How to Resign From a Job Gracefully

Resigning from a job can be an emotional process, but it doesn’t have to be detrimental to your future career prospects. A well-handled resignation can open up new opportunities and leave contacts impressed with your professionalism—not to mention help you land your next job quicker and easier. Resigning from a job is not easy for everyone. Some people feel trapped in their current position, while others find that their boss has made the work environment unbearable. Whatever the reason may be, here are some steps that will help you resign from a job gracefully.

Check your reasons for resigning and be honest with yourself

You may feel compelled to resign from your current job, but before you do so, make sure you’re honest with yourself about why you’re leaving. Are you resigning because the pay is low? Because you’re overworked? Because the company culture is toxic? Because you’re unhappy? Make sure that you’ve explored all avenues for change before resigning. If your pay is too low, have you explored other positions with the company that might have more competitive salaries? If the company culture is toxic, have you spoken to your boss to try to improve it? If you’re overworked, have you tried to negotiate a lighter workload? If you’re unhappy, are you sure that resigning is the right thing to do? Sometimes, taking a break or finding a new job can help you discover that your unhappiness was due to the stress of a difficult situation rather than the job itself. And if you’re thinking about quitting because you’ve been unjustly fired, you may want to check out the next section.

Draft your resignation letter

If the reason for your departure from your job is clear and clean, you can simply write out your resignation letter and hand it in to your manager. If you have any doubts about the future, however, or you want your resignation to be on the record, you might want to write a formal letter. This will also help you clarify your reasons for leaving and make sure you don’t forget anything important. If you do write a resignation letter, be sure to include the following: Reason for leaving: Be honest and clear about the reason for your departure and don’t leave anything out. Next steps: Let the company know what your plans are in the short-term and what you hope to do next.

Let your manager know early

If you know that you’re going to need to leave your job, let your manager know as soon as possible. Leaving under a cloud of suspicion will make it harder to find a new job—or even just a reference from your current employer. If you’re leaving for a good reason, like a better job offer, let your manager know as soon as you know for sure that you’re leaving so that you can handle the situation as cleanly and professionally as possible. If you’re leaving because of a bad situation at work, let your manager know as soon if you can. It may be hard if you’re in a verbally abusive situation, but you owe it to future employers to let them know what’s going on.

Don’t badmouth your current or future employers

You might be tempted to use your resignation as an opportunity to let loose on your manager or the company. Resist the urge to do so. It will only make it harder for you to find another job and may make you come across as unprofessional.

Take care of important business during your last few weeks

If you have important projects that you’ve been meaning to finish but haven’t had the time to finish during your last few weeks, it’s important to make sure that they get done. If you’re planning to leave because of a bad situation, you may want to make sure that you wrap up any important tasks and make sure that they get in the hands of your manager so that the company can still benefit from your work. If you’ve been underpaid for the work you’ve been doing for a long time, you might want to talk to your manager about that before you leave. If you’ve consistently been asked to take on more work without the proper compensation, it’s worth talking to your boss about that as well.

Conclusion

Resigning from a job can be an emotional process, but it doesn’t have to be detrimental to your future career prospects. A well-handled resignation can open up new opportunities and leave contacts impressed with your professionalism—not to mention help you land your next job quicker and easier.