November 14th, 2006

Issue 29

In this issue...

•Beginning (and Ending) on a Positive Note

•Your Resignation: Beware the Retaliatory Strike

•Why to Leave a Job Gracefully

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Beginning (and Ending) on a Positive Note

New beginnings are exciting—like, for instance, the beginning of the holiday season (hmmm, turkey). But endings can be just as important as beginnings, especially when they involve your career. In this issue of The Animal Science Monitor, we explore how ending your employment at one company can have an impact not only on how well that ending occurs, but also how healthy your new beginning ultimately turns out to be. While it’s true that it’s never a good idea to live in the past, you certainly don’t want to regret it, either. We hope you enjoy this issue of The ASM, and we want to thank you for being a loyal reader of our publication. (But don’t skip to the ending.)

—Don and Dan

Your Resignation: Beware the Retaliatory Strike
(By Don Hunter)

If your intention to make a job change is sincere and nothing will change your decision to leave, you should still keep up your guard. Why? Because unless you know how to diffuse your current employer’s retaliation, you may end up psychologically wounded or right back at the job you wanted to leave.

The best way to shield yourself from the inevitable mixture of emotions surrounding the act of submitting your resignation is to remember that employers follow a predictable, three-stage pattern when faced with a resignation:

Tactic #1: Your boss will express their shock: “You sure picked a fine time to leave! Who’s going to finish the work we started?”

The implication is that you’re irreplaceable. The company might as well ask, “How will we ever live without you?” To answer this assertion, you can reply, “If I were run over by a truck on my way to work tomorrow, I feel that somehow, this company would survive.”

Tactic #2: Your boss will start to probe: “Who’s the new company? What sort of position did you accept? What are they paying you?”

Here you must be careful not to disclose too much information or appear too enthusiastic. Otherwise, you run the risk of feeding your current employer with ammunition they can use against you later, such as, “I’ve heard some pretty terrible things about your new company,” or “They’ll make everything look great until you actually get there. Then you’ll see what a sweat shop that place really is.”

Tactic #3: Your boss will make you an offer to try and keep you from leaving: “You know that raise you and I were talking about a few months back? Well, I forgot to tell you. We were just getting it processed yesterday.”

To this you can respond, “Gee, today you seem pretty concerned about my happiness and well-being. Where were you yesterday, before I announced my intention to resign?”

It may take several days for the three stages to run their course, but believe me, sooner or later, you’ll find yourself engaged in conversations similar to these. More than once, candidates have called me after they’ve resigned to tell me that their old company followed the three-stage pattern exactly as I described it. Not only were they better prepared to diffuse a counteroffer attempt, they found the whole sequence to be almost comical in its predictability.

If you have any questions about this topic, please send me an email at brg@charterinternet.com. And if you’re currently engaged in a job search or are interested in advancing the scope of your career, be sure to send me your resume. I’d be happy to discuss your career goals and ambitions, including ways in which I can help you to achieve them. Keep in mind that any exchange of information, including resumes, will be kept in total confidence and handled in a discreet fashion.

Why to Leave a Job Gracefully
(By Don Hunter)

In the last issue of The ASM, we discussed ways in which to leave a job gracefully, so that you can make a smooth transition to your next position and focus your energies more effectively on the growth of your career. In this issue, I’d like to explore the reasons why leaving a job gracefully can also help ensure peace and harmony in the future, wherever you may go (on a professional level, of course).

Back to the future

Those who are serious about career advancement think quite a bit about the future and the possibility of future events. These thoughts should guide you as you prepare to move from one job to the next. More than likely, you’ve heard the expression “Don’t burn your bridges.” In my experience, that phrase has proven to be an extraordinarily sound piece of advice. Burning bridges is the quickest way to find out just how small the world is, not to mention the industry in which you work. The person you leave on a smoldering bridge could very well be a person you report to or interview with in years to come.

Although the steps I’ve outlined below could be considered more “how-to” steps for leaving gracefully, they all fall under the category of leaving gracefully with one eye toward the future, rather than doing so to simply exit your current company in a neat and clean fashion.

Honestly discuss your reasons for leaving with your boss. It's the professional way to exit and an excellent opportunity to secure a good reference. The first thing a prospective new employer will ask for is a reference from your former company/boss.

Complete all your work before you leave, especially if you’re working on a project. Try to complete any and all outstanding work. If you can't do this, be sure to document what needs to be done for your replacement. Make the transition as smooth as possible. (I had a candidate with a great reference except for this . . . and the company ultimately passed on them.)

Never speak negatively about a former employer. This does not sit well with a prospective employer. They may deem you a malcontent who will do the same to them if you’re hired. It will also raise a red flag with a prospective employer that it was your fault that you left your job.

Plan your departure very carefully. Don't leave anything to chance and keep your work history and reputation as spotless as possible. If you can't speak well of your previous employer and your previous employer can't speak well of you, why would a future employer want to hire you?

Beware the “Boomerang Boss.” In this age of rampant acquisitions and mergers, the company you’re going to work for may one day buy the company you just came from. If that’s the case, you might find yourself working for the same boss you just left on that burning bridge. (“Hey, I know you.”)

You don’t know who your former boss knows. It’s virtually impossible to be privy to this type of information. The fact of the matter is that there are hidden references that are passed between managers all the time. Your old boss and your new boss might golf together on a regular basis. Plan your departure as though they do.

An investment in your future

Starting a new position can be an exciting time in a person’s life. However, that’s not an excuse for not leaving your former job in the correct fashion. It’s not just a matter of proper etiquette or politeness, either. Leaving a job gracefully is an investment in your future, an investment of time and energy that will pay off down the road. How much it pays off remains to be seen, but if you don’t make the investment, the consequences could be detrimental to your long-range plans.

When you leave a job for a new position, make sure that the bridges you’ve built remain standing. You never know if you’ll have to cross them again.