
Ask HN: How much to put in a resignation letter? - outthedoor
I&#x27;m resigning from my job today because, despite exceeding our sales quota for last year by 25%, senior management informed our team that no one would be receiving any increase in compensation, a bonus, or a promotion.  Obviously this has had a negative affect on morale.<p>How much of that should I include in my resignation letter?
======
stevewepay
Put the bare minimum, and do not say anything about compensation, etc. As a3n
says, just say you are leaving, and when your last day will be.

When it comes to the exit interview, DO NOT SAY ANYTHING EITHER. It all goes
into your employment record. You don't owe them any honesty, so just leave
quietly and don't burn any bridges.

~~~
refurb
I would hesitate to deviate from this advice.

Think of it this way, what do you have to gain by being honest? What do you
have to lose? I think you'll see being anything other than polite and positive
in your resignation letter offers nothing but downside.

~~~
gk1
To back this up with an anecdote:

I had one experience where I submitted a resignation (two weeks' notice) the
same day as someone else in the company.

I said the bare minimum in my letter. When questioned by the CEO, division
lead, and co-workers, I also said the bare minimum and kept it very neutral.
The other person, on the other hand, decided this was their opportunity to
express their anger and frustration.

As a result, their last two weeks were full of tense meetings, shouting
matches, threats of lawsuit from both sides, and dirty things being said
behind their back.

Meanwhile, my last two weeks were easy, stress-free, and nobody gave me a hard
time. The CEO made me an offer to stay (which I declined), people were
spreading positive things about me (I heard this through several trusted
sources), and I generally left on a positive note.

The thing is, I felt the same anger and frustration as the other person. But
as the parent said, I knew there was absolutely nothing to be gained by
releasing any of it.

~~~
toomuchtodo
I've found the best way to do this is:

* Have a proper emergency fund (6-12 weeks). You should not be counting on any pay after you give notice.

* Have references outside of your immediate current manager

* On Friday, "today is my last day"

* Still be honest why you're leaving

Two weeks notice is a courtesy you're not required to extend to an employer
(EDIT: This is US-centric advice, please verify this is true in your non-US
jurisdiction), and you should only do so if you're on good terms.

~~~
Someone1234
> Two weeks notice is a courtesy you're not required to extend to an employer,
> and you should only do so if you're on good terms.

This is an international site, you should be careful giving out US "at will"
state advice like it applies to everywhere.

In the UK for example, you can in theory be sued for failure to give a
"reasonable" period of notice[0] (although in reality this nearly never
happens).

[0]
[http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1650](http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1650)

~~~
toomuchtodo
Thank you! I do forget at times HackerNews receives international viewers. I
have made edits to my posts to reflect that my advice is US-centric.

------
theaccordance
This is the body of a boilerplate template that I've used the last two times
I've changed jobs:

Please accept this letter as formal notification that I am leaving my position
with [company name] on [full date of departure]. After much consideration I
have decided to accept another job offer. My new position will enhance my
career growth and will expose me to challenges and opportunities that I
believe are in my best interest.

I value the professional relationships I have made with my coworkers, as well
as yourself. Because of this, if there is anything I can do in my last days of
employment to help transition my work, please let me know.

~~~
bjpirt
That's a good professional resignation letter - keep those bridges unburnt and
leave on a positive note.

------
a3n
I am resigning my position with $EMPLOYER.

My last day will be date(today + 14) % weekend.

~~~
joshstrange
Don't give your company anything more than this, they don't deserve any more
and anything else you volunteer can ONLY hurt you (Anything you say can and
will be held against you....) also you risk burning bridges. While you may
never want to work for the company ever again you might want them as a
reference down the line.

I tried telling the truth in my first exit interview and all it did was burn
bridges and make people mad. I wasn't even pulling skeletons out, I just
stated the facts for why I was leaving and when they tried to counter (Another
thing, NEVER accept a counter offer) and I refused they got all mad because
they thought they were addressing all my reasons for leaving but I was still
leaving. Don't give them that chance, you already know you want to leave,
don't waste yours or their time trying to convince you otherwise.

~~~
mystyk
"(Another thing, NEVER accept a counter offer)"

Over the years, I've heard this advice repeatedly, but with often wildly
different reasons. I'm genuinely curious what your rationale for this advice
is.

~~~
a3n
You already don't like working there. You may be able to identify one or two
reasons, but in reality it's the whole mix. The only thing they can offer as a
counter is money and a promotion. The promotion is just deck chair movement,
and they can't possibly offer you enough money to make you insanely happy;
even with the money, your future raises will very possibly be flattened until
you're back where you were, relative to the market. And the people and
policies and every other undefinable thing that went into your decision are
still there.

The managers may also be resentful and suspicious of you.

Lose/lose.

------
fsk
Get a new job first. Then quit.

Downside: You're in a sucky environment for 1-6 months longer.

Upside: You have a LOT more negotiating leverage for your next job.

~~~
simonebrunozzi
It depends. If you're "hot" in the market and/or if you have a big emergency
fund, consider having a 1-2 month mini-sabbatical between jobs (you can even
ask the new employer to postpone the starting date).

You will never get a chance like that. Of course, it doesn't always work, it
really depends on the situation.

~~~
fsk
The problem with quitting before getting a new job is:

There's no guarantee you can find a new job right away, no matter how hot your
skills are or how brilliant you are.

Also, you have less negotiating leverage when you're unemployed. If you are
currently making $X and you get an offer for $X, you probably could negotiate
for $X+10 or $X+20. If you're unemployed, and have been on the market awhile,
you might get lowballed into taking $X or $X-10.

That actually happened for my current job. The boss was considering initially
offering me my current salary, but I honestly said "I'm not so sure. Maybe
I'll just keep looking instead." Then he wound up offering a 30% rate
increase.

------
GrinningFool
None of it. A resignation letter exists only to resign:

    
    
        $TODAY
    
        To Whom it May Concern: 
        
        I would like to inform you that I am resigning 
        from my position here at $EMPLOYER, effective $DATE. 
        
        Sincerely,
       
        
        $ME
    

edit: be prepared, depending on the employer and the nature of the work, to be
asked to leave immediately.

~~~
bshimmin
There is absolutely no harm in putting in a polite sentence expressing your
gratitude for being given the opportunity to work at $COMPANY, and expressing
your best wishes for their continued success. But perhaps I'm just an overly
polite Englishman...

------
paulbjensen
I tried to give notice at AOL once. HR rejected the letter due to some
expletives, and asked for a revised version. I then submitted a 1-sentence
notice.

Lesson learned; don't swear in notices, but also keep it simple. Even if you
tried to offer them your honest view of how things were, chances are they'd
get filed in a drawer and stuck away.

It took a number of people handing notices day-by-day at AOL before HR clicked
that something was wrong, so at that point they invited the Sales team to the
NY office (the sales team hadn't been on an overseas trip before). It was a
nice gesture of the company; shame that the people got food poisoning on the
first night.

~~~
thirdtruck
What does it even mean for them to reject a notice? Were they going to insist
on paying you even after you stopped showing up, otherwise?

~~~
a3n
They did him a favor, and helped him not look like an ass in his file. He'll
exist as data for the life of the company, it may as well be neutral data.

~~~
thirdtruck
Good point. We hear "HR's there for the company's sake, not yours" repeated so
often (with good cause), that it's easy to forget that individual actors can
still act with above average altruism.

------
joshstrange
Only tell them you are leaving and if they ask you why just say something
about a better opportunity and/or you were made an offer that was too good to
pass up. If you HAVE to give a reason make it about how great of an
opportunity the new job is instead of talking about why you want you don't
like about the company you are leaving. You gain nothing from being honest and
you can potentially burn bridges and/or ruin them as a reference in the
future.

------
sjs382
You should include the fact that you're leaving, when your last day will be,
and (optionally) a sentence about your willingness to "help to make the
transition as smooth as possible".

Keep it concise.

------
amm
Never burn bridges.

Keep it as formal as possible and be polite. If you have an exit interview,
don't complain about former peers or managers.

------
jnazario
you do not, you never put something like this in writing. it can and will come
back to hurt you.

what a3n said.

------
DanBC
Keep it minimal. Resignation letters serve one purpose: a formal way to end
your contract.

You can tell them that yu are giving them whoever much notice you're required
to give; yu can tell them what you think your last working day is; you can ask
them if there's anything they want you to focus on before you leave.

Raising the problem of mot being rewarded for work done is done through other
measures, before you resign. You can mention it carefully during an exit
interview - "I worked hard, my team beat expectations, I felt devalued when we
didn't get the bonus." But it's probably best not to.

------
raker
As others have stated: Have a new job lined up before submitting this letter.
Make the letter neutral, and keep the frustrations to yourself.

You may be able to use your current employment as leverage as you locate this
new job. I was personally in a very similar situation, the end result was that
the new company wanted to hire me ASAP and offered a decent pay raise over my
current job; I put in my two weeks notice and revealed nothing. In the end, I
was offered a raise at my old job (turned down); months later they wanted to
contract me for some work on the weekend, and they've made it clear there's an
open door if I ever want to return. Requesting two weeks before you can begin
work (for time to put in your two weeks notice) to your new employer also
demonstrates your loyalty and stability, something a good employer will
recognize & respect.

edit: My resignation also marked the first of my team's mass exodus. 6 months
later, everyone I worked with has left, and they've got a completely new team.
A word of warning (at least in the US), you don't want to be caught trying to
get your coworkers to leave, and especially not to get them to follow you to a
new employer.

------
stpe
Not sure if this is relevant in your situation, but you say this "obviously
had a negative affect on morale".

Sometimes tough decisions must be made, so before resigning (possibly out of
frustration/disappointment) get the facts and the actual reason - and base
your decision on that instead.

(of course, if senior management actually didn't inform about the reason -
that might be reason itself to leave anyway...)

~~~
pluma
Lack of transparency is IMO an even bigger problem than lack of
acknowledgement.

It could be argued that there would have been other ways to acknowledge the
success in sales than handing out money (though depending on how this has been
handled before, that could still have come across as trying to be "cheap" and
have the opposite effect).

But if it's not possible to determine whether the increase in sale had any
effect on the overall finances of the company or whether the company was all-
in-all doing better or worse, that's a huge problem IMO.

I've seen business owners try to shield the actual finances of their company
from their employees to siphon more money out of it far too often to see
financial intransparency as anything other than a huge warning sign.

Note I'm not talking about the exact numbers. But if the company is doing
badly when every metric accessible to the employees indicates otherwise,
something is definitely amiss.

------
bane
"To <Manager>,

I've decided to resign my position as <position> at <company>.

My last day of work will be <2 weeks from today>.

Sincerely, <name>"

During the exit interview your reason for leaving is "decided it was time to
leave to pursue other opportunities."

Public leaving letter you send out to coworkers: "Hi guys, it's been awesome
working with you. I've met some truly exceptional people and you all have lots
to be proud of.

I've decided to move on and pursue other things, but I truly wish everybody
here the best and continued success and good luck!

Feel free to reach out to me at <personal email address>"

Your employers aren't stupid and people leaving right after they decided to do
this will be an obvious cause and effect. Bonus, if they're contacted later on
by a future employer for a reference, your outgoing personnel file won't be
filled with bridge burning that could harm you later.

Everybody gets dissatisfied with their job at some point and leaves, it's part
of being a working professional. Learning how to do it in a professional way
is an important skill to develop.

~~~
getsat
This, this, this!

Even if you're very friendly with the C-team at your company, DO NOT GIVE
HONEST FEEDBACK. It can only hurt you in the future. I, myself, made this
mistake a few years ago, and now I'm always worried a potential employer will
ask for a reference from that particular employer.

------
jnazario
OP, i'm going to add another comment here to what i said earlier. before you
quit, go in and talk to someone in senior management.

ask for a meeting with someone senior, let them knows it's important. when you
get the fifteen minutes you asked for, raise you concern. it undermines trust
between sales and senior management, it's a big stress, etc. give them a
chance to respond. there may be a perfectly sound reason for it - the money
may piss you off but it may also mean the business can stay around longer for
everyone.

if you don't like what you hear, pull out your short letter of resignation,
sign it, and hand it over. don't make a stink, just say, "i'm sorry, i don't
think i can do this. i have to resign."

but you gave them a chance, you were heard, and you made an opportunity.
they'll connect the dots, but no harsh words should be spoken (no "get bent
you jerk!"). don't burn any bridges, but this will be a way to be clear about
what happened, and it may create an opportunity, in fact (who knows).

i hope that helps.

------
ccleve
Ask yourself what purpose you wish to achieve? Do you want them to change
their decision? Are you concerned that they might want to accuse you of
leaving for some other reason, and you want to document it?

Keep it short unless you want to achieve something specific, and then include
only the verbiage relevant to that purpose.

~~~
outthedoor
What I'd like to achieve is an improved environment for the people I work
with. The company is based in another country and the entire senior management
are natives of that country, despite over 50% of the revenue being generated
in my office. The lack of reward for exceeding quota is just the latest in a
line of disrespectful behaviors.

I have a better offer for a job I'm looking forward to starting, so there's
nothing I can do that will help me personally. It feels more honest to me to
be upfront and, who knows, it might help my colleagues.

I don't think being frank will affect my ability to get references from the
people here. Aside from that, are there any other risks?

~~~
ccleve
Keep in mind that an enormous amount of business is done through personal
relationships. Future job offers, sales, and other opportunities will come
from people you have worked with in the past and who respect you. So, focus on
that.

Keep the formal resignation letter short. It's perfectly fine to include a few
pleasantries (unless you plan to sue them for something in the future.)

Then, if you wish, have some private conversations with management and give
them an honest assessment of how they could better achieve their own purposes.
Keep the focus on helping them. Take your former bosses out for coffee they
next time they visit. Give them insights that they would not other get. Keep
up your relationships with your former colleagues as well.

That's the purpose you should keep in mind. It's more than not burning
bridges. It's about creating future opportunities for yourself. Create
lemonade from today's lemons.

Edit: do this even if they're all evil bastards. You never know what will come
of it in the future.

------
lordbusiness
Couple of anecdotal factoids for you from a career veteran.

#1 The tech industry is small. #2 The circles you move in are smaller.

Keep it professional, keep it simple, and always resign with decorum.

Many others have stated here the purpose of a resignation letter, but I would
add that I extend it to verbal too.

------
outthedoor
Given the overwhelming majority view here, I'm going to do the opposite and
write a spectacular bridge burning letter and post it publicly. No one will
forget me.

Seriously -- thanks for the input, everyone. I'll keep it short, simple, and
professional.

------
nchankov
Don't judge for this decision because of the sales. Probably they have more
spendings this year, or other capital investments.

No one is happy with such news, as others said - start searching for a new job
and once you find, then quit.

------
Spooky23
You only include more stuff in your resignation letter if you think that you
need to cover your butt from something going on in the organization. If there
is some unethical, illegal or other bad conduct, it's your venue to put on the
record your concerns and your disconnect from the situation.

Once you do this, you're setting the bridges on fire when you leave, so only
do it to protect yourself.

Otherwise, say something like "Dear Boss, I'm resigning my position, effective
xx/yy/zz. Thank you for the opportunity to contribute and I'm happy to assist
in the transitioning my work."

------
Cyberis
I'd make my resignation letter quite minimal. It will likely go in a file that
will outlast the context of your time at the company and reason for leaving.
Thus whatever you say there will have an increasing chance of coming back to
bite you later. Your exit interview may or may not become part of your
permanent record but you can convey better context in the interview. I'd still
be careful to think about how your statements would be viewed in 1 to 5 years
after they are given. I think it's better to err on the side of discretion.

------
JSeymourATL
> I'm resigning from my job today because...

Is the lack of increased compensation/bonus/promotion truly the deciding
factor to resign? or were there other issues?

Especially in early-stage companies with ambitious growth plans it's easy to
promise these things. But it can be very hard to actually deliver on cash-
flow, in spite of achieving managements projected targets. You may for
example, negotiate a differed comp/bonus plan if you decide to stay.

------
rogeryu
Follow the advice in the rest of this thread: keep it neutral or positive.
Maybe things turn around for you, and although you now think that you will
never return at this company, in five or ten years time you might think
differently. Your situation may have changed, the economy may have changed,
the company may have changed, and either of these may make it totally
different.

------
dandrews
Doesn't get much simpler than Richard Nixon's:

[http://www.archives.gov/global-pages/larger-
image.html?i=/hi...](http://www.archives.gov/global-pages/larger-
image.html?i=/historical-docs/doc-content/images/nixon-resignation-
letter-l.jpg&c=/historical-docs/doc-content/images/nixon-resignation-
letter.caption.html)

------
nerdy
Get out and say as little as possible, be respectful.

------
pluma
I once resigned from a job because of bad management and a toxic environment
(high employee turnover, employees were strong-armed into agreeing to
unrealistic deadlines then held accountable, every failure always meant
someone would have to take the blame and be scolded for it, etc). Because of
false loyalty and a nurtured feeling of guilt, I waited too long and only
resigned when it had already begun affecting my health (physically and
mentally).

I made the mistake of trying to be honest. I explained why I felt that the
work environment needed to be improved. I tried not to come across as
accusatory and didn't blame anyone, just stating that the environment
negatively affected my health and that it was likely the reason for other
systemic problems (e.g. the high turnover) the company was facing and should
be addressed.

Big mistake.

To keep a long story short, I ended up suing the company because they withheld
payments arguing I owed them work (and in fact threatened to sue me over
that). I would have likely won, but agreed to a settlement (that mostly
consisted of them giving me money and me signing a statement that I had
already turned in all property of theirs before quitting -- which wasn't
really contested to begin with).

All in all, it wasn't worth it. I lost a budding friendship with a colleague
who stayed with the company (and likely had to bear the fallout from my
resignation) and the first couple of weeks after the resignation (before I
decided to sue and was able to hand it all over to a lawyer) were a complete
nightmare, even though I didn't spend a single day of it at the company.

Now there is a company out there where employees think badly of me because
they were either hired during the fallout or were told stories about it if
they joined after the fact. There's an employer who hates my guts and may have
told others to avoid me. And there's a company I'll have to avoid working with
(directly or not) in the future.

I'm sure there was no possibility of a "good" ending at the point I quit to
begin with because my biggest mistake was holding out until I was too broken
to leave gracefully. But I'm also pretty sure a simple "I'm leaving for
greener pastures" type resignation could have at least avoided fuelling the
fire.

Don't ever go into the details about why you're leaving. If anyone depends on
you, make sure to find a graceful transition for them (if only by informing
them well in advance), but don't ever say anything that implies they should
have done things differently.

Despite what people say, most of them don't want your honest opinion. They
just want to hear they've done nothing wrong. You're already causing a
disruption for them by leaving, don't allow them to spin it into an attack.
You're far more likely to make them think if you _don 't_ give them an
opportunity to think of you as an aggressor (and if they will do so anyway,
you have lost nothing).

On the flip side, the _right_ time to bring up problems is while you are still
intent on working there. If delivering outstanding work is not acknowledged,
address it _before_ you have decided to leave. As an employee, your opinion
holds weight (because ignoring it may result in your resignation). If you've
already resigned, you've already played your hand.

(If you do, however, maintain a friendship with your former employer, you may
be able to talk to him about the reasons why you left, but not as an ex-
employee at work, but as a friend -- preferably in a different environment
altogether.)

------
JoshDoody
My advice: Keep your resignation letter very short and sweet. The purpose of a
letter of resignation is really just to formalize your decision to leave so
there's a document that can be used to manage that process. All it really
needs to say is that you've decided to leave, when your last day will be (I
_strongly_ recommend giving two weeks' notice), and something like, "I
appreciate the great opportunity I had to work here, and I wish you all the
best in the future".

I'm writing a career management guide, and one of my chapters ("How to leave a
job on the best possible terms") is exactly about this. You may also have an
exit interview coming up, and that situation is similar (my chapter covers
exit interviews in detail as well).

Here's the summary section from that chapter—maybe there are some things here
that could help you make sure you leave on the best possible terms :)

— _Leave on the best possible terms, even if you feel slighted_ — It’s always
difficult to put on a happy face when things aren’t going well, but this is a
time when you can really boost your reputation.

— _Ask your manager and co-workers what you can help with before you go_ — Do
this and you will make a lasting impression on your co-workers.

— _Document the projects you’re working on so your successor is prepared_ —
Your successor will have a much easier time absorbing your work, and they’ll
thank you for it.

— _Bundle up relevant documentation, emails, etc., and make sure they’re saved
somewhere that others can get to them_ — Most companies are moving to cloud-
based storage, so it may all be out there anyway. Even so, put together a
master document that points to everything they’ll need.

— _Make sure to return all your equipment in good shape, and do it quickly_ —
Most of the time, you are just borrowing company property. You should return
it in good shape, just like you would want your own property returned if you
lent it out.

— _Reach out to your closest co-workers to make sure they’re part of your
network before you go_ — Your network is one your most valuable assets for
finding future career opportunities.

— _Reach out to your colleagues to say goodbye and share your contact
information_ — If you’ve done all these things, you’ve left a great
impression. Make sure your old co-workers know how to find you if they need
someone like you in the future. And be sure to reach out to your closest co-
workers to personally say goodbye whenever possible.

— _Be vague and use positive language in your exit interview_ — It feels
strange to advocate for being vague, but the exit interview is one of the
times when it’s necessary. You won’t benefit by baring your soul on your way
out, and the company isn’t going to change because of your feedback. Keep it
short, sweet, and surface-level.

That's a one-page summary of the chapter, but the chapter itself goes into
quite a bit more detail.

You can get the full chapter for free here:
[http://JoshDoody.com/leave?ref=hn6](http://JoshDoody.com/leave?ref=hn6)

------
fredkbloggs
It depends.

The advice you're getting, to say basically nothing, is sound under all
circumstances. However...

If you don't need to work again { at this company, in your industry, in your
city, at all }, you should feel free to say whatever you want. That freedom
takes years or decades of hard work to earn, and once earned should be used!
Just how willing you should be to burn bridges depends on your personal
situation and the nature of your industry and profession; if these are not
people you would ever work with or for again anyway, and you wouldn't want a
job with someone else in the same city or industry who respects their opinion,
then the advice to say nothing for your own sake does not apply.

All that said, what are you trying to accomplish? If you've decided to resign
and that decision is final, you're not going to accrue any benefit yourself.
If you're looking for a counteroffer, forget it; you likely won't get one, and
you'll be a marked man if you do. If your motives are altruistic (either for
the benefit of the shareholders or your peers), then you must be hopelessly
naive. These people are corporate managers, and so are their superiors;
they've been carefully selected for sociopathy, greed, and incompetence by a
mature and very stable set of processes. They know morale is in the tank and
they don't care. The company is probably in trouble owing to mismanagement and
they're probably hoping a few people will leave on their own so they can save
themselves not only the cost of pay rises but also of severance. Telling them
what they already know will, at best, give them fodder for the jokes they'll
tell at your expense in the executive washroom. If your goal is simply to go
out in style, don't bother with the letter; no one will read it anyway.
Instead, write a public article (carefully avoiding the use of confidential
information!) or invite all your peers out to a giant party at which you roast
management ruthlessly. The leadership principle is to criticize in private and
praise in public, but the opposite applies when dealing with corporate
management: anything negative you want to say has to be said in public.
Private criticism of corporate managers only gives them an opportunity to get
ahead of you, whether by having Security remove you from the premises
immediately, by slandering you among your peers, or by suing you. Why? Because
when you tell them something you're not telling everyone, you give them
information, and they will always use that information to their advantage and
your injury. Unfortunately, if you have something negative to say about your
employer, the only effective place to do so is in the press.

So while I disagree that one should never provide one's reasons out of self-
preservation, I also don't see much point in using the letter of resignation
as the means of doing so. Whatever your goals, there are better ways to
achieve them.

