You have signed the new contract, the relief is enormous, and the urge to march into your manager's office and finally say what you think is almost physical. Resist it. How you leave a job follows you - references get given, industries are smaller than they look, and the colleague you snap at on the way out has a habit of resurfacing three years later on an interview panel. Leaving well costs you nothing and protects something that genuinely matters.
Know your notice period before you say a word
Your notice is whatever your contract says, and it cannot be less than the statutory minimum - one week once you have been employed for a month or more, rising with length of service for the notice your employer owes you. Many professional contracts specify one or three months, and senior roles sometimes more. Check the figure before you commit to a start date with the new employer, because promising to start in two weeks when you owe three months is an awkward conversation to have with two companies at once.
Tell your manager in person first, or by video call if you work remotely - not by email, and certainly not by letting it leak through the grapevine. The written resignation letter follows the conversation; it does not replace it.
Keep the letter short
One sentence on this: a resignation letter needs to state that you are resigning, give your last working day based on your notice period, and nothing else - no grievances, no essay, no list of everything that went wrong, because it becomes a permanent record and your future self will thank you for the restraint.
Gardening leave, handovers and the exit
Your employer may put you on gardening leave - paying you to stay away from the office, and away from clients and competitors, for some or all of your notice. It is common in sales and senior roles, and it is entirely legal where your contract allows it, so do not take it personally if it happens.
Whether you work your notice or sit it out, make the handover genuinely useful. Write down where things stand, what is half-finished, and which fires are smouldering. A few things worth doing before your last day:
- Agree what will be said to clients and the wider team, and let your manager announce it rather than getting ahead of them.
- Return the laptop, passes and anything else that belongs to the company, and tie up your expenses.
- Ask, while people still remember your best work, whether a couple of colleagues would act as references or connect on LinkedIn.
Say thank you and mean it, even to the job that wore you down. The last impression is the one that lingers.