Proper Goodbye emails

In case you haven’t heard, the economy is picking up, and with it come the job opportunities.

New jobs lead to goodbye emails.

So, if you’re gonna quit, try to do it in style – my 6 points for success below.

1. Keep it short

You’re leaving. We get it. No one cares for tirades when you work here and we’re less interested now that you’re gone.

2. Be genuine

Don’t dwell on “how much you’ve learned” or “what I’ll never forget” – I’ve already glazed over by the end of that cliché. Say something meaningful.

3. Know that we’ll be fine

This one is difficult, cause all anyone cares about is themselves, but spare us the drama. You’re leaving, if you were a good person to work with we’re really gonna miss you, but please, this place was great before you and will continue after you.

4. Realize that you cannot “drop a bomb”

Everything negative thing you say will be discounted 50% because you’re quitting. No one likes a sore loser. Same goes for people who point out problems without doing anything about them. If you’re being truthful now, you were being disingenuous before.

5. Say where you’re going

It’s all anyone really wants to know. Everyone is thinking about themselves remember, so they want to know what you felt was a better gig and judge you based on your decision. If you don’t say where you’re going it reeks of self-importance and drama. Unless you’re not gonna do anything, in which case you should brag your ass off.

6. Inspire

The most memorable goodbye email I ever received wasn’t a goodbye email, it was a thank you email an engineer wrote thanking the company for supporting his family through difficult times and giving us all perspective on how lucky we were to work there. That was memorable. He lifted us all up and gave us something out of the blue. And he made cookies.

7. Make cookies

Cookies never hurt anybody.