Now that you have secured the job you wanted the time has come
to tender your resignation
In many ways this is the most difficult aspect of the whole job
changing process - especially if you like your company and colleagues.
However there are a number of things to bear in mind that will
make this a little easier.
There will be good reasons why you started to look for another
job and it is unlikely that these reasons will change so don't
feel guilty about resigning. Once you have your offer letter it
is best to tackle the resignation process as quickly as possible
- the more you let it drag the harder it will be.
Prepare a short, polite letter of resignation, if possible outlining
your understanding of your notice period and any sums due to you
under company bonus schemes or holiday accrued. Then arrange a
meeting with your line manger or HR officer as soon as possible.
During your exit interview there is a good chance that your resignation
will have been a surprise to your employer who may react in a
variety of different ways. If you are calm but firm in the delivery
of your resignation the process should go smoothly and it is likely
that you will be able to leave on good terms with a good reference,
which you ought to ask for during the meeting.
Your employer, however, may rely on some of the following techniques
to persuade you to stay:
- Promotion - you may have
been looking for another job because promotion hadn't been forthcoming
in your current employment. If it takes your resignation to
win the promotion then can you really view it as a promotion
on merit? Will you have to resign again to get your next promotion?
This is very flattering to your ego but very rarely changes
the reasons you wanted to leave.
- Counter offer - your current
employer may well come up with more money to entice you to stay
- sometimes more than you were offered by your prospective new
employer. It is necessary to realise that people very rarely
leave a job because of poor pay alone. It is usually because
of a number of factors and getting an instant pay rise (because
you put a gun to your employer's head) will not change the other
reasons you wanted to leave. If you accept and stay then your
employer is unlikely to maintain the level of trust or respect
they had for you before and it may be a long time before your
next pay rise or promotion.
- Ridiculing your choice of employer
- sometimes you will be told that you must be insane to want
to join the company that made you the offer because of this,
that or the other. The likelihood is that the reasons are just
"sour grapes" on the part of your current employer but if you
have any doubts at all then speak to us and we can answer your
reservations or put you in touch with your new employer to answer
them. Remember that you liked the new company enough to accept
their offer so it is unlikely that there will be any genuine
major issues to be addressed.
- Emotional blackmail - some
employers will be so desperate to keep you that they will try
emotional blackmail to persuade you to stay such as pointing
out how difficult/expensive/time consuming it will be to replace
you. Just remember that if they had looked after you in the
first place you wouldn't be resigning! They may also try to
threaten you with non-payment of bonus / salary / options etc.
In this case the threats are likely to be in contravention of
the employment laws there to protect you, even if you have a
contract with the company. If in doubt seek legal advice and,
in any case, do you want to work for a company that threatens
you?
- Immediate dismissal - in
some instances, perhaps when you are joining a competitor, you
will be immediately asked to leave. Don't feel dejected as this
is probably the best all round result - remember to ensure that
you agree your severance terms before leaving.
Overall, experience shows us that people succumbing to any of
the above techniques and staying with their current employer are
very rarely still with the company more than 6 months later. This
means that you have to start looking all over again and may have
missed out on the golden opportunity for you.
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