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Monday 21 June 2004

Resigning, tips sought [lurks]

The time has come for me to move on from my job and so that time has arrived when I need to call the boss for a meeting and announce my intentions. Now while there's a whole bunch of stuff I'm unhappy with, stuff which has essentially hastened my search for an alternative career, at the same time the firm has been good to me and, for the most part, I've enjoyed the work and learned a lot.
So how does one resign? My boss is likely to go bananas. I'm likely to basically play it cool and refuse to be drawn in the intial meeting and maybe do an exit interview later where, when things have calmed down a bit, I might be able to shed some constructive light.
Of course I've played out the fantasy of saying exactly what's on my mind but on the other hand, I'm looking to maybe do some work on the side for the firm. Some of the things I actually enjoyed about my job.
So, any tips from the more, ah, diplomatic of persuasion?

13 comments:

  1. are you 'resigned' to leaving your current employer or are you still in a situation where if they saw things your way and bumped up your pay packet you would stay?

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  2. Get mugs to do it for you again? I'm in favour of a very simple approach, a formal letter to the MD that simply says you're hereby giving your notice.

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  3. You've only been there two-minutes, you job-hopper! I don't think it's unsympathetic to just say you've been given a better offer elsewhere, on points x, y and z, then if they counter-offer, all the better, else you can just say, sorry, you've made your decision (harder to say if they give you a blinding counter-offer), and still be able to lend yourself to freelance work.

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  4. Much of the reasons I'm leaving have to do with working conditions which aren't likely to change. I also know I'm pretty much at the top of what they're willing to pay. I don't think there's a possibility of a counter-offer which I would find attractive.
    Slim, this is a 20-man company - not a huge corporation. The least I owe my boss is a face to face resignation.
    And yes Jay, it hasn't been long. Just a year. On the other hand, this job isn't going to change in ten years time. There's people sitting near me that have been doing the same job for over that long. If I was a family man, that'd be a pretty big attraction but I'm not - I prefer more risk/reward from my career.

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  5. Sure, you can hand present it and talk to him about it, I'm just saying keep the written notice short and sweet.

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  6. Out of interest, what is the soon-to-be-past job? Last I heard you were working for some 'tinker with your PC' magazine.
    WRT tips ... have the letter in your pocket, sit down face to face with boss, pass it to him & explain broadly why after he's read it. Do be drawn to some extent in the initial interview; you don't dislike these people after all, and silence / a poker face would imply some amount of resentment. Explain that you're prepared to work with them to find a decent replacement & smooth the transition period so that the negative impact on the firm is lessened. (You are, i assume?)

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  7. Some good tips here. Resignation should be operated under the K.I.S.S protocol. Don't, whatever you do, put anything in the letter that can be used as ammunition later; a simply 'I resign with n days notice' type affair is enough, and then ensure your exit interview carries a discussion concerning all relevant points

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  8. Slim, sure fair enough. I don't see a reason why to put anything other than a couple of lines in the written notice.
    Good stuff Tom, yeah that's sort of what I had in mind really. You're absolutely correct about me working to find a replacement, in practice I'll have to do rather more than that if they're to have a magazine. With luck, my boss will realise that and not go too bananas. He may even look at it as an opportunity to save money.
    The title I work on, which I'd rather not mention here (don't mind telling you privately), is not a consumer tinker magazine - it's a computer retail trade magazine. It's quite rewarding in some ways. A major reason for deciding to leave is because I realised that I can do a lot better career wise and then do the only bits I find fun, as freelance.

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  9. sorry to ask a hard question here, but were you not out of work for a fair while before you got this job? Have you got something to go into before you leave?

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  10. Sort of, yes. I seem to have a nack for picking industries which are dying and jumping into them. I did that with the .com/online gaming stuff and I did it again with game development. I'd made the full transition into working in game development stuff, as you know, and my firm went bust and there was very little around in that area. I've always been able to go back into journalism but nothing turned up that I fancied.
    I do have something to go into. Otherwise I wouldn't leave. I actually really don't mind my current job. I really wouldn't go unless I was looking to do much better for myself. Which is the looking to be the case, particularly as I'm in the position of essentially cherry picking the stuff which I *do* enjoy from my current job.
    Note: All my plans on this resignation got scupppered by the boss being on holidays...

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  11. I had to chuckle at Jay of all people calling someone a job hopper. Why, if memory serves, didn't our very own bike mad speedfreak go through more jobs in a week than most of us have had hot dinners? :)

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  12. Well, there's good advice here, the bottom line is that you're not doing it to shit on them, you've simply outgrown the role. As long as you get that accross they can't really blame you. Especially if you're being nice about not just running.

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  13. heh heh, and I'd only just bought a mag which happened to have your picture in it :-)
    can't remember what it was for, but some article about PC's, with you doing a kindof guest-writer bit.Oh well, guess I won't see again you in that mag for a while :-)

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