3 Ways to Protect Your Interests When Exiting a Company

It’s finally happened.

Months of covert job searching have led to a fantastic new offer.

Or….

Years of toxicity at work has pushed you to the point where you’re ready to sever ties and walk away…without a job already set up.

Either way, you are now faced with the EXIT.

Don’t make the mistake so many others do and treat this period as an afterthought! A mediocre movie can be saved by a great ending; so too can a mediocre working relationship be saved by a well-executed exit.

Do this right and you will be remembered in a positive light (important for your reputation and long-term prospects) AND protect your interests along the way.

#1) Create a Narrative that Makes your Leaving Inevitable.

People feel blindsided when you take an action that affects them without any advance warning. So provide that warning to your boss as early as possible. Start with an email that honestly broaches the issues, and follow it up with a face-to-face. And when it’s time to finally resign, it’s not going to be a shock. It will simply be the logical end to a narrative that both of you have been privy to.

Will every boss take this easily? Of course not.

But when you go the transparent route, you ensure that all but the most unreasonable of people will ultimately respect your decision, and not hold your leaving against you.

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Also read: How to Provide Feedback to Your Boss

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#2) Have a Transition Plan Ready.

If they’re being honest, the #1 concern any boss will have when an employee resigns is how they’re going to deal with the additional workload and tumult. So when you resign, have some kind of a transition plan ready. That way, the hard news will be lessened somewhat by the fact that you’re going to be actively helping to ease the strain.

One more thing: apply yourself FULLY during the last weeks of your employment- no half-speed now! And take the extra time to re-establish as many dormant connections at the company as you can (fire off those LinkedIn invites if you haven’t already!). Be a model employee now and you’ll not only protect your reputation, but will have the ability to tap these people in the future for other career opportunities and leads. I’d consider that a pretty decent payoff for not slacking during those final 2 weeks!

#3) Don’t Take the Bait.

Good advice is easy to agree with when there are no stakes involved. But the act of resigning can be an emotional powder-keg, and when you’re in the middle of that, the urge to take an “easy out” can be overwhelming.

Your boss offers you a generous counteroffer to stay on.

You’re goaded to reveal the “real reason” behind why you’re leaving during the exit interview, or pushed to share other negative or incriminating information.

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Also read: Don’t Ruin Your Reputation – Learn How to Resign the Right Way

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These are not the types of situations that require mental flexibility.

These are the types of situations where you need to draw a hard line in the sand and stick to it, no matter what.

There is no such thing as a good counteroffer. Recent stats reveal that 80% of professionals who accept a counteroffer either leave or are fired within 6 months (usually leaving behind a lot of bad blood in the process). Go into the resignation meeting knowing you will never accept one.

Gratitude should be the one and only theme of an exit interview. Anything that’s not about gratitude should be friendly, brief…and superficial. The more details you share during the exit interview, the more avenues of vulnerability you open up for yourself. So make a hard commitment never to go down that route.