The Resignation

How to do it

• Tell your direct supervisor first. In person if you can, by phone if you can't. Never by email alone, and never let them hear it from someone else.
• Keep it under two minutes: “I've accepted a position with another company. My last day will be the 17th. I want to leave this in good shape — tell me what you need from me.”
• Short letter, delivered after the conversation. Name, role, last day, thank you. That's the whole document. No reasons. No grievances. No feedback. Nothing that can be photographed and forwarded.
• Two weeks is the standard. Offer more only if you can actually deliver it and your new start date allows it. Don't promise four weeks and then leave in two.

Be ready for the walk-out

Some companies accept your notice and hand you a box. It isn't personal — it's policy, especially in competitive markets. Before you give notice, clear personal items and personal files, and know your contacts are somewhere other than a company laptop.

Take nothing that isn't yours. No client lists, no drawings, no proposals, no candidate files. That's how a clean exit turns into a lawsuit.

The last two weeks

Work them. Document what you own. Write the transition memo nobody asked for. Hand off cleanly.

You will need these people as references, as subcontractors, as clients, and possibly as employers again. Leave the door standing open.

The point

Resign cleanly and take nothing with you.