Etiquette For Quitting a Job

Violafy

Hi, forgive me if this seems like a really stupid question, but it's just not something I have experience of. This summer I received a 1 year contract as clerical staff in the public sector, and I've been doing that for 2 months so far.

The other week I received a late offer to do a masters course starting this September, as I'd been on the waiting list. I had been planning to wait until next year to do the masters after getting this job, but now I'm thinking that I should actually go ahead with the masters now that I have a place, as it's very competitive and I wouldn't be guaranteed to get it again etc etc.

To cut a long story short, I'll need to quit my job in the next few days to give the minimum 2 weeks notice required in my contract. I'm nervous about how to go about this; mainly that they'll be annoyed that I'm not finishing the contract or think that I was messing them about and was never planning to stay the whole year. I'm not even sure how to tell them that I'm quitting - do I say it directly to my line manager or be more formal and write a letter to HR or something? Basically what's the normal procedure for quitting a job?

Again sorry if this is a stupid question - I've only ever had really casual jobs before so this didn't really apply!

Stheno

Send a letter/email to your manager advising that you wish to resign.

Schedule a meet up with them before sending the letter/email so that you can tell them in person

micks

no such thing as a stupid question

Personally I would be honest

- tell them you got your dream college course which you had applied for previous and not expected as soon
- thank them for your time there and hope you can work with them again etc
- do so informally to your line manager and formally in writing to your hr etc

I have left several companies and would think i can go back to them all

never burn bridges
Ireland is a tiny country

Mrs OBumble

Violafy wrote: »

I'm nervous about how to go about this; mainly that they'll be annoyed that I'm not finishing the contract or think that I was messing them about and was never planning to stay the whole year. I'm not even sure how to tell them that I'm quitting - do I say it directly to my line manager or be more formal and write a letter to HR or something? Basically what's the normal procedure for quitting a job?

Write a formal letter, like:

"Dear HR Manager

This is to inform you of my resignation from the position of Clerical Office, effective from DATE.

I have enjoyed working with TEAM-NAME, but have unexpectedly been offered the opportunity to do a Masters this year instead of next year, and I believe that I need to take this opportunity while it is available.

Yours sincerely
micks"

Tell your line manager "Ahh, I've got some news. They've offered me a place on course NAME this year, even though I wasn't expecting it 'til next year. So this is my resignation. <<hand over letter>>"


It's not your problem if they're annoyed: they've offered you fixed-term low paid work, you've found something better and are moving on. That's what happens with low-paid fixed term jobs, it's not at all reasonable for them to expect you to stay. Remain professional and polite, no matter what they stay (don't burn bridges), but don't take their monkey (ie problem) on your back. It's fairly and squarely their problem - and they will have had temp workers come and go before so should be used to it.

ibstar

OP, have you thought about doing masters part time and keeping your job?
Jobs are hard to come by these days, and depending on your masters degree, you're not guaranteed to find a better job just based on your education (unless it's masters in a highly sough field like science).
Depending on the course, you can find masters which you can Finnish in 3 semesters part-time, while making money and gaining experience.

Violafy

Thanks for the helpful replies everyone. I do definitely want to quit on good terms - the staff have been lovely to me, so it's been a grand job overall. And also so I can possibly get a reference. :P

The masters I want to do is a vocational healthcare course - it'll be intensive and involve placements etc so doing it part-time isn't an option. And it'll give me a specific qualification after graduating - I wouldn't be so quick to quit this job if the masters wasn't going to lead to a specific career which I know I'll enjoy more than this current job. This job was just a way of saving up some money really, but I do still feel a bit bad for quitting what was meant to be a 1 year contract after 2/3 months.

So I suppose I'll just go to my line manager first and tell her face-to-face, and then I'll see what she says about needing to write a formal letter to HR etc. I always find these kinds of dealings stressful and make it out to be a bigger deal than it is in my head :eek: but it just needs to be done I suppose. And hopefully they'll be able to replace me with someone who really needs a job. Thanks again!