FREE The Dos and Don’ts of Proper Resignation [ With Samples ]

After months and weeks of weighing the pros and cons of whether or not you should be leaving your present job, the scales have finally tipped to one side—and that means you have finally made your absolute decision to leave your job. Good for you! It must have been a difficult process, just thinking about all the memories, friends, and opportunities you are going to leave behind as you wave your final goodbye to your colleagues and company. The thought of hurtling new tasks and new responsibilities at another workplace must have filled you with a rush of exhilaration. Indeed, it is not every day that you are able to go beyond your comfort zone and explore new territories. You must definitely be excited to start on your new journey in another company, but before you do so, you have to end things with your present company on a positive note. Don’t be in such a hurry to leave the door yet; you have to make your exit from your present company a graceful and formal one. To do so, you have to observe the proper process of resignation and send a formal resignation letter that succinctly states the specifics of your resignation.

Since we deeply understand the anxiety-laden experience of resigning from one’s job, we are here to enlighten you on how to resign the proper way. In this article, we present to you a list of dos and don’ts that would serve as your northern stars when you are going through the resignation process. Furthermore, we have some tips on how to write your resignation letter that can definitely aid you in writing a proper one when you are in such a hurry to craft an effective resignation letter. If our discussions would not suffice in scraping away the cobwebs of doubt and confusion from your mind, then you may download our resignation letter templates as your guide in writing! What are you waiting for? Read on below and download our templates now!

Resignation Letter with Notice Period Known

Basic Resignation Letter

2 Weeks Notice Resignation Letter

Resignation Letter in PDF

Resignation Letter for Personal Reasons

The Dos and Don’ts of Resignation

Dos

Are you now ready to leave your job? Perhaps you need some refresher on how to resign the right way? Here are some of the things you must not forget to attend to during the resignation process:

Provide a Verbal Notification before a Written One.

With all the enthusiasm that is bubbling inside you at the prospect of starting a new job at another company, it is quite tempting to simply send a formal resignation letter to your employer and never return. However, this is hardly the proper way to tender your resignation. You must perform the initial step of the resignation process and that is to verbally inform your immediate head or the human resource manager of your company regarding your decision to resign. While this step may not be considered as essential by all companies, you must be careful that you won’t forgo this one. Remember that you want to uphold the same level of professionality that you have exercised throughout your whole term in your company. Your immediate head and employer would definitely be grateful to you if you won’t surprise them with a resignation letter right away. Not only is this abruptly informal, but this would also cause a great discomfort to your immediate head as you are not giving them the opportunity to ask you about your reason for resignation personally.

Send a Formal and Timely Resignation Letter.

Sending a formal resignation letter is the next step after you have verbally informed your immediate head or manager. By now, you must be aware of the fact that most businesses and basically, all formal organizations are in the habit of keeping tangible records in their every dealing. That is why it is no exception that when their employees are about to resign, they would be required to submit a formal resignation letter. Submitting a formal resignation letter allows you to commence the resignation process in a formal manner. You can’t simply talk to your employer about your intention to resign and leave your job right away. That is certainly not how it works in the professional setting. Remember that when you first got hired in the company, you are protected by law because you are made to sign an employment contract. Hence, from the signing of the employment contract, you are vested by law certain rights against arbitrary termination and other unjust employment practices. It is then your equal responsibility to present a formal resignation letter so that your employer would not have to worry about future legal disputes that are wrongfully grounded on unjust termination when in fact, you are the one who has decided to leave your job.

Keep Your Emotions in Check.

During the resignation process, you have to remain formal and professional and avoid spewing angry emotional outbursts. When dealing with your managers and employer, render to them the same amount of respect as you did during the entirety of your term in the company. Some employees who are already about to resign often make the mistake of straying from the proper etiquette thinking that their reputations are no longer at stake since they are already leaving their jobs. Indeed, they could not be more wrong. It is exactly when you are leaving your job that you must exercise the utmost level of professionality. This is so because the resignation process is your last chance to leave a positive mark in your reputation in the company. Refrain from uttering spiteful remarks to your colleagues and managers. It doesn’t matter how justifiable you may think your anger may be, hold your tongue. If the reason why you are leaving your company is due to the way things are being managed, then it is better for you to zip your mouth than utter something. You are already leaving the company, the time for making reconciliations and improvements are over. The company can survive with or without your help, and if it is doomed to failure due to its wrongful practices, then that is no longer your problem. Your responsibility to strive for corrections in company policies and practices has ended the moment you have formally notified your superiors of your intention to resign.

Know and Observe the Proper Notice Period.

If you don’t already know, a notice period is the duration of time that spans between the moment you have notified your employer about your resignation and the moment when your resignation would actually take effect. Before you are tempted to tender an immediately effective resignation, take a pause and consider the consequences of your action. There is a reason why employees are required by most companies to observe notice period. The human resource manager or any company would tend to view an employee in a bad light if he/she would tender an immediate resignation. This is so because an immediate resignation would cause a disruption in the regular business operations because it is too abrupt for the management not to have a sufficient amount of time to look for a replacement or for another candidate who can fill the job position of the resigning employee. That is why if you want to keep your long-term reputation as a worker intact, you better observe the proper notice period required by your company. Check your employment contract and the company rules regarding notice periods. Most of the time, employees are only required to render two weeks notice.

Offer Your Help During the Transition Period.

Can you imagine the additional workload that your colleagues would be carrying if you won’t organize a proper turnover? Indeed, you may leave behind a string of disgruntled ex-coworkers who would want to strangle you every time they have to scour your company laptop for certain files that they would need in their daily tasks. Or worse, a project that you were a part of would fall into incompletion should you not leave a list of tasks that must be performed by your project mates. In order to avoid these situations, it is best that you voluntarily offer your services during the transition period. As much as possible, organize all the documents that are relevant to your tasks then brief your replacement thoroughly regarding his/her job functions and what is expected of him/her.

Be Consistent.

Nobody wants to associate themselves with liars. It is extremely crucial that the reason you would tell your managers would be the same reason you would tell your colleagues. If you told your manager that you are resigning due to your family’s inevitable relocation, then you cannot sound another trumpet in the ears of your colleagues by saying that the bad management is causing you to leave your job. Not only are you bad-mouthing, but you are also adding insult to injury by instigating negativity in the company culture.

Return All Company Materials.

After you shall have resigned from your company, you must return all the materials that the company has lent to you. These materials can include company laptop, cell phone, cell phone accessories, pen, notebook, tumblers, company stationeries, etc. Be careful that when you are returning all the company materials that were entrusted to you, there would be an official record of the person receiving these items. If you want to be sure that the reception of the materials has been done in good faith, you can always make a document enlisting all the items you have returned, the name of the person receiving it, and the time and date you have returned it. Ask the receiving staff to affix his/her signature in said document. This document can be useful in the future should there be disputes regarding these items.

Maintain Your Work Etiquette and Level of Productivity.

Even when you are merely serving your last few days or weeks in the company, you must still maintain the same level of productivity as you used to. Always keep in your mind that you are still responsible for your job up until the very last minute of your last working day. Show up early at work, smile to your colleagues, and respectfully reply to your work e-mails. You may never know this action could just earn you the confidence of your soon-to-be-ex colleagues. It is a manifestation of bad work ethics if you starting slacking off on the last few days that you are expected to work at your company; and being a worker, you don’t want your long-term reputation to be tarnished by the laziness you have exhibited during the denouement of your employment at a company. This would hardly play in your favor whenever you would apply for job positions in other companies in the future.

Simple Resignation Letter

Generic Resignation Letter

30 Days Notice Period Resignation Letter

Appreciative Resignation Letter

Final Resignation Letter

Don’ts

Now that you have a clear grasp of the steps you need to take before sending a resignation letter, your next concern should be in avoiding some common errors in resigning. For your convenience, we have collected some things you must avoid doing when resigning.

Don’t Blabber before Giving a Proper Notice.

It is considered as unethical for you to prance around your office heralding your departure to every colleague that comes your way. Indeed, you must resist the urge to share to your colleagues your plans on resigning from your job before you have given your formal notice to the manager or employer. The reason why this action is frowned upon is that companies are geared toward protecting their interests and one of the main concerns of every company is retaining their employees. When you talk about your new job prospects at another company to your colleagues, chances are the human resource manager of your company would catch wind of it. Managers and employers would become frustrated when witnessing such wantonly indelicate behavior coming from an employee whom they have trusted enough to hire and protect the company’s interests. This is so because when you talk about resignation even before you have given notice, it is almost as if you are inciting or motivating your colleagues to perceive certain inadequacies in their current work environment as well, which, in turn, would start giving them ideas of resigning as well.

Don’t Say Yes to a Counteroffer.

Usually, when an employee is a top performer, the company would find it difficult to let go of him/her. In such cases, most human resource managers and employers would make a counteroffer to such an employee by raising his/her salary or giving him/her a promotion. If you are a top performer yourself, then you must be ready to combat this type of situation. While it is not completely erroneous if you would opt to accept a counteroffer, it is, however, more proper for you stick to your initial decision and that is to leave your company. The reason for this lies in the fact that even when you would remain in the company due to a lucrative and beneficial counteroffer, it is highly likely that your managers or employer would see you in a bad light since they can see that it’s fairly easy to sway your judgment with a flash of money and a promise of promotion. Unless you have some dire monetary needs such as having a family member who is in dire need of medical and financial assistance, you must strive to resist any counteroffer.

Don’t Leave with Blazing Flames of Destruction.

If the reason why you have decided to leave your job is due to some relational conflict with your coworkers or with your higher-ups, do not add fuel to the fire by throwing spiteful words on your last day of employment. While it may be tempting for you to exact the kind of justice you think you deserve, it is highly unethical for you to express your anger in the office environment. Your anger would not help anyone and it would be better off for you to take your anger as a source of inspiration for you to learn to be careful in your dealings with your future workmates.

Don’t Use Informal Language.

It is crucial that you always remain polite in your resignation letter. Remain professional in your resignation letter and avoid mentioning information that is not directly related to your resignation. Surely, your manager or employer has far better things to do than reading your ramblings and unnecessary chitchats. If you want to evoke a sense of sentimentality from your letter-recipient, you may set up a chill-time outside of work after work hours. Otherwise, remain professional in your resignation letter since a resignation letter is a formal document; and the sole purpose of your resignation letter is not to encourage camaraderie but rather, to inform. As the saying goes, “Give to Ceasar the things that are Ceasar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” Biblical references aside, place yourself properly when dealing with your superiors and never assume intimacy by referring to them using a nickname or any informal endearment. It is entirely of no consequence that you have become close to your head or employer during your stay in the company. In line with this, always maintain a polite tone in your resignation letter as this is a mark of a truly respectable professional—to maintain civility even when one cannot perceive an immediate benefit from doing so.

Don’t Brag.

Have you just accepted a high-salary job from another company? Perhaps you got hired in a well-known and prestigious corporation in your industry? Well, that is great news! Indeed, such accomplishments are worthy of celebration. However, do not make the mistake in thinking that your soon-to-be-ex colleagues would be pleased with your new pursuit. It is better that you keep it to yourself during the time that you are observing the proper notice period. When you are still in your company and you are already spouting words of praise and admiration for another company, then that would likely lead to your colleague’s morale and motivation to nose-dive. Imagine the look of disapproval on your employer or manager’s face upon witnessing such an unfortunate incident? It’s definitely not a sight you would want to see as you depart from your company. Hence, shut your mouth and celebrate your new job by yourself or with your close friends and family.

Don’t Bad-Mouth the Company.

It’s even considered as improper if you would brag about the job offer you got from another company, can you imagine how wrong it would be for you to ostentatiously bad-mouth your present company? No matter how sour things may have turned between you and your colleagues or superiors, you must remain professional even after you have left your company. Once you start spewing distasteful words against your old company, word would come around pretty fast in the corporate world. It would only be a matter of time that your tactlessness can result to an indelible stain on your long-term reputation as a professional.

Now that you are aware of the basic dos and don’ts of resignation, you are now equipped with sufficient knowledge on how to write one! Go ahead and draft a resignation letter and commence the resignation process with ease using our time-tested guidelines on how to resign properly. Should you need a checklist of the things you need to remember when writing resignation letters, feel free to browse our website’s collection of informative articles that are prepared with your needs in mind.