Leave a Job With Relationships You Can Keep

You can make a clear professional exit, thank people who mattered and choose which connections you want to carry forward.

You can want a different job and still value the people you worked with. Starting something new can be exciting while leaving those relationships behind feels difficult.

You might also need a clean break. There is no obligation to turn every former colleague into a continuing professional contact.

Be clear about the work you are leaving

Agree what you can finish before your final day, what needs to be passed on and who will receive it. Follow the commitments and policies that apply to your role.

Avoid an open-ended offer to remain available just because the goodbye feels uncomfortable. If further help is needed, discuss a specific arrangement. Staying in touch does not have to mean continuing to do the old job.

Thank people for something that mattered

A short, specific thank-you can be enough. Name help you received, a contribution you appreciated or work you enjoyed doing together. You do not have to describe the whole job as wonderful if the experience was mixed.

If you would like to stay in touch, ask whether the other person would like that too. Let them choose whether to share personal contact details. Keep employer and client information where it belongs.

Let the relationship find its own shape

Some colleagues may become people you speak with regularly. Others will be people you were glad to know during that part of your life.

You can invite someone to catch up without attaching a request for an introduction, a recommendation or future work. Give the connection room to continue because both people want it to.

More from this week

This piece stands on its own. Here are this week's 5 pieces:

• Monday: Extra Work Can Become an Unplanned Discount
• Tuesday: Leave a Job With Relationships You Can Keep (this post)
• Wednesday: Your Website Should Promise What Your Team Can Deliver (coming Wednesday)
• Thursday: Before You Accept, Ask How Success Will Be Judged (coming Thursday)
• Friday: Ask What You Lost Before You Change the Price (coming Friday)

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