Quitting With Style

No matter how excited you are about your new job, there will very likely come a moment when you decide to move on to do something else. How can you do it in a way that won’t burn bridges?

Quitting anything may be difficult. You may feel bad that you’ve invested all your time into something that didn’t work out. You might have developed pretty strong aversions against your job and/or your colleagues and you may be ready to just bust your frustration. You may also feel like you are letting them down, that you owe the company your loyalty and you may experience feelings of guilt.

Emotions may run high, so here are some guidelines:

• Internally acknowledge all your good experiences – people you’ve met, skills you’ve learned, lessons you can take with you (even the hard lessons, like “some people just don’t do what they promise to do” are valid lessons)…
• Remind yourself that you are constantly evolving. You are different now from who you were before you took this job, you have different needs now, and you can offer different value.
• When you announce that you’re leaving, thank them for the opportunity. Do not say anything bad, even if you really, REALLY want to. All those relationships you’ve built are very valuable. If you burn all your bridges, you’ll lose not just the people you were connected to directly, but also their networks. You want to be remembered in the best way possible. People will forget details, but they will not forget the last impression.
• Wish them well. If you want to give them some feedback (maybe reasons you are leaving), do it from the place of caring from their business. (i.e. “I suggest you having a formal training program for the newcomers, which would speed up their ramp up and make them more valuable to the team right away.”)

Beginnings and ends are natural parts of any journey. You can see it like your graduation to the next level. Keep your head high and look towards new adventures.