Bit of background: I graduated college in May and almost immediately got this crappy job working full-time for $7/hr doing data entry and other crap for an ambulance billing company. And I hate my job. It is uninteresting and unfulfilling, it’s giving me joint aches and chronic headaches, and I can’t stand the people I work with. After much deliberation, I have decided I just can not/will not deal with my evil boss and sucky co-workers any longer, and I am going to quit.
But I don’t know how.
All the jobs I’ve had before have been set time-period things where it was laid out beforehand that I would be there until the semester or break was over and then I’d be going home or back to school and that was that. This is not such a job, and I’m not quite sure how to go about getting out of it. Letter of resignation, perhaps? If so, what’s the standard format for it (can I find a template somewhere?) and what’s the best way to deliver it to my boss? How much notice do I have to give to get out without burning any bridges? Two weeks? 30 days? (Pleeeeeease say it’s two weeks… I don’t know if I can hold out much longer without punching my boss in the nose.) I’ve been working on finding another job for awhile and have some good prospects, so I’ll be okay in that area. I just need to know how to get out of the one I’m in. Little help, guys?
I believe 2 weeks is considered fair notice in most cases. I know in some cases, as soon as you give notice, you’re done. Some employers don’t want people who are leaving to hang around.
One thing that’s important is to leave on good terms. No “take this job and shove it” scenes. You will need these people as a reference, at least until you start your next job. Even if you don’t think your current employer will say a lot of good things about you, you don’t want to give them a reason to say anything bad about you.
Personally, I would try not to quit a job until the next job was a sure thing. Sometimes “good prospects” don’t work out the way you hope.
Definately make sure you have another job in the bag before you quit. Having prospects lined up sounds great, but it’s amazing how these things can fall through. Then type up a short “Too whom it may concern:” note and give it to your boss. Two weeks notice should be sufficient.
For what it’s worth, most hiring employers would rather see an employee give notice at the old job, because it means they’re as likely to do the same for them when the time comes.
Keep a resignation letter short and sweet. This will be the final record of your position at the company. I would advise NOT to state why you are leaving, just simply state, “This letter is to notify Company X of my resignation, effective on Date X.” You can include a brief thanks with the letter, but I would caution against going overboard.
My last job I quit, I had a dream beforehand about screaming at the top of my lungs, “You can kiss my lily white *ss!” I didn’t do it though. :dubious:
Huh. I’ve quit twice: once, from a miserable peonage at Blondie’s Pizza in Berkeley, where I basically clocked out at the end of my shift and said “I won’t be coming back”; and the other time from a real job, where I said “I quit,” and walked out of a meeting. I got canned from the next job, and I’m still at the job after that.
Yes,unless you can find it in your contract, ask the HR folks if THEY are required to give two weeks notice to lay YOU off. If the answer is yes, give them 2 weeks notice. If the answer is no- then just give them a brief note with any convenient day you want.
Be aware that many “loss prevention” experts advise firing any employee on the spot that gives notice- so be prepared for having your final paycheck handed to you and being escorted out within the hour.
Oh, and yes, already have the next job a sure thing.
I am hereby resigning from my position as a Data Entry Geek. I plan for my last day of work to be Jantober 45. I have enjoyed my time at Ambulance Billing Company.
Deliver it by hand to your boss. Unless you signed something agreeing to give more than 2 weeks notice (and unless you’re a high paid executive in the USA, you probably didn’t), 2 weeks is plenty.
Whatever you do, don’t write a 4 page handwritten letter detailing every single reason for your departure, and what a difficult decision it was for you, and how much you’ll miss all the love you’ve received from your fellow employees. It will be passed around as a source of humor after you leave.
I say quit with only as much notice as you yourself want: two weeks, one week, one day, ten minutes, whatever. Since you’re working a crappy data entry job, I think your risk of “burning bridges” is low. Odds are no one will ever call to check the reference and even if they do, as long as you’re polite when you quit, I don’t see them remembering and holding a grudge against a random data entry person who didn’t give a full two weeks notice.
If you want a really safe out, tell your current boss that you’ve been having wrist pain and are quitting based on your doctor’s advice. They’ll be so glad you’re not suing or trying to get worker’s comp that they won’t care how much notice you give.
Okay, I guess I forgot to mention – there are no “HR folks,” and I’m not just “some random data entry person.” The company is small. I mean REALLY small. I mean 5 people in the whole office kinda small. My boss is the CEO and owner, and there are three other people in the office, one of whom is her son, one of whom is a personal friend of hers who actually lives in the office (he’s in a wheelchair and couldn’t find an apartment anywhere convenient) and the last of whom lives next door to her, approximately 30 yards down the street from the office. We just hired a new part-time guy who’ll be going full-time soon, but he needs a lot of training. I am essentially the only data inputter for the entire company – I can barely keep up with the work I have now, and we’re acquiring more contracts in the near future. If I leave with no notice, they’ll pretty much be screwed until they can find someone else and train them.
So I don’t know if that makes a difference… that I’m not just some nameless data imputter in this big corporation. The company is tiny, and I have no idea how my boss will react when I quit, but it’s not going to be a “just get out.” situation, I’m fairly certain.
Be nice, say “two weeks,” mumble some reason about your hurting wrists (good idea Giraffe) and see what they say.
I’ve quit two jobs, both by giving 2 weeks’ notice. I never was escorted out after turning in my letter of resignation. They milked me for all 2 weeks and would have had me work longer, if I’d agreed. I had to be firm with the first job—I would have been working “just one more day” for months (I believe) if I hadn’t put my foot down.
Two weeks, make it a clean break. Everyone knows that two weeks is the standard. Get another job lined up first though. Then the “just one more day” line (if that’s what you get from these employers) won’t fly. In “just one more day” you’ll be at your new job and absolutely will not be available. (Even if you are available, say you are not. Cut the cord.)
Well, what you describe sounds like a mom and pop store, or a family shop–and a dysfunctional one at that, if an employee is actually living on the premises. It sounds like you have the power to shut this little business down. The question is, Do they deserve that? Obviously (I hope!) when you started there in May as a new young grad they didn’t expect you to stay forever. Why not have an honest talk with the CEO? Tell the owner that you are interested in working for a larger enterprise with more opportunity for training and advancement and ask for her advice. If she fires you on the spot, problem solved. If she asks you to stay long enough to train your replacement, that opens some room for negotiation. Maybe you could get a flexible schedule that would make it easier for you to job hunt during the day. Maybe you could work part-time to maintain some income while you look for your next job. It sounds like they need you more than you need them. You could use that to your advantage. (And I dunno about claiming you need to leave on medical grounds. Why lie? Wanting a better job is a perfectly valid reason to quit.)
But if you leave this job abruptly it won’t be like vacating a cubicle at IBM. It will hurt them and they will take it personally, and anybody who calls them for a reference will get an earful about you. I suggest working with them so they’ll work with you.
You are in PA, which is a state that you don’t have to give any notice in, unless you signed a different contract. Tell 'em two weeks, don’t provide a reason, and walk. Its more than you have to give them.
I only quit once, but I didn’t even bother with a letter. I simply sat down with my boss and explained the reasons I had to quit, and that this was my two weeks notice. It was totally amicable (I had nothing against the boss or co-workers, there were just extenuating circumstances for why I couldn’t work there anymore.) If I was quitting because I actually didn’t like the place, I would probably use a letter instead. Especially if I didn’t like the boss.
In spite of any advice about how to quit, you may one day find yourself in a situation such as I was…
About four months after I quit my last job, I received a letter in the mail from an “independent PR company” wanting to know why I had quit. Apparently the company, who is nationwide, has an extreemely high turnover rate and the company has now hired another company to find out why. “Give us your honest opinion of your working conditions and why you left,” they said. So I did. In four pages, I told them of the sexual harrassment (of which, when the company found out about before I left, did absolutely nothing), the hostile working environment of other employees that I witnessed, etc.
I would loved to have been a fly on the wall when the PR company received my letter. And yes, I did sign it (with my actual name, no less). Even if I needed to use my former employer as a reference (which I don’t), there would legally be very limited information they could divulge without staring a major lawsuit in the face.
