Career Boosting Tip #10: Resign / Quit your Job with Style

If you do find yourself in a situation where you are resigning from your post, be classy. How you quit your job can actually be a career booster. And conversely, resignations that are ill-timed, angry or emotional or clumsily handled can be career limiters. Here are some obvious reasons why resigning in a classy way will help your career:

• You might get hired back in the same or bigger job

• Every single person you worked with is a potential formal or informal reference

• Every single person you worked with has the ability to think of and recommend you for opportunities their networks serve up. Or not.

• It is a really small world, and bad business behaviour does get around.

• It is the right thing to do, and ultimately, you will feel better about it.

As I reported on a previous post, developing a strong set of references is high on the list of challenges people face in their job search. Well guess what. A lot of that problem begins right here with how you leave your workplace. No matter how aggrieved or justified you feel, avoid the impulse to screw your current employer. You want them to miss you and regret your loss, not celebrate your departure.

Be classy

• Give proper notice. Consider your timing when possible

• Break the news appropriately - to the right people, in the right order

• Tie up loose ends

• Help train your replacement

• Speak with your colleagues and collect their contact information (don’t leave without establishing those connections)

There, that wasn’t so hard.