The Professional’s Exit

Be professional, be courteous, be polite, and keep your reputation intact. Before you do anything else, clear away any personal correspondence or belongings so that you are ready to go when the time comes.

Give adequate notice: you should notify your employer verbally and follow it up with a written confirmation of the discussion. Professionals will offer a minimum of two weeks notice and sometimes longer depending upon the job specialization. However, be prepared to be asked to leave right away.  Some employers choose not to keep an employee once advised of their imminent departure.  If an employer chooses to cut you loose right away, you have little to say about it.  You will be paid a severance pay in lieu of working the notice period.  Even if you had an excellent relationship, your boss may simply prefer to have you gone.  Be prepared for this possibility and accept the result graciously.

On the other hand, your boss may ask you to stay longer than you had offered to.  If you are leading projects that he feels he cannot pass over to anyone else, he may request you stay until they are completed.  Perhaps he needs you there while he finds a suitable replacement.  Two weeks isn’t really long enough to conduct a thorough search for a suitable candidate.  Your boss may try to extend your stay as long as he can so that there is not a long gap wherein there is no one in the role.  If you are starting another job, you may not be able to extend yourself beyond the two week period, but consider the possibility of offering to help find a good candidate, or provide part-time training to a new employee.  If you have given the required notice, you are not obligated to serve your employer beyond that time, but you may choose to in the interest of maintaining good ties.  Use your judgment.

If your departure is handled well and under the best of circumstances, you should also ask for a reference.  Get a feeling from your boss right away what his position will be on providing a favorable reference for you. Leaving a job is hard to do.  It can be handled or poorly or it can be handled professionally. Take the higher road, and keep your bridges intact.  You never know when you may cross paths with this employer again.