Greetings!
You love your job, you love your boss, you love your team…but…you have that nagging feeling that it’s time to make a move. You asked for a raise and were denied. You were just shy of meeting your goals and were denied a promotion. But you just really love your company!
What do you do when you find another job that sounds great, the people you’ve met are very nice and they will pay you a lot more? It’s time to quit your job and move on to the next opportunity.
It is not easy to quit a job you love. Even with a new dream job in-hand, cutting the cord that connects you to a place you have become part of can be one of the most difficult challenges you ever face in your career. While there is no surefire method, the steps below will help.
1. Be loyal first to yourself. Your loyalty is to you, not to your employer or your colleagues, no matter how much they have done for you up to now. Almost everyone thinks their own departure will be more catastrophic for their organization, its employees, and its customers than it will really be.
2. Don’t give more than 3 reasons. Three reasons are all you need to explain why you have decided to quit. Any more than three leaves you open to having the weakest refuted, allowing your employer to claw her/his way back to convincing you to stay…and human instinct is such that s/he will try to talk you into doing exactly that. Memorize your three reasons until you are comfortable with them. Make it short and sweet, don’t leave the door open to a counteroffer, and be confident so there is no question about trying to convince you to stay.
3. Practice. Say out loud that you are leaving and why, over and over again, in front of a mirror so you will have heard and felt yourself speak the words in a safe and unemotional setting. The last thing you want at the moment of truth is to be overcome with guilt or emotion. Practice with a few close friends, family members, and advisers. Ask them to help you state your points more firmly, with more authority, with less emotion, and to tighten up the message.
Giving notice can be a stressful experience, but don’t let that stand in your way of a better opportunity!
Enjoy your summer,
Linda
