We all make mistakes and Resignation Letters are no exception ! Here you will find common mistakes in resignation letter that you are likely to regret in future and what you need to do to avoid making them.
Common Resignation Letter Mistake : Leave your job, without writing a resignation letter or giving notice
While this could be legal in many cases, yet for most positions of responsibility at middle management and upper levels; quitting without a written resignation letter may land you in soup. In fact for all cases where a written notice is required as per the employment contract (or local applicable laws) one must write a resignation letter before leaving the job. Even if you hate the place and your working conditions are extremely difficult (or toxic or hostile) and you don’t even want to serve the required notice period; you must write an resignation email before leaving and must do a handover to avoid any complicated legal repercussions later.
Leaving without resigning is a bad idea even if your contract does not stipulates you to serve a notice and write a written resignation letter. This is an avoidable mistake, which one must not do in the first place.
Though it may sound unfair to some, but we must remember that our past employers are used as a reference by future employers and specially when we apply for any position of responsibility. Therefore we must part ways amicably on a professional note and not allow our emotions to get into the way.
You may not be planning to ever work again for your employer but by leaving without even writing a resignation letter and giving notice, you are burning all your bridges with your employer and most likely they will give a negative reference when your future employer calls them for reference.
Common Resignation Letter Mistake : Writing it too soon
Many a times employees hate their work place (or supervisors) so much that they submit resignations on the very first opportunity that they get only to regret it later. We strongly advice you to avoid a knee jerk reaction or “jumping” into shooting that resignation email and think through carefully before submitting your resignation. We have a dedicated article on things you must do before submitting resignation and would recommend you to read.
Business world is full of cases, where an employee regrets sending resignation and later seeks ways to withdraw or retract it. A resignation is an employment document with legal implications, think twice before shooting one.
Common Resignation Letter Mistake : Being ambiguous or Vague
Resignation is not the moment where you can allow yourself to be vague and ambiguous. If you are not sure of things, please don’t submit resignation, better submit once you have removed all ambiguity at your end.
Resignation letter has to be direct and unambiguous. It should clearly state that you are resigning, with effect from a particular date; it must clearly spell out the period you will be serving as notice and your indicated last working day.
A vague resignation letter will only create confusion between you, your employer and your supervisor and in worst case may not even qualify as a notice under your employment contract.
Common Resignation Letter Mistake : Not serving notice period
One must serve the required notice period as per the employment contract or applicable local laws. Not doing so is considered as unprofessional and will likely result in negative references.
Common Resignation Letter Mistake : Being critical instead of being polite
One of the most common resignation letter mistake is that people get critical of their bosses or peers and make comments about the work culture or compensation etc. We must remember that resignation letter (or the period after submitting resignation) is not the place (or time) to get personal about things that you had hated or not liked about your job.
