Also, after one leaves is it appropriate to send the former boss a thank you card + small gift in appreciation of their guidance?

10/13/2011 12:05:09 AM

At most a free table dance during your last shift. They'd get to pick the song, obviously.

10/13/2011 12:10:29 AM

I've never heard of that small gift thing, but I could see doing that with my current boss (assuming i were to resign under good circumstances).

I also have never seen a resignation letter that was more than two or three sentences, because they are mostly a formality for HR, and you would have already talked over everything with the important people anyway.

10/13/2011 12:11:13 AM

What kind of job and how important was it to you?



Do you work at McDonalds?

10/13/2011 12:16:12 AM

comin to syngenta?

10/13/2011 12:21:23 AM

letter = Photocopied picture of your ass
small gift = Steaming pile on desk

Seriously though I don't know about a gift. If you know they drink then get them a bottle of wine/booze perhaps?

10/13/2011 1:07:03 AM

Letter = 2 to 6 sentences

Gift = a gay/girly thing to do (I guess it is okay though)

10/13/2011 1:53:37 AM

Lol... just send him an autographed picture of yourself. Write "See you when I'm rich, bitch" on the back.

10/13/2011 2:02:31 AM

yeah, the "letter" is a sentence or two, noting the date of the letter and the date of your last day

i gave a gift to my "mentor" when i co-oped at NIEHS, but never since

10/13/2011 6:03:31 AM

In most of my past jobs, I had a good working relationship with my boss, and the actual resignation letter was just a formality.

One job I just stopped showing up for. (security at RBC Center... I was sick of looking through purses and making old men throw away 40 year old pocket knives, etc, for $6.50 an hour.)
The odd thing is that they kept calling me asking me to work for like 2 months after I stopped showing up.

[Edited on October 13, 2011 at 7:20 AM. Reason : didn't read thread... i guess others agree about the formality thing.]

10/13/2011 7:20:23 AM

^If it's part time, yes, could just stop showing up, but to get your accrued leave paid out, yes you need the letter formality.

I have only given a gift to a retiring boss.

10/13/2011 8:24:36 AM

I recently wrote a resignation letter. I agree with the general sentiment that the letter should be short and is largely a formality for HR.

My boss knew why and when I was leaving before I submitted my resignation letter, but others did not. For that reason, I also included a brief paragraph about why I was leaving. I left for personal reasons (as opposed to "This place sucks" or "Another company will pay me more"), and I think including that in my resignation letter helped a lot as far maintaining professional working relationships with all of my co-workers during my final few weeks. I also made a point of talking to co-workers I was actively working on things with at the time.

Separate from a resignation letter, I don't think a personal letter to a former boss/mentor is at all inappropriate. My wife has 1-2 former bosses/mentors she still talks to once or twice a year for advice; cultivating that type of relationship can be useful.

A small gift is probably a little overboard.

10/13/2011 8:40:14 AM

i ended up googling some ideas for resignation letters and then wrote one that matched with what i needed to say.

i probably will get my boss something since she has been my line manager for the last 4 years. i'm not leaving the company but i am moving to another department and my line manager and i have a very good relationship.

10/13/2011 8:51:06 AM

I've never heard of someone giving their boss a gift when leaving. Maybe getting lunch with them your last day but not a gift.

10/13/2011 9:43:55 AM

hell, when my internships were over my boss and/or mentor would take me out for lunch. one boss gave me a nice company shirt on my last day (we were pretty sure i was coming back the next summer).

10/13/2011 9:49:06 AM

^yea im positive that thats the norm, i have never heard of a departing employee gifting the company they are leaving.

I mean there is stuff to get your coworkers ad what not, but professionally i have not heard of including a gift

10/13/2011 10:25:18 AM

why are you leaving and where are you going next?

10/13/2011 11:08:36 AM

A little thank-note goes a long way in maintaining them as a reference.
If it were a boss man, I wouldn't do a gift unless he was roughly my age but if it's a boss lady I probably would. But I wouldn't think to do a small gift. The note are great though. I did them for my old landlords, too.

10/13/2011 1:10:55 PM

Resigning seems so boring to me. So anti-climactic. I'll always quit or get fired. Go out with with a bang.

10/13/2011 2:27:58 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTOKJTRHMdw

10/13/2011 3:05:15 PM

Just gave my boss the two-week notice which is and

Quote :

"Seriously though I don't know about a gift. If you know they drink then get them a bottle of wine/booze perhaps? "

So my boss headed up a big project that recently ended. There was a sparkling grape juice toast when the project started and shortly after it ended my boss off-hand mentioned something like "Wheres my champange?!" Apparently there was supposed to be champange when the project ended but that hasn't happened yet (and I doubt it will). I was going to give her a thank you note and a bottle of champagne bc I wanted to make sure she got it sometime.

Perhaps that corney but I like it

[Edited on October 14, 2011 at 12:13 PM. Reason : sf]

10/14/2011 12:12:30 PM

I like that, it shows that you remember the little things, and that you care enough about your boss & the project even though you're leaving.
She'll remember you, and when you need references I'm sure she'll give glowing ones.

10/14/2011 6:47:00 PM