If you’ve seen the news recently, you know about the JetBlue flight attendant who, after arguing with a passenger, quit over the plane intercom and slid down the emergency slide with beers in hand.
It makes me wonder if I’d ever have the guts to just quit like that (not that I ever would). While it must be empowering to take control, being impulsive isn’t always a good thing, especially when it comes to leaving your job.
While those that are hot-headed may seem courageous when they leave their job on the spot, there are some do’s and don’ts when it comes to leaving to ensure you don’t burn any bridges (you never know when you’ll need a reference or who you’ll run into later in your career).
Don’t:
- Stop going to work altogether like Peter Gibbons from Office Space.
- Pull a George Costanza and sleep at your desk or in George’s case under it.
- Get naked at work. While it was funny when we would see Will Ferrell do it on SNL, it'd just be plain awkward in real life.
- Make a move on your boss. Really? Get real and get to work!
- Blackmail your boss like Kevin Spacey did in American Beauty.
- Take a page out of Jerry Maguire’s Mission Statement—make a scene, steal a fish and storm out of the office.
- Leave a cheese pita in the toaster oven like Ryan on The Office and set the building on fire.
- Harm your boss. While most daydream of doing it, it’s certainly not worth it—that is unless your boss is as evil as Mr. Burns.
- Use the intercom to announce you’re leaving.
Do:
- Do the classy thing and give two weeks notice like Sandra Bullock.
- Write a resignation letter. But hold back on the profanity, you never know who you’ll meet/need in the future.
- Ask for a reference. If you’re leaving on good terms, before you say your goodbyes, ask your now former boss and colleagues if you can use them as a reference in the future.
- Thank your employer/co-workers for opportunities. Hearing that you’re grateful for the opportunities you’ve had with the organization is sometimes just the ticket for you and your boss to part on good terms.
- Have a positive attitude—we can all learn something from The Truman Show. When Truman quit, he kindly told his boss “In case I don’t see you—good afternoon, good evening and good night.”
- Tell your immediate supervisor first. You owe it to your supervisor (even if you disliked him/her) to let them know you’re leaving before you shout it from the roof tops or in some cases over the PA system.
- Be apologetic. Even if you’re not sorry for leaving, tell your employer that you are sorry to go, but you just can’t pass up on the opportunities that lie ahead.
- Finish the projects you are working on. Wrap up what you can and clean up your work space just like they’re asked to do when they get booted from Project Runway.
- Offer to stay until they find a replacement. Besides, don’t you want to check out the fresh meat that they’ve brought in to replace you?
- Offer to help train your replacement. You want to leave your job in good hands and if you’re really lucky you’ll have a great training video to use like this 1980s Wendy’s Hamburger Rap.
