"In Your Face!" = Resignation with No Grace

Last week, I was fortuned with the gift of a new employment opportunity which will allow me to finally wake up in the morning and want to go to work.

Monday will be my last day with my old employer, a large, national bank. While with this bank, I often felt like a ball-point pen spring in an aircraft carrier engine--that I could be replaced in a heartbeat if I wasn't operating perfectly in my sales role. I have come to understand that this feeling is extremely common in corporate America.

At any rate, my goal here is not to detail the "why" of my leaving, but to relate how important it is for one to resign with grace. Rather than going with your gut, making sure that everyone at your former employer knows you weren't happy with things, a well thought out and stylish exit will always let you be the bigger person/entity.

When you have to resign, timing can be a critical factor. Make sure to give two weeks notice, if not for the courtesy, at least you know all the HR nuances will be taken care of (i.e. tuition reimbursement, expense reimbursement(s), etc., would likely not be paid if you give notice in the morning and storm out in the afternoon).

Remember that very often your manager's actions may be due his/her manager passing down responsibilities--their just as much a pawn as you. In my case, I was feeling pressure and really wanted to tell my boss off but upon stepping back and looking at the situation, I could see he was being forced to "motivate" his entire sales force, not just me.

I can easily recall a few times that I had penned some choice words to my boss, making sure I was going to CC the entire company. You have to ask yourself: would I ever get hired if word got to a prospective employer that I told off my boss? I think we all know the answer to that.

As much as the following resignation letter makes me want to retch, this is what I gave to my boss (AFTER I spoke with him and told him of my plans):

Dear _________,