Thinking of quitting? There’s more than one way to say goodbye…
Unfortunately, not all jobs work out. But for some people who have decided to move on, a traditional resignation letter just isn’t enough to express how they really feel, or give their exit the dramatic effect it deserves.
Although we don’t condone (nor recommend) trying these at home, here are eight of the greatest ways people have actually resigned:
Write it on a cake
What does everyone want when they get bad news? Cake.
So it’s no surprise that cake resignation letters have actually been used as a way to hand in a notice at work – with genuine employees decorating them with honest (see also: angry) messages, selfies stuck onto exit logos, and even full-blown notices written in letter format.
Cupcakes have also been used to spell out a resignation. One letter per cupcake, one cupcake per employee – the method is flawless.
Say it with a video game
Handing in your notice doesn’t have to be dull – well at least not for the computer programmer who created a video game to tell people he was quitting.
This custom-made version of Super Mario featured an ‘I QUIT’ message that appeared on the screen anytime Mario grabbed a flag or a mushroom. And everyone in the office got to play.
We’re still patiently awaiting the first Pokémon GO! resignation…
Use backing singers
There are many uses for your own group of backing singers – but for one coffee shop worker in the US, it seemed to be the only suitable way to hand in his resignation letter.
And if a cappella really isn’t your thing, you could try accompanying yourself with a full marching band, or just dress up as a banana like one brave ex-insurance worker (we don’t know why either).
Just don’t expect your (ex) boss to join in with the chorus.
Broadcast it live
For anyone working somewhere that involves live communication with the public – crafty resignation letters (sometimes) come with the job.
And whether it’s by announcing it on a live news broadcast, hijacking your company’s sign, or putting it on YouTube, there are many ways to turn your resignation into a public spectacle.
Just beware of the consequences and/or internet-based backlash.
Write a haiku
Today's my last day at Sun. I'll miss it. Seems only fitting to end on a #haiku. Financial crisis/Stalled too many customers/CEO no more
— Jonathan Schwartz 🦉 (@OpenJonathan) February 4, 2010
When it comes to resigning in style, Jonathan Schwartz (the now ex-CEO of Sun) had it covered.
Not only did he write his creative resignation in a poem, he also posted it on Twitter – making it known to everyone that a financial crisis/customer stalling was the reason for him no longer fulfilling the role as CEO.
No matter what’s said. Haikus will soften the blow. Well, almost always…
Do it with interpretive dance
An American Animator filmed her own song and dance resignation video at the Taiwanese animation studio she was then working for – at 4am.
Aside from featuring Marina Shifrin dancing in various areas of the office (including a toilet cubicle), it also included subtitles, which helped explain her reasons. What’s more, by demonstrating her video skills, she even got a few job offers off the back of it – including one from Queen Latifah.
So, in conclusion? She quit. Or, in the words of the great Kanye West*, she’s ‘gone’.
You can watch the full video here
Become a wizard instead
If you’re looking for a noble reason to resign, why not pursue a career in the Wizarding World?
Or, at the very least, tell your boss that in a descriptive letter that focuses on ‘training and shaping the young magic minds of the future to fight off evildoers’ as the new Defence against the Dark Arts Professor.
Because you might be leaving your job – but at least it’s for a good cause.
Later, muggles. Hogwarts needs you.
Use a drawing
Some people use a resignation as an opportunity to be creative. Some people use it to draw a picture of a dinosaur on the back of a receipt.
Either way, how can anyone be angry at you for quitting when they get to enjoy an artistic masterpiece at the same time?
They can’t. But they might still ask you to put it in writing…
Eight signs it’s time to resign
Feel like it’s the right time to resign? Here’s how to resign in the right way.
*may not be great. Personally, we miss the old Kanye.
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My resignation letter from last week:
Dear Principle Technologist, Line Manager, Human Resources and Technical Scheduling,
I have known you all for so long that I count you not just as valued colleagues but also friends. I
wonder if I may shorten your names to Prince, Lin, Hu and Tech, as terms of endearment?
I know that QA is interested in its employees not just as classroom fodder but as rounded human beings with distinct personalities, individual needs and desires, and a full and rewarding life outside of
work. For instance, I while away long hours in lonely hotel rooms at the frontiers of civilisation, indulging in my twin passions of creative writing and portraiture. Please don’t feel guilty, Tech, for sending
me to these remote locations, for it was there that my debut novel was born (The Young Demon Keeper, available on Amazon, semi-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award). I have attached
portraits of you (Hu, please let me know if you would like your portrait either destroyed or sent on to you). A less time-consuming pastime is wine making. Alas, the wonders of the Interweb are not yet capable of sending samples of that as an attachment.
Sadly none of these hobbies are conducive with standing in front of a classroom of eager neophytes and extolling the advantages of a clustered columnstore index. Having dedicated so much of my waking hours to training aspiring geeks, I feel the time has come to apportion a greater amount of time to my other passions. I have in mind lounging in a hammock in the shade of my own Portuguese quinta, sipping wine made from my own grapes, tapping out my next best seller before going down to the local tavern and fleecing tourists for charcoal portraits.
I may even keep chickens.
Thus it is that I must now offer you my notice of resignation. Weep not, for you know that I go to a better place, or at least a better place than some of the places you have sent me. I ask only that, whenever a few of you are gathered at a Third Thursday event, you raise a glass to, um, you know,
tall guy, bald, stupid ties. Was always hanging around the TCAs making inappropriate comments.
Saúde.
I am, as ever, or at least for the next twelve weeks, your humble servant,
Bob Simms
Author, artist, vintner and potential chicken herder.
I once walked off a job. Instead of giving the company the month’s notice my contract stipulated, on a Wednesday afternoon, I asked the head of personnel to call by my office. There I presented her with a list of complaints which the plant manager had sent me. This she recognised. I then presented her with the letter I’d sent him a month earlier refuting all the allegations. This she admitted she had never seen before. I then told her that I was leaving at the end of the week, and I expected to be paid for the full time I’d been working for the company. This set the company off in a tizzy to try and forestall any legal action I might have later chosen to undertake. Although I cleared my desk and moved out on the Friday evening, I was still going into the company’s premises the following week to sort out the legal formalities of their paying me off… with compensation for constructive dismissal.