perSonAl
deVelopMent
So long. FArewell.
AuF wiederSehen. goodbye.
check out any bookstore and there are dozens of volumes avail- able about how to get a job—what to wear for your interview,
PaTricia lueBke
how to prepare your résumé, how to answer questions. Do an In-
ternet search and every aspect of getting a job is covered. What’s not so popular as a topic
is how to leave a job. Gone are the days where you got hired and settled in for the next 40
years, awaiting your gold wrist watch at your retirement dinner. Today’s workforce is mobile and changing jobs more than
any other generation. Although no hard-and-fast data exists,
one estimate is that the average person will change jobs from
five to 15 times during their career.
That’s a lot of goodbyes.
I learned a great guiding principle
from a man who was laid off from a
company where I used to work. He was
a good guy, hard worker, dependable,
charming—all great things. Because of
a cutback, tinged with company politics, he was the one who got the axe,
and to many people, it just wasn’t fair.
A day or so after his imminent departure was announced, I received a memo
from him. (Note to those born after
1980: Memos were the forerunners of
emails where you typed your message
on a piece of paper and photocopied
your memo for all recipients and either
handed them out or sent your memo in
an envelope in the inter-office mail.)
But back to my story: he sent out a gracious memo about how much he had
enjoyed working at this company, how
he takes good memories with him and
wishes everyone well.
He later stopped by my desk to say
goodbye in person and I told him I was so impressed with
his memo because he had every right to feel bitter and angry about his job loss. He said to me, “I always thought you
should leave a company with the same good manners as you
arrived at the company.” I’ve never forgotten that, and have
passed his wisdom along to colleagues over the years.
But first, before you even think about how to act when you
leave a job, you must be prepared to leave. Often times, espe-
cially when the choice has not been yours, you have very lim-
ited time to do the proverbial “clean out your desk.” Because
of security concerns, your computer access may already be
blocked so it’s crucial that you keep personal data off your
work computer and your desk and cubicle decluttered so you
can leave without the use of a forklift and a dumpster.
He said to me,
“I always thought
you should leave a
company with the
same good manners
as you arrived at the
company.”
I’ve never forgotten
that, and have
passed his wisdom
along to colleagues
over the years.
