Making a Professional Exit

Once you decide to make a change in your career path by getting a new job, you are bound to be ready to immediately move onto this exciting new venture, but you will need to plan a professional exit from your current job to keep your good reputation. Leaving things unfinished and burning bridges can be damaging to your career growth and network. Following these three simple tips during your exit will help keep things smooth and professional.

Be Honest and Clear

When you decide it is time to share the news of your departure with your supervisor, make sure you are straightforward and honest. Do not leave room for confusion and make sure they know that your leaving is final with no room for negotiations. Be honest about why you are choosing to leave and when it comes time for an exit interview, offer useful feedback about your time with the company.

Give Enough Notice

After informing your supervisor that you are definitely leaving the company, it is pertinent to be professional and give them at least two weeks notice. Moving onward and upward can be so exciting and it is very hard to keep good news to yourself, but be mindful of sharing the news of your departure too soon. It is important to make sure you do not share news of leaving your job on social media or with coworkers before giving your notice.

Finish Strong

It can be easy to check out mentally once the finish line is in sight, but there will still be projects to work on and deadlines to meet during your last two weeks that you must see through. If there are long term or ongoing projects that you are currently working on, make sure to organize your work and all information to pass on to your supervisor so it can be redelegated once you are gone. Also, whether you were unhappy in this position or you received an amazing offer for a new job that you just could not turn down, it’s important not to bring down your coworkers with negativity about the work that they will still be doing once you have moved on. After all, you want to leave on a positive and good note, you never know when you may need a reference or referral in the future!