Giving two weeks notice to your employer to let them know you’re moving on to another company may seem like a dated practice, but it’s still an important step to take when quitting your job. If you give them notice, they will have more time to fill your position before you take your next job. But, why should you care if your company has time to replace you? There may come a time when you need your former boss to write you a letter of recommendation, or to give you your former job back, but these will be difficult to attain if you leave without warning. When you accept a new job with another company, there are a few things you should keep in mind to avoid burning bridges with your former employer.
Here’s how to put in your two weeks notice:
Do it in person
Putting in your two weeks notice may not be a dated practice, but doing it with a letter is, unless your employee contract specifically asks for your resignation in writing. When it comes time to tell your employer that you’re leaving the company, find a time when you and your boss can sit down and discuss your departure. If you do it in person, it will make for a more personal conversation and will show that you cared enough about the company to set aside the time and give notice. This conversation is also your chance to be diplomatic towards your boss and make the end of the business relationship clean with the possibility of working with the company again someday if need be.
Go to your boss
You don’t have to go to the CEO in order to give your resignation, but you should speak with the person with the most authority in your work environment. The person in charge to whom you choose to give your notice should also be someone that you speak with on a semi-regular basis and knows you by name. Going to the top of the corporate ladder won’t do you any good if the person has no clue who you are.
It’s important that you speak to the person you interact with who also has the most authority; giving your resignation notice to the wrong person can damage your business relationship with the company. If you choose to give your resignation to your supervisor rather than your office’s manager, then he/she could see this as an act of undermining authority by not going to upper management. You want to make sure the person you give two weeks notice to has the authority to process your resignation papers and look for a new employee, otherwise they will just go to your boss and he/she will find out second hand that you’re leaving.
Keep it friendly
If your reason for leaving the company has to do with a toxic work environment or a boss you dislike, don’t use your two week notice discussion as a chance to vent out your frustration to the person. You want to leave on good terms, regardless of how you were treated at the company. When your boss asks why you’re leaving, don’t talk about the bad times you’ve had during your current job, but instead, say you’ll miss the company but you were made an irresistible offer. Your boss has likely been given two week notices plenty of times in the past, so it won’t come as a complete surprise that an employee would move on.
Help make the transition easy
You only have two weeks left once you give your notice and it might seem easy to check out and stop giving 100% effort. Instead of just showing up, ask your employer if there is any extra work you can do to help prepare the company for your departure. They may need you to finish a project that you have half completed or train someone to take over your position. If your former company writes you a letter of recommendation in the future they just might mention the extra effort you put in, even though you were on your way out.
