Leaving a job w/o burning bridges?

I have kind of an odd question…

So at my current job the working conditions are horrible with my co-workers. They are a bunch of low lifes and this is not just my opinion. They have been caught bringing drugs into the shop and “warned” (basically a slap on the wrist. They constantly take advantage of my shop manager who is “planning” on getting rid of them.

I get along great with my shop manager but he and the owner are dragging their feet about hiring new techs even though these techs are costing him lots of money in bad work and bringing risks to the shop.

I applied for and was offered a service advisor position at a local Honda dealer. My question is what would be the most professional way to put in my “two weeks”. I know my boss is going to be very upset but he should see that I can’t pass up this opportunity.

My other worry is that he will tell me to leave on the spot, therefore losing a weeks pay for me, which wouldn’t be devistating, but not what I would want.

I’ve never had to do this before and I do get along with my manager as more than just a co-worker so I feel slightly bad but his procrastination of these work conditions forced me to look elsewhere.

I was thinking of taking the approach employers take when firing, letting him know as we leave for the weekend…

Thanks for the help!

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I have kind of an odd question…

So at my current job the working conditions are horrible with my co-workers. They are a bunch of low lifes and this is not just my opinion. They have been caught bringing drugs into the shop and “warned” (basically a slap on the wrist. They constantly take advantage of my shop manager who is “planning” on getting rid of them.

I get along great with my shop manager but he and the owner are dragging their feet about hiring new techs even though these techs are costing him lots of money in bad work and bringing risks to the shop.

I applied for and was offered a service advisor position at a local Honda dealer. My question is what would be the most professional way to put in my “two weeks”. I know my boss is going to be very upset but he should see that I can’t pass up this opportunity.

My other worry is that he will tell me to leave on the spot, therefore losing a weeks pay for me, which wouldn’t be devistating, but not what I would want.

I’ve never had to do this before and I do get along with my manager as more than just a co-worker so I feel slightly bad but his procrastination of these work conditions forced me to look elsewhere.

I was thinking of taking the approach employers take when firing, letting him know as we leave for the weekend…

Thanks for the help!

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Honesty is the best in my opinion – they will respect you for that.

I think that by simply asking the question, you know what the right thing to do is. It might be hard, but give the full notice and work hard for your remaining time with piece of mind.

One thing to consider, if and when you do give notice, be prepared for a counter offer. Would you ever consider staying if you could define the terms?

I once put in my notice and they wanted to keep me. I said that I did not think that I could work for my supervisor any longer. So, they offered me her job and “promoted” her out of the way.

If you are the one they want to keep, you wanting to leave might finally result in some real changes for the better.

Absolutely DO NOT give notice on the way out the door on your last day. My advice… man up, ask for a time to see him in his office (nice role reversal, eh?!) look him in the eyes and politely tell him that you’ve accepted another position with another company. Tell him when your last day will be. Do not go into details about your co-workers or bring up his lack of action as being the reason you went looking for another job. Doing so will likely force him into being defensive. Just focus on the positives… thank him for the opportunity to work for him and tell him it was a tough choice to leave but the new position offered several career growth opportunities you couldn’t pass up. Short. Sweet.

I would definitely recommend giving the 2 weeks notice. Down the road you don’t want prospective employers calling your former employers and hearing that you left without notice.
If you have already discussed the working conditions created by your fellow employees with your boss I would not bring that up again.
By letting your current employer know that you have an opportunity that is too good to pass up and keeping everything else positive you have your best bet for a good reference down the road.
Just my 2 cents.

I would try to set up an appointment with him that you will not have interuptions, and then simply tell him this is an oportunity you cannot pass up, you appreciate the time you were employed there, and you do not want to burn any bridges.

Stay away from any issues with personel. If you feel the need to bring this up, send a letter a couple weeks after you are at your new job and all is well. This allows you the time to step back away from the situation and look at it critically instead of emotionally.

Good Luck with the new position and I hope all works for the best

Ask for a meeting with the shop manager and owner. Politely explain that you have another opportunity that you feel you can’t pass up at this time. Thank them for all they have done and you fully expect to work the final two weeks.

Be prepared for them to ask where you are going and why. They will want to know what lead you to look for another job elsewhere. A generic BS answer should be OK. Don’t throw the shop manager under the bus if you like the guy.

Might mention that co-workers are a small part of the problem but you have always been interested in the other shop because bla, bla, bla. Never bring money into the discussion, it has nothing to do with your leaving and would only hinder things if you ever needed to ask them for a job again.

Good luck, it’s not going to be as hard as you are thinking.

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Absolutely DO NOT give notice on the way out the door on your last day. My advice… man up, ask for a time to see him in his office (nice role reversal, eh?!) look him in the eyes and politely tell him that you’ve accepted another position with another company. Tell him when your last day will be. Do not go into details about your co-workers or bring up his lack of action as being the reason you went looking for another job. Doing so will likely force him into being defensive. Just focus on the positives… thank him for the opportunity to work for him and tell him it was a tough choice to leave but the new position offered several career growth opportunities you couldn’t pass up. Short. Sweet.

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This is perfectly stated in my opinion. Well said James.

Under privacy rules, are ex-employees allowed to report that you left without two weeks notice? (On the other hand, it’s my understanding that in Minnesota and many other states, employment-at-will laws say that papers you likely signed when you hired on give the employer a right to dismiss you at any time.) Notwithstanding, keeping the door open for a reference is a smart idea, though most personel depts I knew will nowdays only give out confirmation of dates of your employment.

That first sentence should have read “ex-employers” –not “employees”

As a now retired business owner who employed about 200 employees I would always have been thrilled if people gave 2 weeks notice. No matter what their position was it was greatly appreciated. Sometimes an employee came in and could only offer 1 week and that was fine. If I was hiring someone from a different company I would expect them to give 2 weeks notice before coming to work for me. It is the classy thing to do and you will feel good about it.

Follow James advice and you will come out of this the best possible way that you can.

i totally agree with and have done exactly what james stated. with me being in sales when I gave my notice i was asked to leave in most cases. at least i gave notice. if you are asked to leave you can always start your new job sooner so the financal hit may not hurt as much. they also owe you any accrued vacation pay i believe.

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Absolutely DO NOT give notice on the way out the door on your last day.

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If you do they will always remember you and not in a good light!

Don’t burn your reference.

I’d just type up a couple paragraphs in a memo and hand it to him. Then just say…. “Let me know if you have any questions” and leave it at that.

-J.

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Absolutely DO NOT give notice on the way out the door on your last day. My advice… man up, ask for a time to see him in his office (nice role reversal, eh?!) look him in the eyes and politely tell him that you’ve accepted another position with another company. Tell him when your last day will be. Do not go into details about your co-workers or bring up his lack of action as being the reason you went looking for another job. Doing so will likely force him into being defensive. Just focus on the positives… thank him for the opportunity to work for him and tell him it was a tough choice to leave but the new position offered several career growth opportunities you couldn’t pass up. Short. Sweet.

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This is perfectly stated in my opinion. Well said James.

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X3

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i totally agree with and have done exactly what james stated. with me being in sales when I gave my notice i was asked to leave in most cases. at least i gave notice. if you are asked to leave you can always start your new job sooner so the financal hit may not hurt as much. they also owe you any accrued vacation pay i believe.

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In sales this is normal practise. Get the guy out the door A.S.A.P., they will attempt to take clients with them to the new job.

In a shop atmosphere jobs are done on a scheduling basis so notice is much more important.

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I’d just type up a couple paragraphs in a memo and hand it to him. Then just say…. “Let me know if you have any questions” and leave it at that.

-J.

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X2 least confrontational of all methods, if they want to address you at that time they have opened the door not you “attacking” their way of running a business. Notice is always appreciated in most positions, mandatory for integrity purposes.

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Absolutely DO NOT give notice on the way out the door on your last day. My advice… man up, ask for a time to see him in his office (nice role reversal, eh?!) look him in the eyes and politely tell him that you’ve accepted another position with another company. Tell him when your last day will be. Do not go into details about your co-workers or bring up his lack of action as being the reason you went looking for another job. Doing so will likely force him into being defensive. Just focus on the positives… thank him for the opportunity to work for him and tell him it was a tough choice to leave but the new position offered several career growth opportunities you couldn’t pass up. Short. Sweet.

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Well said

If they do let you go early, ask your new employer if you can start early, explain the situation. You may have a couple days in the training room watching videos, that way your first real day can be spent on the floor.

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Under privacy rules, are ex-employees allowed to report that you left without two weeks notice? (On the other hand, it’s my understanding that in Minnesota and many other states, employment-at-will laws say that papers you likely signed when you hired on give the employer a right to dismiss you at any time.) Notwithstanding, keeping the door open for a reference is a smart idea, though most personel depts I knew will nowdays only give out confirmation of dates of your employment.

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I deal with this a bit at my job, and all that our HR department is allowd to ask, or disclose is dates of employment. Basically they can verify that you worked there.

Now if you want to use someone as a reference, that’s a different story altogether.

may be a little late in the job search cycle, but if you can offer any more notice than 2 weeks is best. NEVER offer less than 2 weeks. If you provide more than a 2 week notice it makes it appear that you are really changing because of different opportunities rather then trying to get the *F* out of dodge.

If you can negotiate a start date at the new employer 3 weeks out, Provide a 2 week notice to the current employer and offer to work an additional week if needed (a week you would use as vacation week etc.)

Most employers for non-sale type positions will still only keep you on for the 2 weeks and let you have the 3rd week as your time.

If they let you go on the spot, then they just burnt the bridge, not you, and the bridge could have probably been blown down by a huff and a puff from the big bad wolf anyways.

Anyways, good luck on the new job!!

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I’d just type up a couple paragraphs in a memo and hand it to him. Then just say…. “Let me know if you have any questions” and leave it at that.

-J.

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This is the best advice. I have been on both ends and this will let you know where you stand. Face to face, that leads to “feelings”… and things can be done and said that could be regretted. You have thought through what you want to do, giving written notice of your last day (typically 2 weeks and 1 day notice) gives your boss/owner time to decide what they want to do. Face to face, can turn ugly fast….

FWIW, it’s not like your not taking a promotion, going from Tech to Advisor is a big step Good luck.. and remember, the customer is ALWAYS right

big G

James has my vote on best way. I was able to give 3 weeks notice. I worked for 18 years for a grain elevator in eastern Iowa. I set a time to talk with my bosses ( family owned bussiness) and told them I had accepted a position with a large plastics company (my current employer of 11 years). My main boss told me he knew I had been looking and had turned down a position with the State of Iowa as a grain examiner. He asked me if I would be willing to help them with the books until the new grain recordkeeper was up to speed. I agreed and helped them out part time for about a month and a half after I had started my new job, and a few times later when they had some issues with the spreadsheet I setup. I still have a very good relationship with my old boss. About 5 years after I left they decided to retire and closed the doors.

Lots of good advice here. I would just resign in writing and give no reasons why. Give an effective date at least two weeks out preferrably more. If they ask you for an exit inteview which is often SOP, kindly decline or go and say nothing but thank you I appreciate the opportunity I was given blah blah. They aren’t likely to fire you after you quit. If they no longer need you go fishing for a couple days and consider it vacation. Reasons for leaving a job can be many but the only ones you should ever say publicly is you made a business decision that is better for you and your family. I’ve actually been promoted after I resigned so sometimes resigning makes an employer think about how they can accomplish what they need to without you. Second guessing your manager and trash talking about people only makes you seem petty even though you may have legit things. Who cares if you don’t work there anymore.

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Absolutely DO NOT give notice on the way out the door on your last day. My advice… man up, ask for a time to see him in his office (nice role reversal, eh?!) look him in the eyes and politely tell him that you’ve accepted another position with another company. Tell him when your last day will be. Do not go into details about your co-workers or bring up his lack of action as being the reason you went looking for another job. Doing so will likely force him into being defensive. Just focus on the positives… thank him for the opportunity to work for him and tell him it was a tough choice to leave but the new position offered several career growth opportunities you couldn’t pass up. Short. Sweet.

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This is spot on. Also bring a letter of resignation with you. It should state your last day(two weeks from resignation), be signed and dated. Do this first thing in the morning!!! I never leave something like this to nag at me all day long. Also you don’t have to put in the extra day of work to get your 10 working days notice.

Also, not sure about your state laws, but if you give your notice and are asked to walk, the employer is responsible for paying you any vacation hours on the books. Every employer I’ve ever worked for also paid the employee for the final two weeks whether we walked them or not.

This is never easy, but look at the opportunity it’s giving you. Onward and UP!

One last bit of advice and this is the hardest. If you are kept around, don’t fall into the short timers pit. It’s a really easy way to ruin a relationship with your employer.

Keep it short and sweet. No need to be dragging out issues on your way out the door. Thanks them for the work. If your employer wants to get more details on why your are leaving just tell them you have found another opportunity that you want to pursue. If he keeps pushing tell him you dont care to go further into details at this time.

Sometimes you can do everything right on your side and your employer will burn that bridge for you.

Didn’t read everyone else’s post, but give a nice notice, and I’d say not to state any other reasons, other than job advancement, be professional and thank them for everything they have done. I don’t think it’s the time to vent about anything you don’t like, they sound like they know they have some issues, no need to look as if you are punishing them for those issues.

D, if they want you out the door, call the new place and tell them you can start early(I like that one). It looks good to the new place! It makes you look like a stand up guy, even before you start the job.

You never remeber the money.

Having done this a couple of times. The best is to give the HR manager and the Shop Manager a letter of resignation. You can find a number of different styles on the internet. Copy/paste it and taylor to your needs. If they want to talk to you before the end of the 2 weeks they will come find you. Trust me! Just my opinion.