How to Quit Your Job the Right Way

You can see it now. You walk into the manager's office, bang your hand down onto the desk, and tell him or her, "I quit!" You storm out of the office, slam the door behind you, and leave behind an office full of astonished ex co-workers. Your courage is sure to be talked about for years, right? Wrong. It's time to snap out of the daydream. As miserable as you are with your current job, there's a respectful method to quitting and moving on. Just because you're leaving doesn't mean that you don't have to worry about what people think of you anymore. Your departure must be strategic and without controversy. Here are a few steps to getting that done.

Step One-Have a solid job lined up.

This is perhaps the number one mistake that employees make when quitting their job. Often times, the heat of the moment catches up with them, and before they know it they've told the boss to shove it and they're out the door without some sort of backup plan. If you're truly unhappy, then bite your tongue and start the process of looking for a job. Do not quit until you have accepted another offer. You need to have an official starting date from your new employer so that your current boss will have a timeframe to work by. Also, tell your future employer that you will need a two week notice to quit from your current employer. Don't worry about jeopardizing the feelings of your future manager. They'll respect your decision and it actually ends up making you look like a great employee. If your situation is an exception and you need to get out as soon as possible, then it is recommended to have up to six months worth of savings to where you can pay your bills and live a comfortable life. Take this into consideration before you storm into the office.

Step Two-Talk with the supervisor.

Another common mistake is for an employee to gossip to others in the office about their departure before discussing it with the manager. Keep in mind that this is the individual that gave you the position from the very beginning, so it's important to be respectful and give them the news first. You'll have the opportunity to talk with co-workers later on. Your manager may offer solutions and attempt to keep you on board. If this is the case and you're dead set on leaving, then be sure to thank them for the opportunity but that you've already made up your mind. Despite whatever hard feelings you may harbor toward the company, this is the time to put those aside and move forward. After all, your manager is the one that signed your pay check for those years so show a little courtesy.

It is also necessary in the conversation to let your manager know about your starting date. You'll be giving a two week notice and this should be plenty of time for your supervisor to find an individual that will take your place. Stay for the full period unless your supervisor demands that you leave sooner.

Step Three-Be respectful to your co-workers.

Let me start this point by giving you an example. I used to work in a real estate two-man team. We were partners for a little over two years, and he was offered a position with one of the largest real estate teams in the area. Naturally, he accepted the position. During the two weeks prior to leaving our company, he alienated his co-workers, including myself, by bragging and chattering incessantly about his great new position. He e-mailed statistics to me. He pulled up the new team's website. He showed me his new e-mail address. He did everything he could to justify his leaving to me by sprucing it up as the greatest opportunity in the world. In the process, he hurt our friendship and severed our partnership. If you're quitting your job, be modest and respect the feelings of those around you. Believe it or not, there are many people in the office that will hate to see you go so it doesn't do any good to stomp on their feelings by playing down the situation. Show that you'll regret leaving the people behind. You never know when you might come across them again in life.

Step Four-Keep working hard.

Continue to stay on top of your responsibilities. During those two weeks you're still on company time and it's important to follow company protocol. They're still depending on you, and you want to leave them with a lasting impression of professionalism. You'll want them to regret not giving you a pay raise or promotion for all of those years! Also, during this time you may want to look at the employee handbook and speak with the Accounting department about compensation for unused sick or vacation days.

Step Five-Begin the process of packing up.

This is perhaps the toughest part to leaving your job. It's sort of an embarrassing task to clean up your desk in front of your peers. I recommend getting into the office thirty minutes early or staying after the day prior to leaving so that you're not doing it on company time. Be sure to organize your files so that they're easy for the replacement to find. Your cubicle or workspace should be clean and left exactly as you found it. Don't take anything that belongs to the company such as staplers, printers, or anything else that was not bought by you.

Step Six-Make a memorable exit.

Again, whatever hard feelings you harbored in the past need to be put aside. I recommend sending out a memo or e-mail to everyone in the company on your very last day letting them know that you appreciate everything and it's been a pleasure working with them. I would follow this up at 5:00 by going from desk to desk and shaking the hands of every employee you worked with. This is not protocol. This is just a sign of respect. You never know when you'll need these people. You may go to your new job and discover that you don't like. Maybe you'll want to go back one day? Whatever you do, make sure that you exit the company as pleasantly as you entered it.