How to Prepare to Quit Your Job (Professionally)

Resigning and leaving your job can be scary. As such, it is always good to have a plan before you quit your job.

Getting prepared before you tender your resignation letter is probably the most important thing you’ll need to do after you’ve decided to quit.

Here are a few key actions you can take to prepare to quit your job and make a strategic career move.

What Should You Do Before You Quit Your Job?

Before you quit your job, you need to get yourself prepared in a few areas.

• Be financially prepared for the change in your employment status.
• Be medically prepared for the change in your insurance status.
• Be technologically prepared to part with your office equipment.
• Be professionally prepared for a smooth transition of work.
• Be mentally prepared for counter-offers.
• Be emotionally prepared to say your goodbyes to coworkers.
• Be totally prepared for a career change.

1. Get financially prepared to quit your job

Money is the most important issue when you leave a job. You’ll need to be financially prepared to survive and have enough for an emergency fund in case of unexpected events.

How much money to save before quitting your job?

Experts recommend you’ll need to have at least 6 to 12 months’ worth of living expenses saved before you should consider quitting your job. The amount does not include your emergency fund which is 3 to 6 months’ worth of living expenses.

In total, you will need to save approx. 18 months worth of living expenses before you are secured financially to quit your job with minimal financial worries.

If you have any high-interest debt, such as credit card and student loan debt.

It is recommended that you’ll pay off all your debt before you should consider quitting your job.

2. Make doctor and dental appointments before leaving

Medical privileges are expensive. Often, when you have employed your company provides all their employee with company-sponsored medical insurance.

• The average wait time to schedule a doctor to appoint on medical checkup in the United States is 26 days.
• The average wait time to schedule a dental appointment on dental checkup in the United States is 6 to 7 days.

Consider booking a doctor or dentist appointment for medial or dental checkup before you leave your job.

Plan ahead and have your appointment spread-out, out so your absence won’t affect your company and team’s operations.

3. Say goodbye to your company’s laptop and equipment

Often the company may have issued you some company-provided equipment, such as a laptop or a phone. This equipment will have to be returned when you quit your job.

Your employer will probably review all the files and contacts on the laptop and phone before handing them over to the IT department. It will then be reformatted and reissued to a new owner.

Although you are not supposed to use the company-issued laptop for personal use, often employees do have personal data on the laptop.

You may have used the laptop as if it is your personal laptop, and have all sorts of photos, passwords, and website visit history.

Remove all your personal files that you may need, and delete all those that you don’t.

Generally, you are not allowed to keep the company-issued equipment after you leave your job.

PS. Remember, you are only allowed to remove your personal files only, never “steal” any company information.

4. Ensure smooth transition of work to new employee

Create a transition plan to pass your current work and projects smoothly to your successor without any incident.

As an exiting employee, it is your responsibility to ensure that your successor is equipped with the ability and knowledge to perform the task for your job role.

Although your successor may lack the experience or the capability to excel in your role.

A smooth transition of work should allow your successor to perform in the role where it will have minimal impact to the team’s operation.

Steps to prepare transition work to another employee (successor)

1. List the task and projects to be transitioned to the successor.
2. Identify the successor of the job role.
3. Communicate the scope and tasks of the job role.
4. Train the successor to be qualified for the job role.
5. Allow the successor to shadow the employee who is leaving.
6. Exiting employee to assist the successor in be familiarized with the job role.
7. Exiting employee to leave on a positive note.

5. Prepare to politely decline any counter-offers

When you resign, do prepare for any pushbacks such as counter-offers. If you have been with the company for a long time, or you are a high-performing employee, your employer will most probably ask you to reconsider your decision with an attractive counteroffer.

What is a counteroffer?

Counter-offers are offers made in response to another offer. When an employee resigns, the employer may create an attractive offer to keep a high-performing employee from leaving.

Counter-offers help to retain employees who have decided to leave.

Should you accept a counteroffer?

No, you should not accept a counteroffer. Accepting a counteroffer will likely damage your relationship with your current employer. Staying because you are offered more money, or promotion will likely cause them to question your loyalty and whether you have planned this to happen.

Counter-offers are often used by employers to avoid dealing with the disruption caused by the departure of an employee.

Therefore, do not let counter-offers waver your decision and cloud your judgment.

6. Prepare to say your goodbyes

Saying goodbyes are often hard and emotional. But when you are leaving your job, you will need to part from your coworkers with whom you have worked closely for the past years.

It’s normal to be emotional, but when you’ve decided to quit for a better future, don’t let your emotions get the best of you.

Thank you and farewell message to colleagues (Examples)

• Thank you for giving me a professional home. You became more of a family than a group of colleagues. I’ll always cherish our friendships and thank you from the bottom of my heart. Adios amigos!
• Today, I leave here knowing more than when I arrived. Thank you for being my colleagues whom I will now call my friends. I look forward to continuing to strengthen our friendships and all the best my friends! 
• Many thanks to all of you for making my time here amazing. Goodbye! You are truly professional and warm colleagues. I will miss working with you and wish you all success in your careers. Farewell, and we shall meet again.
• I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with you. Thank you for all your support, and the happy times. While our paths may diverge, we will definitely keep in contact.
• Working with all of you has been such a wonderful experience. Thank you for creating such a welcoming work environment. I wish you all the best and bid you all farewell. Till we meet again.

7. Prepare for your career change

“If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.”

Leaving a job is a big career change and you need to be prepared for it before you leave your job.

“Career change is scary, but with the right mindset and a solid plan, you can skyrocket your career and find happiness in your future.”

– By A.C., editor of hqhire.com

Often, people fall into a profession accidentally and find meaning and passion in the things they do.

People changes with time, and gone are the days when employees work with the same company for 10 to 40 years.

Today, employees have an average of 12.4 jobs from age 18 to 54 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

• Age 18 to 24: Approx. 6 cumulative jobs.
• Age 25 to 30: Approx. 8 cumulative jobs.
• Age 31 to 40: Approx. 10 cumulative jobs.
• Age 40 to 54: Approx. 12.4 cumulative jobs.

How To Prepare To Quit Your Job

Prepare for Job Change

If you want to stay in your industry, and opt to change the working environment within your same industry. It’s time to start looking for opportunities by looking up some job boards and sending a private message to headhunters.

Steps to prepare for a job change.

• Update your resume, and draft out a killer cover letter for every application.
• Update your profile on LinkedIn, Monster, and Indeed.
• List out the companies you’ll love to work for and contact them for any possible roles

Prepare for Career Change

If you want to change your industry, and have a career change. It is important to make yourself more employable by enhancing your knowledge and polishing your skills.

Steps to prepare for a career change.

• Take up a relevant course in Udemy, Fiverr Learn, or Coursera and upgrade yourself with the relevant skills.
• Join related communities and learn from those who’ve done it and are working at your dream job.
• Reach out to the people in the industry and seek their guidance, you might be surprised at how many people will actually help you if you ask.

Prepare to re-discover your passion

If you want to quit and re-discover your passion, you are not alone.

In fact, there are many people who quit their job in their 40s and discovered that they have been working mindlessly on something that they have no passion for.

Working and making a living on something which you have passion for can be the difference between having a successful and happy career, or an average and miserable job.

Steps to help you to re-discover your passion.

• Build up your escape fund to make sure your expenses are covered while you are not working.
• Ensure you have an emergency fund that is set aside for any unforeseen expenses in the future.
• Research the things you enjoy and find your passion.
• Educate yourself with short courses that cost less than $20 on Udemy and Fiver Learn

Prepare to become your own boss

If you want to start a business and become your own boss, you are simply amazing.

Not everyone can, or are willing to become an entrepreneur.

Unlike an employee where you will earn a salary as long as you go to work.

An entrepreneur takes the risk of not getting a paycheck even after working very hard in their business.

But on the upside, entrepreneurs have the opportunity to grow their income exponentially, if their business becomes successful.

Steps to take if you want to start a business.

• Brainstorm ideas and think about what you want in life and what business can help you to achieve.
• Start your side hustle over the weekends and time after work.
• Create a side hustle that generates passive income; YouTube Channel, Selling Photos, Renting out a Room, etc.
• Create a side Gig on Fiverr and become a Freelancer that can earn a 5-figure.

Overall Steps To Take To Be Fully Prepared To Quit Your Job?

Quitting a job takes courage and lots of preparation. If you want to be fully prepared to quit your job professionally without burning any bridges.

These are some steps you’ll need to take.

1. Know the reasons why you quit, or why you quit without a job.
2. Know the steps you need to take to quit even if you just started your job.
3. Then, you’ll need to learn how to stay calm when telling your boss you are leaving.
4. You can do that by start writing a formal resignation letter that leaves a good lasting impression.
5. Importantly, you’ll need to wait for the best time and day to give your resignation letter to your boss.
6. Lastly, do the right things on your last day of work, and build great lasting professional relationships.

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