Submitted by happytree87 on
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I am currently a mid-level manager in a medium-sized real estate company and have recently been to a 2nd interview with a bigger company where I would be taking a Director position with more responsibility, opportunity to grow & about $14,000 higher salary than what I have now. This is a huge opportunity for me. I'm more focused on my career development than the money (although the higher salary is nice) but that is really the main reason why I had been looking for a change in the first place.
From the 2nd interview I could tell they were really interested in me and the CEO who interviewed me on both occasions told me they would call references (which I just found out they did). Anyway, while I'm not 100% sure that I will get the job, I have been trying to prepare for my resignation delivery early on.
The problem is that this would be really, really bad timing for me to leave. My assistant just resigned about a week ago (which I was not aware of at the time that I applied for this position) and I still have not been able to fill her position. If I give notice now my Manager will be extremely disappointed. Unfortunately, she is the type of person that does not care about anyone's career & personal development if it means that it will make her job harder. I understand this to some point and I want to do my best to leave her with an organized transition.
Obviously I am doing my best to prepare everything in case I need to leave and I'm trying hard to fill at least my assistant's position so that there is some help. But it might end up that she will have to train 2 new employees at the same time, which will be hard since our office is about an hour away from our corporate office and she does not have the time, or other personnel, to take care of this.
Anyway, how should I handle the delivery? I would feel extremely bad to have to leave this job but I also have to think about my future since I have no way of getting anywhere in this job. I know she will not react well and she will ask me where I am going and why. I have always felt very loyal to her even though I know she hasn't been the most professional manager at times.
What also complicates the situation is that the position I'm taking is very similar to what she is doing but it is not at a competitor or anything like that.
Also, since we are not in the same office, is it okay to call her? I can't ask for a meeting with her because if I do she will want to know ahead of time what it is about and if I just show up at her office unannounced she will be even more upset.
Thanks to anyone for any advice you can give me. This matters to me and I want to do it right.
Happytree87,
Happytree87,
My name is Mike, first post to the forums, but a longtime CT and MT podcast listener. I'm responding because I feel I may be in the same position soon, looking to leave my current job in six months or so and my team is expecting a large workload in that time period.
My advice is to listen to the three part cast on how to resign, (If you havent already). (Go to podcasts, and enter "resign" in the search bar) I really like how they stress professionalism in resigning.
The cast covers preparing for departure, tying up loose ends, etc. I believe they recommended giving notice 30 days prior, but be ready to be let go immediately after giving notice.
While your boss may not be happy, you have every right to move on in a professional manner, just as your boss may need to let people go if the business hits a down turn.
I would recommend doing it in person, not by phone, the podcast covers this, including what time of day you should give notice.
Good luck on your move, hope it goes well for you!
Mike F.
One step at a time, each in its time
Glad to know you're thinking about how you'll resign gracefully, but you're getting ahead of yourself here. Until you've got *and accepted* the offer, you have no need to worry about how to resign.
That said, when it comes time, you can let her know that you're not going to a competitor, and (if you wish) that you're excited to have the opportunity to manage managers and could we keep in touch so I can ask advice.
Continue on getting great results where you are now. Seems to me like you've already got reasonable work in front of you, hiring that assistant.
Your manager is paid to deal with stuff as it comes. That's her role, and the role you'd step into if you accept that offer. She'll deal with it how she'll deal with it, and there's just nothing you can do to change that. People and organizations are more resilient than most believe -- it's why they've been so successful.