How to Tell Your Boss You’re Quitting Your Job

The thought of leaving your job along triggers a mix of emotions.

There are a lot of factors you need to take into consideration in order to quit your work, such as: what will you do after that? How will your supervisors react to this? What if they don’t accept my resignation right away? and so on…

This is why you need to prepare yourself beforehand to handle any reaction you’re presented with to leave your job without burning any bridges or leaving it on critical terms.

There might be numerous reasons to leave your current job:

• You might be ready to take advantage of a better opportunity,
• You may have arranged another source of income,
• Your work does not interest you anymore,
• Office culture is toxic,
• Or any other reason…

Whatever your reason might be, you’re certainly not alone!

According to the bureau of labor statistics, a staggering 3.5 million people have left their job in January 2020 alone. And I don’t think everyone who was counted on that statistics, ended their job on good terms.

See, quitting a job isn’t always rainbows and sunshine as some people might imagine.

Especially the people who despise their job and/or their employer, usually tend to fantasize the day they’ll toss the letter of resignation to their superiors, blasting a bunch of F-bombs and get out that soul-sucking work culture feeling proud about themselves.

Some of common thoughts that might provoke them (and maybe you) on daily basis are:

• “If my boss talks to me with disrespect one more time, I am out!”
• “If I get a better offer somewhere else, that’ll be it!”
• “This job is not paying me enough, I should quit”
• “I am wasting my life in the corporate world, I need some freedom to live on my own terms”
• Or a mixture of the above…

But in reality, before you even think about quitting your only job, there are a bunch of things you need to take care of, all of which is mention in the article, How to Quit Your 9 to 5 Job Within 6 Months: The Ultimate Escape Plan.

Given below are the steps you need to follow to make this process as smooth and frictionless as possible:

How to tell your boss you’re quitting

1. Request an in-person meeting with your supervisor

Unless absolutely impossible, if you’re planning to tell your supervisor or about your resignation, prefer to do it by requesting an in-person meeting. Not by a quick, hasty phone call or a one-liner email.

Quitting through email or resigning to Human Resources instead of your manager gives off the impression that you’re ungrateful and entitled, and this matters more if your boss has invested a lot of time and effort in your skill development and growth.

The least you can do is to tell your decision to leave the company in-person.

And if you are concerned or scared about the fact that after knowing the situation, your boss will be personally offended or mock you or throw at fit, just know that resignations happen every single day.

You’re not doing something that hasn’t been done before, you’re not the first and you certainly won’t be the last one to do so.

Not to mention, but your boss might have been through this countless times, this is how the world works in the employment sector.

2. Send a formal resignation letter and two weeks’ notice

Before even having a conversation with your boss, you should be ready with a hard copy of your “Two weeks notice” letter.

Providing a two weeks notice is a standard professional courtesy in almost all workplaces.

This gives your employer a set time and date to process this transition and act accordingly to hire your replacement.

A professionally written “two weeks notice” should have the date at the top, followed by the company’s name and address.

Secondly, you have to mention the person in supervision as you’re directing this letter to them. Start off by saying the intent of this letter and mention the day you’ll be leaving the company.

Express a few statements of gratitude and show appreciation towards the company.

And lastly, offer any help if needed from your side to make this transition as smooth as possible.

That’s it!

A written piece has been provided below to show exactly what goes under this format.

Keep this printed hard-copy with you decide to go for the meeting with your boss in case they want it right away.

3. Be grateful

While resigning, carry a positive and grateful vibe with you. Thank your boss, supervisors, and managers for the opportunity to grow and develop in your position.

Point out the various way you’ve been inspired and motivated to grow in your field while working there.

Even if you’re unhappy by the work culture and the environment at the workplace, there might be something that you’re grateful for.

I am not saying there will be many but mentioning some positive aspects of the company and the guidance you were under won’t hurt.

These gestures solidify your professional relations as you move ahead in your career.

Points to Keep in Mind When Quitting

1. Don’t advertise until you’re completely sure

The news of you potentially leaving the company/firm in a few week’s time should be coming from you, not from your colleagues or your coworkers as a form of office gossip.

This can result in the withdrawal of important assignments/job duties from you even if there’s a chance that you might work there a little longer.

So if you’re weighing your options to leave or to stay, keep that to yourself until you’re completely sure about quitting.

And try not to spread the news of your resignation (if you’re sure about it) all around the office and ask your boss for 15 minutes of their time to discuss your future in the company.

2. Never bad-mouth your former employer or your colleagues

This is the most common mistake that people often make is they think that they have the final say at the end of it all, and they can get away with any amount of insults and talkbacks.

It might be pretty challenging and daunting to stay calm and stay within limits if you’ve been mistreated multiple times in the workplace.

However, words spoken in anger and haste may come back to haunt you later.

This has been an issue reported by various company heads and CEOs.

“Oftentimes employees fantasize about finally standing up to bosses or coworkers that have mistreated them, While this might be a satisfying fantasy, never quit like this. Its immature, hostile, and will sever any solid relationships or connections you’ve built with anyone at the company,” – Says Chane Steiner, CEO of Crediful.

Moreover, if you’ll be joining a different company later (if not right this moment), the positive recommendations from your former employer will help you a lot.

This is why you need to keep your tone gentle and positive, and if you’re not ready to be nice to someone in particular, at least speak in a neutral tone, no sarcasm, and no insults whatsoever.

Moving one from one place does not mean you have to do so by burning all bridges.

3. Be Assertive in your decision to move on

While getting ready for that in-person meeting with your boss, you need to prepare for the various sets of reaction you might receive from your supervisor.

It might not be a top-of-the-lung screaming session where he points out your flaws and shortcoming (God, I hope not), but they might ask you your reasons to justify the decision to quit.

And if you’re a valuable (-ish) employee to the company, your boss might present you some counteroffers to stay where you are or they might try to convince you to keep working by promising your growth in the company in the upcoming years.

Similar guilt trips are common which you need to avoid at all cost if your decision to quit is final.

Show assertiveness in your decision and if possible, explain to them an outline of your future career plans, and tell them that you don’t have any intention to deviate from the said plans.

And that’s it,

Telling your boss about your resignation can be a cakewalk if you want it to be, all you have to do is follow the points mentioned and try to get out of the company on good terms.