The right way to resign is by preparing a professional resignation letter. What you should not do is act out by employing these ridiculous antics.

People quit their jobs for various reasons. Maybe it’s because there’s a better job offer, or because they have an ill family member who they need to look after, or maybe work just sucks. Perhaps they've heard they are about to get fired and choose to resign before the company has the chance to officially relay the bad news. Many of these same people do not know how to resign professionally. 

The right way to resign professionally is by preparing a formal resignation letter and by giving a copy of it to your employer and HR with 4 weeks’ (or whatever your employment contract requires) notice.

Read: How to resign professionally

What you should NOT do is act like these fools who really only shot themselves in the foot with their ridiculous antics:

Not adhering to proper dresscode

After submitting a resignation letter, Amy had two week’s left to work. She started coming to work dressed in clothes that could have doubled as pyjamas. Very inappropriate.

You decided 5min ago

Bob just got a bad review. He believes he was unfairly reprimanded and decided to quit. So he did. Just now. Without considering his options or having a new job in the pipeline. Very risky.

Just stay away

Cari-Lee decided to not come back to work. No warning, no notice, no explanation. Her company had to contact her after they started wondering if maybe she died. Turns out, she started a new job but the one she just up and left, called her new boss and let him know how unreliable Cari-Lee really is.  10 brownie points for you if you can guess what happened to that shiny new job after that boss-to-boss conversation… Very unprofessional.

Gossip and badmouth your company

So Denzil gave in his resignation last week and hasn’t stopped gossiping about his colleagues and boss - to his colleagues and boss! Even after he left, he kept saying bad things about his former company to his new co-workers. Denzil was subsequently never invited to his new company’s events, and never introduced to senior staff members for all feared what he’d fabricate and spread – like, the company’s reputation was on the line.

When Denzil realised he was being excluded, he started looking for other places to work but couldn’t. Turns out, his last two employers wouldn’t give a positive reference because Denzil was always spreading negativity and scandal. No one wanted to trust him. Very childish, Denzil.

Start shouting angrily

Evan starting screaming at his boss. All his colleagues saw. He’d already resigned the day before, but today he just lost it, yelling ‘good riddance’ with what was described as pretty creative expletives. It’s like he forgot he has 2 weeks left before leaving, meaning all his colleagues were staring and judging him for an entire fortnight.

It’s been two years and everyone still talks about him. Very embarrassing.

Throw a tantrum

Freddy one-upped Evan and actually lost his mind the day he left. Something about this being “the worst company he’s ever worked for.” Well, what he didn’t know was that someone made a video and uploaded it onto the internet. That first week of Freddy’s new job, all his colleagues somehow discovered it… Yikes! Very yikes.

Read: What to do after losing your job

Stop Working

Glenda resigned one day. Glenda came to work the next day. Glenda sat that whole day doing nothing: she didn’t finish off her last tasks; she didn’t set up anything to smooth the hand over to her successor; and she wouldn’t help any of her colleagues that asked for an extra hand. Her explanation: “I mos don’t work here anymore.” Well, 3 years later her contract at the new job ended. She wanted her old job back, but the company refused. They were looking for a team player and they remembered that she wasn’t it. Very disappointing.

All these stories have bad endings. Here are 5 more that will end the same way for all of you that dare:

threaten the company;

indulge in relentless social media rants;

quit when drunk or under the influence of any other mood-altering substance;

send the resignation via text;

take office supplies – come on, is the stapler really worth it?

None of these people are real and none of these stories actually happened (except the first one, that really happened to someone not named Amy). But they could be real, and they could be you. So always remember your manners and act professionally. Or it could come back to bite you when you least expect it.

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