Congrats! You just landed a new job that’s going to take your career to the next level. After the initial excitement, you realize you need to tell your current employer. Will your boss be mad? What will your coworkers think? We’ve come up with a few tips to help you navigate this bitter-sweet time.

Resignation letter

Though it may be tempting to immediately jump ship, it is important to maintain a positive relationship with your (soon to be) former employer. It is standard to provide your employer with two-weeks’ notice before your official last day of work with them. We’ve created a short template of a resignation letter for your use:

Dear [your boss’ Name],

Please accept this letter as formal notification that I am resigning from my position as [position title] with [Company Name]. My last day will be [your last day— 2 weeks from the date you give notice].

Thank you so much for the opportunity to work in this position for the past [amount of time you’ve been in the role]. I’ve greatly enjoyed and appreciated the opportunities I’ve had to [a few of your favorite job responsibilities], and I’ve learned [a few specific things you’ve learned on the job], all of which I will take with me throughout my career.

During my last two weeks, I’ll do everything possible to wrap up my duties and train other team members. Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do to aid during the transition.

I wish the company continued success, and hope to stay in touch.

Sincerely,

[your name]

Counteroffers

In a last-ditch effort to keep you around, your boss presents you with a counteroffer. Though it may be a great pay-raise, perhaps even better than your new job, it’s important to consider many factors when deciding whether to accept the counteroffer.

It’s important to understand why employers make counteroffers. It’s easy to take it as flattery to be offered a higher salary, but if your employer truly valued you, they would have offered you a raise before you delivered your resignation letter.

Most of the time, employers use counteroffers as a way to buy time to find your replacement before letting you go. Loyalty has been breached- no employer wants to have an employee that tried to leave the company.

Our Advice? Don’t take the bait. Studies show that the vast majority of people that accept counter-offers are either terminated or resign within 6-12 months. Respectfully decline the counteroffer and carry out your final two weeks of work.

If you have any questions or would like more information about our services, please contact us here.

_linkedin_partner_id = "4092476"; window._linkedin_data_partner_ids = window._linkedin_data_partner_ids || []; window._linkedin_data_partner_ids.push(_linkedin_partner_id); (function(l) { if (!l){window.lintrk = function(a,b){window.lintrk.q.push([a,b])}; window.lintrk.q=[]} var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; var b = document.createElement("script"); b.type = "text/javascript";b.async = true; b.src = "https://snap.licdn.com/li.lms-analytics/insight.min.js"; s.parentNode.insertBefore(b, s);})(window.lintrk);