Making the Move – Resigning

By Angela Bensemann

It’s amazing how many of us fantasise about resigning from our job over the holiday period.  There’s nothing like a good break away to clear the mind and get a taste of what life is all about.  Of course it usually pays to think through resigning carefully and not just to do it on a whim.

Things to consider:

• Do I really hate my job or am I just in a rut and need to take on new challenges?
• Do I really hate my boss/work colleagues or could I try harder to get along with them?
• Do I have another job to go to?
• Do I have a plan for a new venture I want to embark on?
• Is now the right time?
• If it’s not the right time but I still want to make the move what steps do I need to put in place to be in a position to resign? (Check out our previous post on goal setting).

Once you’ve made the decision to leave it’s important to get the timing right. First thing to consider is what works best for you and then what you need to finish up before you can move on.  Also take note of the ‘notice’ period in your employment contract.

Regardless of why you are moving on it’s critical to leave on a good note – it is not a good idea to tell your boss to shove it.  The village is too small! You can guarantee that word will get around that you left under a cloud or that your employer wasn’t happy.

Go out on a good note.  Give your manager a heads up that you will be resigning.  Follow this up with a formal resignation letter.  This letter can be the difference between moving on gracefully and leaving a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.

I recently had a client who needed to start within two weeks but his formal notice period was one month and his boss was adamant that he work out the four weeks.  A well-crafted resignation letter helped smooth the waters and my client finished up within the two weeks.

More importantly there were no hard feelings – you never know when you are going to need a referee from a previous place of work.

If you’re wondering how to craft your resignation letter check out the information on Careers NZ resignation page.

(AB)