How to Prepare to Quit Your Job

Ready to quit? Can’t face another day in the office (virtual or otherwise)? Is quiet-quitting(Opens in a new window) just not cutting it? You’re not alone. 

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics(Opens in a new window), more than 4 million people quit their job in June 2022 and a recent McKinsey report(Opens in a new window) found that 40% of people in six countries are planning to join the Great Resignation before the year is out. 

That’s a lot of unhappy people. If you’re one of them, we get it. Most of us managed to keep it together, remotely, during COVID, but now some employers are getting tough and demanding we get off the couch and back into the office. Apple just announced(Opens in a new window) a stern Return to the Office (RTO) policy, and there’s a stream of disgruntled employees venting on Reddit(Opens in a new window) already. 

But before you hand in your notice, scan through these steps. There are things to do to protect yourself and technology tactics to deploy.

Before You Hand in Your Notice

(Credit: Getty Images/CreativaImages)

Get in the Right Headspace

Quitting is a big step. Don’t do it hastily. Write a list of pros and cons for quitting versus staying. Go through it with someone you trust. If you’re feeling resentful, mad, or frustrated about certain situations, talk it out with a professional, or risk taking that mindset into your next job (and repeating the same experience over and over again). Even if the job didn’t work out the way you planned, perhaps you got some good things out of it—people you met, certifications achieved (and paid for), and basic life upgrades (new car, dental work, vacations). 

Keep It to Yourself

First, only tell people you truly trust, and definitely NOT your workmates. Why? Because either they’ll snitch on you to win points with management, or persuade you to stick with them in the trenches because they don’t want to be alone. If you have another job to go to, keep quiet about it until you’ve given notice. 

Check Your Tech

Did your current employer loan you any tech during COVID (computers, headsets, microphones, ring lights, phones, screens, etc.)? If so, prepare to detach; they’re going to want it back. First, clean it up and remove anything personal so when you give your notice and they send a van round to pick it up, you’re ready. Did they give you any office furniture? You’ll need to replace that. Nothing worse than having a bad back, with a special adjustable chair and/or standing desk, and then being reduced to working at the kitchen table again. 

(Credit: Getty Images/sesame)

Clean Up Your Hard Drive

Before you even think about giving notice, look at your drive with a cold hard eye. Remove anything that makes you look bad. Clean up file names and remove copies. 

File All Expense Claims

If you need reimbursement for expenses, do your claims before you give notice. Got a corporate AMEX? Clear it before you leave.

Prepare Instructions 

Open a document and start making a list of everything that someone will need to jump in and do your job after you’re gone. Be kind. Don’t make them search for client names, details, passwords, or the intricacies of file folder nomenclature. Make a list and link out to everything to be helpful. DO NOT save this to the shared work drive until you’ve given your notice. 

Change Your Passwords

Using the same old and insecure passwords across multiple home and work accounts? You’re not alone; 51% of people use the SAME codes for both(Opens in a new window). Stop now, change your codes, and consider getting a password manager, or your successor might go through the history on your browser and log in to hijack your Facebook account or take down your sunsets on Instagram. (Adding multi-factor authentication will help there, too.)

PCMag-Recommended Password Managers

Save Contacts to USB Flash Drives

Save non-confidential contacts you’d like to keep in touch with after you leave to a USB. But don’t transfer to your personal cloud storage from a work computer—it’s trackable—and definitely don’t start emailing files from your employer’s hard drives to your personal email. That breaks every rule in the book.

Protect Your Reputation

If you’re in a client services position, or work alongside contractors, don’t disappear off the radar without preparing a reputation-saving exit statement. Draw up two to three short paragraphs to describe what you achieved at your current job, and a non-contentious reason for why you’re leaving (save the rage and resentments for your therapist). Once you’ve handed in your notice (nope, still not there, keep reading before you do that), offer this to your boss and HR department. It’s up to them whether they use it. But at least you tried to salvage your reputation. If you don’t do this, you’re at the mercy of their “Yeah, they quit, no idea what they’re doing” trash talk.

Get Lawyered Up

Worried it might get nasty? Ask around—very discreetly—for recommendations on attorneys. Before you schedule a preliminary phone/video call (this should be a quick, free consultation done before or after work), document any issues you might have (workplace harassment, toxic work environment, discrimination) and have copies of signed non-competes and NDAs. Go back to your offer letter; you probably signed a bunch of stuff you’ve long forgotten. Now is the time to review exactly what you did sign. Let the attorney know when you’re planning on giving notice. They will outline what to do should something go awry. Most attorneys work on contingency for employment-related cases. You shouldn’t have to pay anything upfront. They take a percentage of what they get for you in financial settlements later on. 

LinkedIn Prep

Ensure that your profiles across all social media and professional sites (LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, GitHub, Indeed, etc.) are managed via a personal email, not your current work email (because you’re about to lose that one) and that your contact information is up to date.

Sign Up for Job Sites

If you’re quitting because you can’t take it anymore, but you don’t have another job to go to yet, sign up for profiles on job-seeking sites, but don’t activate the #OpenToWork sign yet.

Write a Resignation Letter

Keep it simple. You want to take any emotion out of this part, even if you’re inwardly fuming from maltreatment or can’t wait to slam the metaphorical door in their face. Something like this:

Dear
I am writing to inform you that I have decided to leave . [IF YOU LIKED WORKING THERE] Thank you again for the opportunity to work here, I’ve learned a great deal and, I hope, have been a productive member of staff. [IF YOU HATED WORKING THERE – SKIP THAT PART] Please accept this as my two weeks’ notice. My last day of employment will be . If there’s anything I can do to assist with the transition to a new , please let me know.

Clean Up Your Inbox

Unsubscribe from anything potentially embarrassing and re-route all your favorite podcast and newsletter updates to your personal email from now on. Delete anything your successor doesn’t need to do your job once you’re gone. 

Today’s the Day

(Credit: Getty Images/Martin Barraud)

• Ready? Okay. Send/hand in your notice. Take a deep breath. Duck inside your cubicle in case of flying staplers. Breathe before you pick up the phone if the boss calls you to vent. Don’t gloat. Avoid trashing your cube. You’ve still got two weeks to weather the storm. 

• Worst-case scenario: Be prepared. Once you send that two weeks’ notice, they might lock you out of the computer system, shut down your email, and disconnect your phone. That’s why you’ve already transferred your contacts to your personal device and have an attorney on speed-dial. Call them. Tell them what happened and ask for next steps. If HR sends security in to escort you from the building, just grab your bag and go.  

After the Two-Week Notice: Plan of Action

(Credit: Getty Images/Morsa Images)

• Email auto-response: If it went okay, and they want you to work out your notice, check with your boss and/or HR how they want you to handle in-bound emails during your notice period and then once you’re gone. Some companies like a polite outbound message and details of who to contact now, or next. Others will instantly switch admin privileges to someone else who’ll then (unless you cleaned up your act) have an insider view on how much you slacked off listening to podcast updates.  

• Be nice: On your last day, work until the appointed hour, don’t slack off. You need these people to give you a good reference. If they throw you a farewell bash with a cake and speeches (IRL or, god forbid, on Zoom), grin and bear it. You’re almost home free. On the way out, don’t forget to switch your email to the agreed outbound message and don’t steal any office supplies.    

Day-One Freedom Plan

(Credit: We Are/Getty Images)

Congratulations! You did it. You’re free to be your own person again. 

Go through your LinkedIn and other professional profiles, change your employment status, disconnect from former colleagues there(Opens in a new window)—or on social media—that you never liked anyway (don’t worry, they won’t get a notification), and remove anything to do with your former employer from your feed that you don’t want to take into your next role.  

Finally, even if you’ve scored a seemingly dream job, it’s likely you’ll be quitting again within four years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics(Opens in a new window). So have these notes on hand, be careful what you sign on the way in (so you know what to do on the way out), and remember employment is an exchange of talent for remuneration. You’ve got the talent, they’ve got the cash. If you don’t like what they’re offering, it’s a big world out there. Be bold and prosper.