A short note is the way to go. Don’t burn any bridges, blah, blah, blah.
I hate resigning. It’s like breaking up! I get a knot in my stomach, which I know is a ridiculous response to doing something that’s good for me, but I can’t help it.
The first time I resigned from a real job, I didn’t even have to say anything. I walked into my boss’s office, and when she saw the big smile on my face, she said “Oh my god, you’re quitting.”
The next resignation came after the company I was working for was bought by some utter morons, who proceeded to horribly mismanage the business and run us into the ground. It was pretty much understood that everyone working there was just staying employed until they found another job or the company went under. One day my boss strolled up to me, and said, “I found you an opportunity…”
The opportunity ended up being not so hot, and a few months later I was resigning again. I felt kind of guilty because this whole venture was pretty new, and I felt like I was abandoning the folks there. I walked into my boss’s office, and told him I was going to resign. He looked me straight in the eyes, and said, “Me too. Let’s go get some beers!”
Resigning is easy. 
This is true. Also, don’t be a great guy/gal and give them MORE than 2 weeks, because if you have a vindictive boss, he/she can really screw with you. When I was just out of grad school, I gave what was about 2 months notice to the guy (formerly my professor) I was working for. He was mad that I was leaving, so he started taking stuff away; my office, my desk, everything. I spent the last 2 days sitting in the sample prep room.
I was young and stupid…
Clean out your personal items before you say anything. They may escort you out as soon as you give notice. I’ve seen it happen.
Make sure you have a job offer in writing, with the terms of the offer spelled out, before you turn in your resignation.
A resignation letter reads a little like a thank you note. No matter how god awful ugly the vase is, you say something nice about how well it matched the colors in your bedroom.
Since you bumped this, I’ll give you folks an update.
I told my boss at about 10-ish. He closed the door and asked me to stay and told me why he wouldn’t let me go. After a couple hours of closed door meeting between him and I and he and HR, he came back with a promotion offer (into a position I REALLY wanted) and a 20% raise, as well as a big bonus in the spring.
So, I’m staying.
I almost posted earlier asking how I go about refusing a job offer, but I ended up just having to leave a message (and she never called me back…is that normal?).
Oo, exciting. I’m glad you got offered something that should be a new and improved position.
How long has it been since the message? If it was just today it makes sense she may be tied up, or moving on to the next candidate. She may not have the room to counteroffer.
She probably can’t counteroffer because it’s union and government, so they’re kind of stuck with a small pay range. Yes, she’s probably just busy or something.
I’ve been wondering about this myself because I’m looking for a new job. Why? Because I hate my current one. It was easy at the job I had before this one because I had spent 5 fulfilling years there, but there just wasn’t much place else for me to go there. Everyone understood, though was sad to see me leave.
At my new job I’m a cog in a machine, and most of the machine is located 300 miles away. The day I get to announce my resignation from here can’t come soon enough, but I really have no clue what to say if they ask why I’m leaving.
I was going to say lack of challenging work, and it would have been the truth.