How to Give a Resignation Letter
No job lasts forever. At some point, you’ll need to resign from your job. In today’s fast-changing, post-Covid world, the job market has experienced an upheaval of mass resignations and job changes by people seeking a better job or improved quality of life.
Regardless of why you choose to resign from your job, you’ll want to make sure you leave on good terms, and a key part of that is how you resign from your job. Finding a letter of resignation example is actually the easiest part of the process.
Resigning the Right Way
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t actually have to provide a reason for your resignation. Always be sure and give your company as much notice as possible–preferably, a minimum of two weeks.
Starting a resignation letter isn’t difficult; it can be as simple as “Dear Employer,” followed by “I will be resigning from ABC Company on X day.” Sincerely, ‘Your Name.’
You can simply provide this letter to your HR department or supervisor; however, it’s the conversation that comes after that can be uncomfortable, as most bosses will want to know why you’re leaving.
Still, the reason for your departure isn’t nearly as important as how you deliver that information to your company. Here are a few scenarios and how to work around them:
Taking Another Job
If you’ve accepted another position, be ready for your company to counter-offer. Good help is hard to find, and if you’re a good employee, you might expect your company to try and keep you.
You should be prepared with a salary or benefits increase that you’d be willing to accept to stay, or be ready to stand your ground politely.
Assuming you’ve chosen to stand your ground, explain to the company that you’ve already committed to the new role and that while you’ve enjoyed your time working for them, you feel that it’s time to move on.
Saying things such as, “I feel like this is the right move for my career,” or “This new job offers me growth opportunities” are excellent ways to respond.
Moving Away
Leaving your job because you are moving away is probably the easiest reason, in terms of its finality. Unless you can do your job 100% remotely, moving as a reason for resigning typically limits any animosity from a company regarding your exit.
Simply tell your boss and or company that because you’ll be so far away, keeping your current job will be impossible.
Additional reasons such as taxes in a new state or time zone differences are also valid points for why you won’t be able to keep your current job, even if you are able to work 100% remotely.
You Hate Your Job
While this may be the actual reason, you’ll want to find an excuse to leave that won’t raise too many eyebrows so as to protect your future prospects in case you need to use your former company as a reference.
After all, you never know who you’ll run into later in your career, and keeping things diplomatic is the best approach.
An excellent excuse for resigning is simply saying that you want to spend more time focusing on yourself and your family. Read any politician’s statement of resignation, and it’s nearly guaranteed you’ll see this at the top of the list of reasons for leaving, regardless of the true reason.
It’s difficult to tell someone that they shouldn’t focus on their family, so it can be a perfect excuse to slip out the door without angering people or setting off alarm bells.
Wrapping Up
While ending your resignation letter with “Sincerely, ‘Your Name’” is all that’s needed, be sure and keep up illusions about your reason for leaving. Don’t post negative statements about your employer on social media or put up photos of your amazing vacation right after you told your boss you’ve taken another job.
Be sure your post-job interactions are consistent with your reasons for leaving until everything blows over. After a while, you can feel free to be yourself again and be confident that you left your job on good terms.
Title: How to Give a Resignation Letter
Category: Job Search
Co-Author: Becky is a contributor for theJub. She’s a writing and talent acquisition specialist who loves to apply her skills through creative writing and editing.
