The Best Way to Resign
Sometimes it takes great courage to leave the safety net of your current employer. However, at some point, that time inevitably comes. It's a big decision, and something to be handled in the correct manner if you are to maximise your options and opportunities for the future. This article explores some of the things you should and shouldn't do when your time to resign comes.
By Richard Clarke
When it's time to leave the company you currently work for you should always act in a professional manner. Remember you may need them for a reference and also you never know when you may cross paths with them again.
Just imagine that you had let your emotions run away with you and had told your boss exactly what you thought of them and the company only to find later that they knew your new employers or worse still eventually ended up working in your new company. So it is always best to keep things on a professional footing. Keep calm; never express any anger.
Points to Consider When Resigning
You should:
- Stay professional.
- Advise your employers face-to-face, and give them your resignation letter.
- Remember you may come into contact with them at a later stage.
- Choose your references carefully and let them know your intentions and why you think you're suitable for the new job.
- Avoid any insults or aggressive conduct.
You should never:
- Hand your notice in when you're angry.
- Think that you have to give any reason at all why you want to leave - this is your choice.
- Vent your frustration by them telling them of all the things you don't like about the company.
If you are leaving because of financial reasons you could tell your employer this. It's possible they may want to think about increasing your package rather than losing you to another company. Sometimes a letter of resignation can trigger this, but you need to think carefully about taking them up on it; you don't want to be back in the same position in another year's time. You would also be messing around the company that has made you the new job offer, and that might scupper any chance of you getting back in with that employer in the future.
When you resign it's a good idea to do so after you have obtained another position. Not only would that give you less of the obvious financial strains that leaving a job without one to go to would produce but you would also be better placed. It's nice to be in a position of power when resigning, knowing that you have an alternative job lined up. It's also a fact that employers often prefer to employ those already in employment rather than those that are not. So try to get your ideal new job secured first.
Despite the fact that it's a good idea to find alternative employment prior to resigning, many employees do resign without a job to go to. This may be because they want to take a gap from work to reassess what they want to do next or just to take a holiday to think things over. Whatever your reasons or choices for wanting to resign you should always think carefully about it and always go about it in a professional manner.
Richard Clarke is on the development team at Redgoldfish Jobs, a UK job site dedicated to providing job search facilities and information to help job seekers find ideal employment within the UK.
