - and doing well in both) or working long hours on a dumbass web application (which the client kept changing the specs on - lovely). I value my education much more than that job - and I let him know with both barrels. I also let every other remaining employee there know as well why I was leaving (it was a very small company - 5 people or so). I never got my backpay - despite sending a year's worth of Dunning notices - even a letter from my lawyer. Unfortunately, I didn't have the money to pursue it further (and even if I had, most of my money would have been eaten in lawyer fees). In the end, I found a new place of employment making 10K more, with benefits. I completed my studies, too. A few months later, two other people had quit (one told me he saw the writing on the wall when I left). A few months after that, the owner bought out his partner, and his partner moved away. Time passed, and after a brief stint with a couple of coders who couldn't make heads or tails of the code (seeing as the totally fubar'd the company website - which was based on our custom framework) - the company, AFAIK, imploded. On paper, I think it still exists as a name - but it no longer sells it's web development services. It's been years since - and I don't regret one thing about my method of resignation. There was no respect for me as a person or an employee, so I didn't feel like I needed to respect that company or employer in return.
Every rule has its exceptions... :)
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill
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I would say that a resignation letter should contain as little as possible. Specifically: 1. Don't give reasons for leaving 2. Don't make it personal 3. Don't burn bridges Basically, you never know when you might run across your former employer, so it's best to keep things civil. The resignation letter should: 1. Give the last date you will be present (don't forget to check your employment contract for any mandatory notification time) 2. Assure cooperation in a smooth handover before that date The resignation letter may: 1. Indicate availability for consultation after your last day of employment (for a fee) 2. Mention that it was a pleasure to work with them
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill
Way back in the late 1980's, I worked for a company that built minicomputers (remember them? :) ). At the time, minicomputers were losing out to PCs. My boss and I came to loggerheads over working significantly more than eight hours per day for the duration of a major long-term project. I declined and, for my lack of team spirit, I was laid off. I found another job within a few weeks. About a year later, HR at my new company came to me and asked if I would recommend my former boss for a position with them. Guess what my answer was... :-D P.S. They did not hire them.
__________________ Lord, grant me the serenity to accept that there are some things I just can’t keep up with, the determination to keep up with the things I must keep up with, and the wisdom to find a good RSS feed from someone who keeps up with what I’d like to, but just don’t have the damn bandwidth to handle right now. © 2009, Rex Hammock
