How to resign professionally
Resign professionally by getting your new offer in writing first, telling your manager in person or on a video call before anyone else, and following up with a short resignation letter giving your last day. Offer a handover plan, finish or document your work, and keep your exit conversation constructive. Check your contract for notice periods and what happens to unused vacation and benefits.
Why it matters: How you leave shapes references and the reputation that follows you.
Steps
- Wait until your new offer and start date are in writing.
- Check your contract or handbook for notice periods, unused vacation and benefits end dates.
- Tell your manager first, in person or by video, briefly and positively.
- Send a short letter or email: your resignation, your last day and thanks.
- Write a handover document: open tasks, contacts, passwords handled through proper channels, and where files live.
- Save your own brag file and personal contacts, leaving company data behind.
- Keep any exit interview factual and constructive.
Stop and call a professional if
- you signed a noncompete or other restrictive agreement, or your employer threatens to withhold final pay: an employment lawyer can explain what applies in your state
Common mistakes
- Telling coworkers before your manager.
- Resigning before the new offer is signed.
- Using the exit interview to vent.
Teach this to someone
A one page sheet for showing a friend, a teenager or a parent: what to say, what to show, and one question to check it landed.
Teach: How to resign professionally
What to say
Resign professionally by getting your new offer in writing first, telling your manager in person or on a video call before anyone else, and following up with a short resignation letter giving your last day. Offer a handover plan, finish or document your work, and keep your exit conversation constructive. Check your contract for notice periods and what happens to unused vacation and benefits.
What to show
- Wait until your new offer and start date are in writing.
- Check your contract or handbook for notice periods, unused vacation and benefits end dates.
- Tell your manager first, in person or by video, briefly and positively.
- Send a short letter or email: your resignation, your last day and thanks.
- Write a handover document: open tasks, contacts, passwords handled through proper channels, and where files live.
- Save your own brag file and personal contacts, leaving company data behind.
- Keep any exit interview factual and constructive.
Where it stops
Stop and call a professional if you signed a noncompete or other restrictive agreement, or your employer threatens to withhold final pay: an employment lawyer can explain what applies in your state.
Check question
Who should hear first?
Answer: Your manager. Your manager hearing it secondhand damages trust.
Your checklist
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Related skills
Sources
This skill is general practice and draws on no single published source.
Written in our own words from the sources above. It is general information, not advice for your situation; where a professional, your doctor or your lease says something different, follow them.
Last reviewed . First published .