I recently quit my job of close to 4 years. It was my first job out of college and it was in the healthcare consulting space and seemed interesting.  I couldn’t have made a bet re decision and flash forward to today, I’ve been promoted, learned a ton and have a great experience on my resume. I came to realize that the current role wasn’t where I wanted to be long term, and after a lot of consideration, decided to move on. I was able to land a sweet gig at a different company and am excited to begin my journey.  Deciding to quit was only the half the battle, and turns out the actual process was pretty nitty gritty. I thought I’d give you a brief overview of the actual process and then leave you with a couple of takeaways, in case you ever find yourself in a similar position!

The process

Upon making my decision, the first thing I did was let someone in authority know about my decision. For me at my old company, this was the managing director, I had heard other people going to him first so I went to him.  For you, it could be your direct boss, or someone in HR. I shot my director an email letting him know I wanted to chat, to make sure I wasn’t barging in when he was about to take a call or something.  I then proceeded to meet and let him know of my decision. We chatted for a bit, I told him some of the reasons behind it and let him know where I was going.  At this point, he was pretty accommodating and he said he’d reach out to HR and accounting to get the process started.  I then let my direct supervisor know as well ands some close friends. I wasn’t secretive about it when asked, but certainly didn’t broadcast it to the entire office.  I went about my final two weeks and had a plan to finish all outstanding projects/tasks as well as transitioning with people who would be taking over.  As I approached the final day, I was refreshed on the company’s confidentiality agreement, settled up with accounting and turned it my equipment to IT.  On my last day I said my goodbyes and was off! Although a brief overview, that’s how it all worked out. More importantly, here are some final thoughts that I learned from the process:

1) Don’t burn bridges.

Although this is probably a good rule of thumb for life in general, certainly don’t burn bridges when leaving your company, as tempting as it may be. Although you may really want to go out in a blaze of glory, telling everybody what you really think of them, it’s probably best you don’t.  You never know when you’ll encounter old colleagues and burning bridges could make things difficult or awkward moving later on! Two specific examples that I’ve witnessed come to mind as to why burning bridges is a bad idea.  One former colleague of mine announced to me his intentions to leave the company.  He went through the same steps I did and left on a Friday.  Come Monday, after having some time to think through everything, really got cold feet about his new role and decided he had made (a la GOB Bluth), a HUGE mistake.  Thankfully he hadn’t burned bridges and had left on good terms and through maybe a bit of groveling and a bit of need still at the company, they let him come back the following Tuesday.  He was sure thankful! Another example found a coworker announcing their intentions and starting to go through the process. This person however decided to burn bridges and basically stop working, despite still coming in for their final two weeks.  Management decided not working wasn’t acceptable, and let that person go a week into their two weeks notice.  Yikes, and bet they won’t be welcome back at the alum happy hours. So, when you decide to leave, leave on good terms and in good standing.  Definitely give honest criticism but be professional about it.

2) Tidy up your things.

And I’m not talking about your physical belongings, although yes you should probably have a box or a bag to help carry your things.  I’m talking about some house keeping benefits related items.  Let’s start with health insurance.  Currently in the US it’s illegal to go without health insurance, so if you’re going unemployed (oh, I mean funemployed), you’ll have to think about getting health insurance.  Companies by law are required to offer COBRA, which means you can extend your health benefits for a couple of months and stay on your old policy.  Although this generation is known as the ‘young invincibles’, having health insurance is smart.  You’ll be responsible for paying all of the premiums under COBRA but hey, if you need it, you’ll be thankful you have it.  Be proactive too about doctors appointments and prescriptions, do some research and plan ahead to avoid having trouble later.  Another benefit you’ll need to consider is rolling over your 401(k). By definition, a 401(k) is company sponsored, so now that you’re no longer employed at the company, you’ll have to roll it over.  Some plans allow you to stay on the retirement plan, for a small monthly fee.  There’s no point in paying the fees, so roll it over.  For whatever reason, it’s a little tricky to roll-over, so always do a DIRECT TRANSFER. You’ll have the option of cashing out and getting a check for the balance, but you’ll have to pay both taxes and a steep (like 10%) penalty on it.  Do not cash out, either open an IRA (individual retirement account) or roll it into your new 401(k). Most smart personal finance people recommend opening an IRA, on account of lower fees and more choices.  You can open an IRA so many places, and I’d recommend starting at your local bank to check out their options first. Might as well keep it all in one place, right?

3) Be the king of the network and say your goodbyes.

I think a lot of us can become jaded and feel really disgruntled when we leave, and sometimes it’s probably justified. However, don’t let a couple of bad memories ruin the good times you’ve had.  For a lot of us young professionals, we may be leaving our first job out of college, and we should be thankful for that.  Somebody took a look at us young, cocky, punk kids and gave us a chance.  They didn’t have to do that.  We’ve likely grown immensely, both professionally and personally maturing.  Take some time to reflect on the growth you’ve had, and say thanks to those that have helped make a difference.  Also, take the time to properly say goodbye.  Don’t go out in a blaze of glory and be thankful and appreciative of your colleagues.  Grab dinner, grab a beer or coffee, and do your best to stay in touch with those that you’re leaving behind,  you never know when you’ll be able to help them, or vice-versa!

Leaving a company should be an exciting time for you, you’ve completed one phase of your journey and are taking the next steps towards what lies ahead.  Leave graciously and leave with your things tidy! If you’re reading this and are about to go thorough this process, best of luck, otherwise enjoy your time at your current job!