Job Exit Strategy

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Strategy & Tactics
w Make Placements -- FAST!
w Voice Mail & E-mail: Eight Simple Rules
w Job Orders -- Better, Faster, Smarter
w How to Switch Desk Specialties
w Who Makes the Most Money?
w Retainers: Look Before You Leap
w How to Add Value, Not Redundancy
w Intelligent Online Recruiting

Skill Building
w Counteroffers: Can You Spot the Signs?
w Resume Makeovers: Quick Tips
w Is There a MAGIC to Closing?
w Finding the Right Recruiting Script
w Storyboarding for Maximum Impact
w How to Stimulate Candidate Referrals
w Expand the Supply of Candidates

Candidate Management
w Playing Softball with Your Candidates?
w The Power of Interview Preparation
w Control: The Key to Recruiter Success
w How to Fight the Counteroffer Bug

Employer Relationships
w You’re Worth the Money You Charge!
w Negotiate for Higher Recruiting Fees
w Anti-Discount Tactics for Recruiters

For Candidates & Employers
w Graceful Exits for Job-Changers
w Advice for Engineering Candidates
w What’s Your Capture Strategy?

Q & A for Recruiters
w Answers to Your E-mail Questions
Bill Radin answers letters from recruiters around the world.

Graceful Exits and Burned Bridges
The Case for Good Manners when Leaving a Job
By Bill Radin

Imagine a co-worker who trashes his cubicle, plays practical jokes on his replacement and slinks off with the copier on his last day of work.

Is this a person you’d recommend to a prospective employer? Or expect your company to rehire? Or want to work with again? Probably not.

We can only hope that the reported antics surrounding the Clintons’ White House exodus are untrue, because bad behavior—from a chief executive, no less—degrades the employment experience for the rest of us.

A Strong Dose of Character
When faced with leaving a job, it’s best to exercise decorum, whether the move is voluntary or forced. To make the best of an awkward situation, here are four tips to remember:

1. Keep your mouth shut. Leaving a job (like ending a personal relationship) is strictly a private matter; and waving your dirty laundry serves no purpose.

2. Stay cool. Even in the context of a “confidential” exit interview, there’s nothing to gain from scorching the Earth.

3. Keep your distance. Soliciting support (or fomenting dissent) from your co-workers might create the impression of a conspiracy or coup d’etat—and unwittingly implicate innocent people.

4. Burn bridges at your own peril. The company you left yesterday may need your services tomorrow. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it.

Sure, it’s easy to be gracious when everything’s rosy. But it takes an extra dose of character to act like an adult when the going gets tough. If you’re ever caught in a sudden employment shift, try to maintain your composure and consider the consequences of your actions.

Workplace trends like flexible schedules and casual Fridays may come and go, but good manners are forever. Otherwise, Shakespeare wouldn’t have written, “A person is remembered for his entrances and exits.”

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