So today we're going to be talking
about resignation letters.
A resignation letter is simply a formal document
that you would hand off to your employer
to indicate your departure from the organization.
We're going to talk about when to send it, what to say,
how to format it, and then most importantly
how to deliver it in a way that's
going to preserve your relationship with your company.
Now I'm frequently asked, is two weeks
an appropriate amount of time to submit your resignation
letter before you actually leave your organization?
And by and large, the answer is yes-- a minimum of two weeks.
Particularly if you are in a leadership role,
I would lean closer to a month.
The more time that you can give your employer
to backfill your role and find someone
to replace you, the better off you're going to be.
Now I know that you may be in a situation
where you just want to leave your company,
and it seems like there might be a sense of urgency
behind that for you.
But what I can share with you is that it
will be worth the investment of time
to make sure that you craft an appropriate resignation letter,
and submit it well enough in advance
so that you preserve that relationship with your company.
Even if it's something that you don't
want to be a part of anymore, it's
going to serve you well in the long run.
And it's just going to create a relationship between you
and your employer that is left on a really good note.
Should you come in contact with any of your colleagues
down the line, you just want to make sure
that you're in a good spot there.
Now if you're interested in further advice on when
to actually submit your resignation letter,
click on this link right up here for more information.
So what do you say in your letter of resignation?
Well, the first thing that I want you to do
is put together a statement of intent.
And this is very simple.
The only thing that you have to do is include the statement--
I am resigning from my position at your organization.
And then I want you to indicate what day.
It could sound something like this.
Please accept this letter as my formal resignation
from my position as a Talent Acquisition
Specialist at ABC Company.
My last day is going to be Friday, May 29th, two weeks
from today.
Now you have complete control as to what other information
you put inside of this resignation letter.
If you want to elaborate further and provide detail
as to why you're leaving the company,
you certainly have the right to do that,
but you are not required to do so.
So if you do feel that providing some sort of context
for a reason could help you out in the future, maybe
for a future reference--
whatever it might be, then go ahead
and submit that information.
But don't feel pressured to include
that if you don't want to.
Common reasons that people do resign from their jobs
are going back to school.
And it could be a change in career path.
Maybe you're wanting to focus more on your family.
An expression of gratitude.
This is arguably in my opinion, one
of the most important concepts to remember when crafting
a good resignation letter.
Leaving on good terms is so important.
And so what I would encourage you to do
is really indicate to your employer
why you are grateful for the opportunity
that you had and then something that you
learned at the organization.
Now if you're struggling to find something
positive to say because again maybe
you're just ready to hit the road and get out of there.
What I would encourage you to do is maybe then
focus on something specific that you were able to take away
from the role.
Could this be a specific project that you worked on?
Maybe you had the opportunity to come across a mentor
that you wouldn't have met otherwise.
Or maybe that you learned something new
about your industry or about your sector because
of your time at this organization.
All of these things are on the table and fair game
to play so that you can still walk away from the opportunity
and close that book feeling good about yourself,
your performance, and the relationship
that you've made now that you've moved on to something else.
An example expression of gratitude
could look something like this.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn
from a team of seasoned recruiters.
And this experience has helped me
learn how to best support candidates from the beginning
to the end of the hiring process.
And I greatly value the experiences
I had while working with you and the team.
So offering to assist with the transition.
So when you do vacate your existing role,
it is going to create some stress
for your team, particularly your leader
because there's going to be someone that
is needed to pick up your work.
Now you are in no way responsible for backfilling
your role or assisting with the transition.
But if it is something that you are willing and able to do,
I personally think that it is a very classy and timeless move
to assist with this process and really
contribute to your legacy after you've left.
Now if you are willing and able to help in this area,
in your letter of resignation something that you can do
is indicate how you're going to be able to support.
So maybe this is hiring your replacement.
Or if there is some overlap of time,
maybe this is you training the individual in the actual role
itself so that they can ask questions and feel
as though they got right a bit of a ramp up from you
personally.
If this is not an option because you've already
left to pursue other endeavors, maybe what you do
is just leave behind some sort of a training document
that encompasses the projects that you've worked on or maybe
specific important clients that you need them to be aware of.
Anything in this arena is going to be helpful for not just them
but your former team as well.
And like I said, I personally do believe
that this is a really wonderful way
to leave a legacy at your former organization
by just stepping up to assist someone else in the new role.
An example of how this could look in a resignation letter
is something like this.
In an effort to make this transition as
smooth as possible, I intend to continue
building a recruitment pipeline of potential candidates.
I can then delegate all other responsibilities
to the appropriate team members upon your approval.
For more information on how you can best
spend your time after you submitted
that letter of resignation, click on this link
right up here.
How do you format your resignation letter?
So keep in mind that this is a business document,
and we just want it to be as professional as possible.
The easiest way to do this is to use
a very simple font like Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri.
And you want to always keep it at about 11 or 12 point font.
Starting at the top of the letter,
I want you to include your contact details.
So name, phone number, a good email address
that can be used after you've left the organization.
And then what I want you to do is begin the letter
by addressing an individual person that you're
going to be sending this to.
So if it's your existing leader or maybe it's
a senior leader that you're going to be sending this to,
just make sure that you begin the letter with a Mr or Miss
sentiment, or if you are on a first name
basis, that's completely appropriate to use as well.
Now within the body of the letter, just as a quick recap.
I want you to begin with your statement of intent.
I want you to then followed that up
with your expression of gratitude
or why the experience was meaningful to you.
And then I want you to offer any sort of detail that you can
on assisting with the transition if you feel that's something
that you'd like to do.
And then in closing, I want you to make sure
that you sign off in the most professional and graceful way
as possible.
So use keywords like, you know, sincerely, thank you,
best regards, anything in this arena
to just add some warmth to the letter.
And then I want to make sure that you
sign the letter as well.
So maybe that's just choosing a cursive type
of a font for this.
But this will just solidify the letter itself
and make it as legitimate as you can in a digital environment.
Now when you are sending it via email,
all you need to do in that subject line is just make sure
that you include the word resignation dash and maybe
either your name or the position that you're going
to be resigning from itself.
So how to best deliver a resignation?
This is a sensitive conversation to have,
and there could be some nerves going into it.
So a couple of ideas for you.
Before you actually submit your letter of resignation,
my personal recommendation is to sit down with your manager face
to face or Zoom to Zoom.
And just have a conversation and tell them the news.
This is going to be good for your manager
to maybe congratulate you or maybe just simply to better
ask questions as to why you're leaving.
It's very possible that they might understand
why you're leaving for a new opportunity,
especially if they understand and support
your career aspirations.
Something else that you want to make sure
that you do in this conversation is just
solidify a date of departure.
You might have a specific date in mind,
but they may offer incentive or reasoning
as to why they want you to leave in a different date.
So just confirm those details with your manager
and then make those adjustments in your resignation letter
if you need to.
Now remember, you don't need to disclose the reason why you're
leaving if you don't want to.
A great manager is going to understand
why you are leaving, especially if you do decide
to share that information.
However, something just to be mindful of
is that there might be pressure on that manager
from senior leadership to better understand why you are actually
leaving the company.
So there are details that you don't want the company at large
to know.
That's OK.
But I would definitely maybe keep them close to the heart
just so that you aren't walking away
having revealed too much information
that could hurt you in the long run about your departure.
So there you have it.
As a quick recap, I just want to make sure
that we are leaving our opportunity
with grace and with dignity.
And so to do that effectively, here
are the four main components to keep in mind when it comes
to submitting a resignation.
You want to give at least a two weeks' notice.
You want to share a statement of intent,
an expression of gratitude, and then
offer up any sort of assistance that you can
provide with the transition.
Use a formal business format for the actual letter itself.
Notify your manager in person before you
submit your formal resignation letter.
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Other than that though I just want
to wish you the best of luck in your next endeavor.
If you are in a place of needing to resign
from your organization for whatever reason,
I want you to know that that is OK.
If you need anything else from us, please let us know.
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And we wish you the best of luck.
Take care.