When to Resign?

Deciding when and how to resign is always challenge, so here are some common sense guidelines that can save you heartache, and even your job.

First and foremost, never resign just because you hate your job. It is always easier to find a new job when you have one, remember that currently employed job hunters always have an edge in the selection process. So while it might seem to be a living hell, if you have a job, buckle down and invest your frustration in executing a successful job search for a better opportunity; you'll thank yourself at the end of the day.

If you are engaged in a job search and that offer of a dream job is on its way, you can be tempted to resign, and sometimes even relocate, in anticipation. It is always a mistake to resign without a firm written offer in hand.

When offers do come, they invariably are made verbally first, sometimes in person and sometimes over the telephone: after varying degrees of negotiation a definite figure is finally agreed upon, at which point a formal verbal offer is made. At this point you are often told that your job offer is based on the successful completion of reference and background checks, and at the same time you can be asked for a start date.

It's a mistake to think that at this point everything is in the bag, and having given a verbal commitment to the verbal offer, go ahead and resign their current position. This is foolhardy, because job offers can and do get rescinded because of

• Less than stellar references
• Confusion over dates of employment, salary, and even name changes identified during background checks
• Hiring freeze
• Change of mind

And that is just the four most common reasons, there are dozens more, and while they might defy belief, they can and do result in less circumspect people being on the street without a job.

When you are given a verbal offer, for example, "John, we'd like to offer you $300,000 to start, pending successful background and reference checks; when can you start?" You need to respond in an equally positive yet sensible way, "That sounds great, when do you think the background checks will be completed and you can give me a formal written offer with no strings attached?" You use the phrase, "written offer" because when the offer is put in writing, it means that all the budgeting and financial signatures have signed on off on the job requisition. If the reply you receive states that everything should be covered by, say, the "22nd of the month," you can reply, "Assuming your checks are completed by Thursday 22nd and you can get me a written offer by Friday 23rd, I can hand in my resignation on Monday 26th and give you a target start date X weeks from that date."

The only sensible way to approach resignation is when you have a firm (written) job offer in hand, and not before. There still remains the challenge of how to tell your boss (with whom you have spent the majority of your waking hours for the last few years), that you are getting a divorce. Never an easy conversation!

More on resignation letters and what to do about counter offers...

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