How To Leave Your Job On A Great Note

Sofia Imtiaz

So you’ve jumped through all the hoops: interviewed like a pro, impressed your new bosses and made it through the “get to know your new team” drinks without making a fool of yourself…great! You’ve signed the dotted line and now you’re ticking the days away until you start. Most job seekers think that’s the end of the line before their new work life begins, however a little thought needs to be put into how you leave your current role. While it’s easy to fall into the trap of facing your last days in your old gig with a “couldn’t care less” nonchalance, it’s important to leave on a positive professional note.

We’ve put together a few tips to help you to do just that:

Let Your Boss Know First

It’s exciting to know you’re leaving for a shinier more exciting venture and you want to tell your work-buddies as soon as. We get it, everyone has been there! However, do yourself a favour and request a meeting with your boss and do the right thing and tell him/her first. There’s nothing worse than word going around the office and getting to your manager before you’ve had a chance to tell them yourself. It’s quite disrespectful to them and it’s very unprofessional. Save yourself the awkward conversation and do it the right way.

Let your Colleagues Know

Once you’ve told your boss, then let the people you work with know that you’ll be leaving for a new position. Whether you have a friendly or strictly professional relationship with them, it’s appropriate to let them know so they can prepare for the transition. You can even send a mass farewell e-mail perhaps saying that you’d like to connect with them on LinkedIn. It’s a nice gesture that shows that you won’t be completely cutting ties and it could also potentially help you in the future.

No One Likes A Bragger

So you’ve let everyone know that you’re going now. Make sure you don’t sound overly excited about leaving your current position. It’s very unprofessional to start discussing all the negative aspects of the role regardless of your reasons for leaving. Remember that in an industry like IT, especially if you’re a specialist in a certain industry you’ll most likely cross paths with people in the future. You’ll also need to use your current company as a reference so don’t leave them with a bad taste in their mouth because you were letting loose bad mouthing the company or your co-workers.

A Comprehensive Handover

There is nothing worse than an employee leaving his co-workers and company in the dark. Make sure you hand over everything properly letting your replacement know of where you are with projects and the metrics of your role. It would be a good idea to volunteer to help interview and find your replacement as well. No one knows your role better than you, so who better to find a you 2.0? If you bring everyone up to speed, then you’ll make the transition easier for everyone and you’ll leave a good lasting impression. Don’t leave your job on a bad note.

Request an Exit Interview

Whether the company has exit interviews as part of their leaving policy or not, request one. Why? Well because it’s a chance for you to let them know that you were grateful for the opportunities received and also to give them feedback which always helps. You can provide them with tips for your replacement and share what you’ve learned in the role. If you do this you’ll show them that you were grateful for the position and that you were serious about your role there. This can only earn you brownie points!

Leave The Door Open

As mentioned before you never know when you’re going to cross-paths with your current co-workers or managers in the future. Things can also change and you may want to return to the organisation later on, you never know! If you do all the aforementioned, then you leave on a high note and you never know where that will lead. And even if it doesn’t, you want to be known as a professional and upstanding person!

Have we missed out anything else you can do to leave your job on a great note? Let us know in the comments.

How We Can Help

Contact us for a discussion about your next career move or to find out how we can help your business grow by hiring the best MS Dynamics talent out there.