How to Write a Resignation Letter
Slate Magazine recently wrote a very funny article summarizing the irate resignation letters that journalists have summitted. Here are some examples of the literary revenge these fired (and resigned) journalists extracted on their former bosses:
"Jesus spent three days in Hell. … I could only handle one."
—Richard Morgan, who quit Gawker.com after one day, January 2008.
"My ill-starred tenure at New York magazine was, among other things, a crash course in the staggering unselfawareness of Manhattan class privilege. … [T]here was the sashaying mood of preppy smugness that permeated nearly every interaction among the magazine's editorial directorate—as when one majordomo tried to make awkward small talk with me by asking what it was like attending an urban public high school, or when another scion of the power elite would blithely take the credit for other people's work and comically strategize to be seated prominently at the National Magazine Awards luncheon."
"Blogging at Newsweek was sort of like setting up your tent in a bombed out building. First the editor who hired me left. Then the editor above him left. Then the executive above that guy left. Then the editor who didn't really like me but tolerated me left. As a result I was left alone, which was fine. I kept writing; the checks kept coming. It was only a matter of time before the occupying army moved in."
As smugly satisfying and witty as these retorts are, it really is career suicide to submit a resignation letter like this in business.
A resignation letter should smooth your exit with grace. It should help you maintain the helpful connections that will assist with your subsequent career moves. Even if your boss is a true nightmare, don't give him or her the satisfaction of knowing she bothered you so much you were willing to sabotage your career with a final, pithy, resignation jab.
This newsletter article, Business Writing Etiquette Tip Goodbye Message, published in July of 2009 when job losses were increasing, is timely once again. Follow these business writing etiquette tips in this article for the concepts and language you should include in a resignation letter.
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