So you’ve decided to quit your job? First of all, regardless of your reason for quitting - congratulations on taking a huge step toward your career and challenging yourself to grow more!

I recently quit my first job out of college and it was one of the toughest decisions I’ve made to date. This is one of those topics that (yet again) not a lot of people talk about. How do you actually quit your job? I’ve laid out a simple 7-step process you can follow when you’re ready to make that decision.

Step 1: Understand your reason

Whether you’re seeking a new opportunity, taking a career break, moving cities, or simply escaping work you don’t enjoy, the first step is to evaluate your reasoning. Why is it that you’re looking to quit? For me, it added up to be a few key reasons:

I was reaching my learning + growth potential in my current role and was looking for a change
I had little to no time to explore new opportunities I was interested in
I knew that staying in my role was keeping me comfortable. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I knew I was ready for the next challenge

Write down what your reasons were and ask yourself: Are there other options besides quitting completely you can look into? Lots of companies have benefits that include PTO, Leave of Absence, and other types of leaves. Talk to your manager or explore employee resource pages to see all of your options.

Personally, the alternatives weren't what I was looking for, and I proceeded with my resignation. In my case, I didn’t have an existing role lined up and I was looking to take a career sabbatical. Next, be sure to calculate your finances to ensure you’re ready for what’s next. I ran my numbers to figure out how much I spend each month and saved up 4-6 months' worth of runway in a high yield savings account.

Once I reached my financial goal and was ready to make that decision, I set up a call with my manager.

Step 2: Let Your Manager Know

This was probably the most intimidating part of the entire process. My manager had been nothing but supportive during my time on his team and I didn’t know how to bring up my resignation. I ended up going on a walk to clear my head and asked a few mentors that had left the company recently how they stated their intention. Taking all of that into account, I created a mini script I can follow that went something like this:

“Hi [MANAGER], There’s something I wanted to talk to you about. This hasn’t been an easy decision for me to make but I need to put in my two weeks' notice effective today. I’ve been extremely grateful to work for the SP team and I can’t thank you and the rest of the leadership team enough for giving me this opportunity. It’s been a great year for us and I have no doubt we’ll continue to crush it. The reason I’ve decided to resign is to take time, a few months or so, to reevaluate my personal and professional goals. Part of it is exploring new industries, companies, and roles.”

After discussing this a bit further, I asked my manager what the company protocol was as well as the next steps.

Step 3: Follow Protocol & Submit Your Resignation Letter

Each company has a different policy and since it was my first time quitting any job, I asked my manager what the next steps were. He sent me a document from our employment page that required me to take an action on Workday to submit my letter of resignation. I ended up writing mine and submitting it on the portal and sending it over to my manager. Email me if you’d like a template of mine!

P.S. Be sure to create and aid with a transition plan. For each role I’ve left, I’ve created a transition document for the backfill to help my manager and the rest of the team out.

Step 5: Be Ready For The Unexpected

There might be a slight chance you’re given a counteroffer. At this point, it’s important to go back and understand your why. What are your reasons for leaving and does the counteroffer change your decision? In my case, my Sr. Director had offered a Leave of Absence option and that did not align with my original intention so I politely declined. Oftentimes, I see employees head over to a competitor for better pay/benefits and are willing to evaluate the counteroffer based on overall compensation.

Step 4: Share the News

When having that initial chat with your manager, be sure to also discuss a communication plan. I asked for guidance on how to tell my teammates, leadership, and the rest of the company/people that I’d worked with in the past. The first thing I did was create a list of people I wanted to personally deliver the news to either by calling or messaging. Then I went through the list one at a time and expressed my gratitude and stated my reason for leaving. It’s important to call anyone that is a mentor of yours. You never know when you’ll run into these people and you’ll most definitely want to keep in touch with your sponsors through the rest of your career.

Step 6: Send A Goodbye Email

Typically during your last day, you’ll want to send a goodbye email to the extended teams, colleagues, and anyone else in the organization that has been important in your career. Some things to include: gratitude for the role, company, people, and your personal contact info. Here’s a quick template of my goodbye email for you to copy:

"Hi Friends,

It’s bittersweet to say that tomorrow is my last day at [COMPANY NAME].

After 3.5 years of a great run, I’ve made the difficult decision to take some time to myself and explore other career opportunities. I have met incredible people and friends throughout my time in [VARIOUS ROLES]. I have grown so much professionally and personally all by working with so many brilliant and talented people like you. THANK YOU to each and every one of you for being a part of my life and career. Seeing our collective success has been great and I’ll forever be grateful for the opportunities I’ve had here.

This has truly been the best time in my career. Please keep in touch.

Phone: +1 [ADD PHONE NUMBER]

Email: [ADD EMAIL ADDRESS]

Regards,

[YOUR NAME]

[YOUR ROLE]”

Step 7: Follow-Up with Mentors

For anyone at the company that’s had an impact on you, I encourage you to stay in touch with them. Ideally, schedule a call with them every 3-6 months and provide any updates and insights you’ve gained. These are the people that are a part of your board of directors!! With the others, don’t burn bridges because you never know when you’ll cross paths again.

Congratulations again on this huge step, reach out if you have any other questions!

How To Quit Your Job Gracefully (w/templates)