I'm Out-a-Here! A Checklist for Leaving Your Job

Changing jobs can be a real heartbreak or a true adventure.

Quitting takes guts, but it occasionally can jump-start a stagnant career. What if your employer expects you to compromise your own ethics? Perhaps you have already read the writing on the wall, as an under-qualified coworker has usurped the promotion you were expecting. How can you take your get-up-and-go and make your move?

Downsizings can be downright discouraging. If you suddenly find yourself written right out of your company's business plan, what can you do?

Whether you received a dreaded pink slip or decided to depart from your employer, a few basic principles apply.

1. If you have initiated your own departure:

Avoid the dramatic exit.

No matter how bad the boss may be, you will gain nothing from simply walking out. Whether you are resigning or retiring, you really benefit no one by making a nasty scene.

Be a professional.

Whatever your field of work may be, everyone will benefit from your exercising a certain level of personal maturity and ethics. When you do make your intended departure known, hand your employer a written letter of resignation. Put this in writing, and retain a copy for your own files and protection.

Offer a two-week's notice.

Make every effort to give your employer the standard two-weeks' notice. (Offer this in your resignation letter.) In most U.S. states, a two-week warning is not legally required, but it is an excellent idea. Although employment-at-will laws clearly indicate that such employees may be free from legal contracts or collective bargaining agreements (as with labor unions), your offer to stay for a short transitional period is a professional courtesy.

Be ready for your employer to ask you to leave immediately, but be willing to stay for a fortnight, if needed. In classified areas, or positions dealing with extremely sensitive information, resigning employees may be escorted directly to their workstations to clear out personal belongings before departing the premises.

Know your obligations.