How why and when to write a professional resignation letter

How why and when to write a professional resignation letter – a complete guide with samples

Hopefully, your resignation letter is the start of a new job, so it’s a positive note. You may have many reasons to resign from a position like a new job offer, a business opportunity, a bad manager, less salary, intolerant environment or you dad is very rich and don’t want you to work or maybe your spouse is working well and you just want to chill at home.

Jokes apart, whatever the reason may be, it’s important to write your resignation letter in a professional way that you will always have a good rapport with the company in the future. Remember: Even if you have a very bad boss, it’s important not to write anything which can be taken to court to legally sue you or make you suffer later on.

It’s very likely that you want to write a letter mentioning childish things to spill out your anger which was gathered over the course of your job but who knows, after a few years you may have to come back in the same company at a better position. So, by writing a professional resignation letter you are leaving a room for your next job or at least not shutting down your relationship with the previous company.

What is a resignation letter?

To make it short and sweet, it’s a notice to your employer telling them about your decision to leave their current job position. When you are giving a resignation make sure to understand what is your official notice period. Always remember one thing, whenever you are writing a copy of the resignation letter, “don’t assume you are never coming back to this company” this is my life experience, you never know what is going to happen in the future. So be careful.

What is the notice period of resigning?

The notice period of resigning is different in different companies, varying from 2 weeks up to 3 months. Yes, there are companies that ask you to resign and give notice three months prior to you leaving the job. So, it’s always a good idea to check what’s the official notice from your HR.

When to leave a job and write a resignation letter?

Now, this is critically important, when is the right time to write a quitting letter or a job leaving letter. Because mostly you can’t take it back once you have sent to your manager (exceptions are always there). Now coming back to the question as to when to write a professional resignation letter depends on the following points.

I have invented this method and I call it, a 3-point resignation decision. All you need to do is to read each point and check mark if the point qualifies as yes in your situation if you are able to gather 3 points, it means its time to quit your job, and if not, maybe rethink about what you are going to do.

Read the following points and say yes if it suits your situation and count 3 yeses.

1. You would like to study further because you feel you need to study more to improve in your career.

2. This job is not letting you grow and learn for a longer period of time. 

3. Your manager is trying to cut your roots.

4. your employer does not care about human rights violation and you have faced some problems

5. It’s been more than 5 years, in the same position and same salary and nothing is changing.

6. You have been offered a golden handshake where you will be getting loads of money on the resignation.

7. You understand that this career is not for you and you want to change your whole career.

Resignation letter format:

The following is the simple Formatting of a formal resignation letter.

Your intent to leave the job:

Your internet is very clear that you are going to leave the company so make it short and sweet, do not abuse and do not say anything negative.

What is your job position and duration?

 mention the position you have been working and for how long you been working it’s always good to mention your manager’s name Under whose supervision you have learned a lot of things, 😉

Talk about good times:

 as much as you hate your job, there might be a few things you love about it. mention those lovable and cherishable moments just to make your resignation letter professional and sweet.

Offer help if required:

 as a good human being, mention that you are ready to help and support anyone who is going to replace you. Or you ready to have a proper handover

Mention your contact and ask to keep in touch:

 let them know that they can always contact you on your private number and if they require your assistance for any other better position. 

How to start a resignation letter

There are two ways to start your resignation letter:

Direct and straightforward:

After sifting through thousands of resignation letters we understand the best way of starting a resignation letter is to be direct and straightforward, you just have to mention your intent, that you are going to leave your job. This seems to be the most professional way of writing a resignation letter.

Emotional:

There may be situations when you have worked for a very long time for a company or you have a very good bond with your manager, where it gets very emotional while you are writing the resignation letter you may start with the good times you had. 

this also shows the emotional connection with your company and your manager.

How to end a professional resignation letter:

According to a survey, two of the most important parts of any letter are the start and the end. always make sure that your end is done professionally and cordially. even if you don’t like the company and you are never going to come back. Actually, nobody knows the future, I have seen many people going back to the same company they thought they will never see again.

Always leave room to come back mention your contact details and tell them that if they ever need you are always available. always finish the letter with a good note so there is no conflict later on.

Things to know before you resign:

 as they say, it’s a good idea to read your HR policies once you join your new job. there might be some clause rules which need to be followed while you are resigning. there might be a contract or training Bond or a proper restriction to join certain types of Companies.

 like for example, you are working in a petroleum company can you get a job in another petroleum company once you signed the offer letter and resign you get to know that you could not have joined any other petroleum company for the next five years as a job Bond now you are in a very weak position you have already resigned from your previous company and you cannot join your new company.

 there are many times when you receive training and you have to sign up training Bond this training might be very expensive so make sure that, the exit charges you have to pay are not alarmingly high. 

Short and simple resignation letter sample

Professional resignation letter template

Polite resignation letter sample

Email resignation letter sample