Career · 15 recordsQuit your job well

How somebody leaves is what a former employer remembers, and references and old colleagues follow you for years. This checks the contract before anything is said, tells your manager before anyone else, writes a handover while there is still time to answer questions about it, and sorts the final pay, benefits and accounts.

Install this templateSee the others

Free on any plan. You will see this list again in the app, and nothing is created until you press install.

✦ Everything it creates

The whole plan, before you install it

Goal

Leave on good terms, with nothing left undone Week 4

Notice given properly, work handed over, final pay and accounts sorted.

Give notice Day 5

Contract first, manager second, everybody else after.

  • Check the notice period and anything owed in the contractDo firstDay 1
  • Tell my manager before anyone elseDo firstDay 2
  • Send the resignation letter the same dayDo firstDay 2
  • Agree what the team is told, and whenDay 4

Hand over Week 2

Written early enough to answer questions about it.

  • List everything I own, or am the only one who knowsDo firstDay 5
  • Write the handover documentDo firstDay 9
  • Walk my replacement or manager through itDo firstDay 12

Leave cleanly Week 2

The admin that is hard to fix after the last day.

  • Check final pay, unused holiday and when benefits endDo firstDay 10
  • Move personal files off work accountsDay 13
  • Ask two colleagues whether they would give a referenceWeek 2
✦ It comes with a note

Resignation letter outline

Dear [manager],

Please accept this letter as notice of my resignation from my role as [job title]. My last working day will be [date].

Thank you for the opportunity to work here. I will do everything I can to hand over my work smoothly before I leave.

Kind regards, [name]

Keep it this short. Reasons, complaints and negotiation belong in a conversation, not in the letter.

Questions

Quit your job well, answered.

It depends on where you work. In much of the US, two weeks is a convention rather than a legal requirement, while in many other countries the notice period is set by your contract or by law and can be a month or more. Check the contract before saying anything.
That you are resigning, your last working day, and a short thank you. Reasons, complaints and negotiation do not belong in it; the note in this plan has an outline to adapt.
Your manager, in person or on a call, before any colleague hears. Following up in writing the same day gives both of you a record of the date, which is what the notice period is counted from.
✦ More templates

Other systems you can install

Install it and start this evening

It takes one press. Everything it creates is tagged, so if it turns out not to suit you, it is easy to find and remove together.

Install this template