Buh-bye

Since sweeps are about to end and job offers about to be extended, I thought it would be a good time to discuss something that people rarely consider, but something that can leave a lasting impression.

How to say goodbye when you turn in your notice.

At my first station we had a News Director with a great sense of humor who loved practical jokes. (Sending interns to find the chroma-key, etc.) One day a photog came to me, told me he'd gotten another job, and asked me to type a letter of resignation for him since he couldn't type.

"What do you want to say?" I asked, as I rolled a sheet of paper into the typewriter.

"You're creative. Just something short."

So I wrote this:


Dear News Director,

Bye.

-Sincerely,

Bill


The ND thought it was hilarious. Of course, no one has a sense of humor in these days of political correctness, and things are often taken the wrong way. So, three things:

-Your letter of resignation needs to be professional.

-The longer notice you can give, the better.

-Don't phone it in while you're a short-timer.

While you may want to write something like, "I'll really miss the daily floggings and sarcastic remarks about my work," you need to bite your literary tongue and at least make management feel as though they've done you a favor. Something like this:

"Please accept my resignation as of (date.) I have accepted another position and will be starting there on (date.)

Thank you for the opportunities you have provided during my time here."

Keep it short and simple.

Now as to the amount of notice, anything more than two weeks is a bonus to a News Director. It's nearly impossible to run an ad, go through tapes, interview people and hire someone in that period of time. And then that someone has to give notice, so we're talking at least six weeks before your replacement comes in. While you're gone the news department will be short handed, so you'll be doing your co-workers a favor as well. And sometime down the road, someone may call for a reference and they might say something like, "She really helped us out... gave us a month's notice."

Finally, show your professional attitude after you've given notice. Work as hard as you normally do. Just because you've already gotten another job it doesn't mean you should coast during your last two weeks.

You may have nothing to gain but a reputation.