Robert Frost once wrote, “the only certain freedom is in departure”. When you quit your job many feel that they are free to act as they like for the duration of their notice. The advice we always give however is to act in the way you wish to be remembered.
Whatever your reasons for leaving your job it is important that you leave on the best possible terms. Not only in terms of your attitude but also in relation to your productivity and commitment as you work out your final few weeks. You may have been a stand out employee for a number of years’ but very few will remember how you started but they will talk about how you finished up. There are also pragmatic reasons as to why you should aim to have as amicable a notice period as possible.
- You never know when you may come across your colleagues later on and you want their impression of you to be top notch. Down the line you may be looking to have an ex colleague join your current team and if their impression of you isn’t good then you risk them not joining. Or you may be looking to join a company that an ex colleague of yours works in and they may not recommend you if you had let yourself down during your notice period.
- Change your mind? Although it may not happen very often but occasionally the unforeseen happens and you may be in a position that you wish to retract your resignation or re-join your previous employer at a later date. However if you have downed tools or acted negatively your employer is unlikely to let you stay and you could be left exposed.
- You may even improve peoples’ impressions of you if you handle yourself professionally during your notice period.
Some things you can do while on notice that leave a positive impression:
- Assist in the recruitment of your replacement
- Talk positively about the brand when people ask why you are leaving
- Stay target focused and continue to carry yourself like it was any other month
- Buy your Manager or the company owner a bottle of wine
If you are thinking about making a move and want to find out more about our current vacancies visit our jobs portal:
http://amicustest.ie/jobs/
Why your last month in a job is one of the most important written by Ross Wynne.
Jul 2014