posted
I want to write a letter of resignation to my job. The thing is that I'd rather just quit but I don't know how to go about doing it. If I turn in the letter, I'd have to wait until two weeks before I was officially out. I'm calling in sick tomorrow, there is no way I am cashiering at the store I work at for 8 hours. I'm acutally acquiring a bachelor's in animation so as you guys can see, cashiering has got nothing to do with my career choice. I just hate it. I have tolerated it since November, but I have had enough. I just cannot handle it anymore. The thing about quitting is that I don't know what repercussions that would have on my future and if I would regret it later on since this is my first job. What do you guys think I should do? I obviously cannot think for myself...
If I resign, I'd have to talk to people and stuff and I don't really want to..My room mate said that was just chicken shyte, but I seriously don't have the face to sit in a room and tell my employer that I am leaving. BTW, I'm a cashier for Target.
posted
Submit the letter, but say that for _____ reasons (emotional reasons, unforeseen reasons, whatever you care to put) you are unable to give two weeks notice.
There's no legal requirement for you to give two weeks notice, they'd just like that. They prolly get letters infrequently enough from college employees, much less notice. Don't just stop showing up.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
So I take the letter on the morrow and don't show up or should I take the letter AND show up? I seriously don't want to go there anymore.
Posts: 3389 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Odds are that you will be removed from the schedule as soon as you give notice. These days that is the usual response to two weeks notice.
Integrity is often not respected by today's corporations. My son-in-law just changed jobs. He was in charge of the computer systems for a multi-state CAD corporation. He found another job paying more, with less responsibility. They took him off the schedule in one week. He came in anyway, unpaid, to finish training his replacement. That person was a friend, and he wasn't going to 'do that' to a friend - to let him be trained by being thrown in the water.
Posts: 337 | Registered: Nov 2005
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I wouldn't just never go there again. It would look really bad. Suffer through the two weeks, and live and get a little cash, or ask them to stop scheduling you when you come in with your resignition and if they don't, come in. Fugu might be right about the whole two weeks thing, so try that too. I actually don't know, I've only quit one job.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
Should be. Make sure you give the letter to the appropriate person, and be apologetic about not being able to give a full two weeks notice when you hand it over.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
You are a college student with a job at Target. While it is nice for them to have the two weeks notice, they do not need it. If this were a job in animation as you are studying for, they would need and appreciate the notice. Otherwise, it is no big deal. This happens to them all the time. The truth is they probably have about a million applications and they can have someone training tomorrow if they want. Use being overwhelmed at school as the excuse if they give you a hard time.
Posts: 1319 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Thanks Mandy. I have one slight problem though. I am supposed to call two hours before my shift starts if I am to call in sick and I have no air-time on my phone. My excuse is that I woke up with a stiff neck. Should I just let the time go by seeing as I am resigning anyway, or what? I have 20 minutes left, my shift starts at 9:30 and it's 7:10 over here.
I want to give them the call, but I have no phone, basically.
Posts: 3389 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Where I work, I make decisions about who gets hired and who doesn't. One thing that we ask of all applicants is three references. Even if they are outside of the field where I work, a reference will tell me what kind of worker that applicant is. Moral: don't slam the door on your way out.
Also, be prepared to answer this common little interview question: Why did you leave this job? The wrong answer may keep you from being hired elsewhere.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Out of interest, what's so mind-numbingly important TODAY that you couldn't just go to work for one more day?
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Hey, I'm studying animation, too! But I've got most of those sorts of jobs behind me already, so I can sort of half-support myself doing stuff with Maya while I'm in school, even if it's not character animation yet.
But I do remember having jobs like that, my first was checking out books at the college library. And I also had a couple of student jobs that I ended up just hating to go to. I had about six different jobs in college, and eventually quit all but one of them. It's something unpleasant that you have to learn to do, like dumping a guy. No one really wants to dump a guy, but you just have to suck it up and do it, or else it'll just end up worse for both of you in the long run. To quit something like a cashier job at Target, I'd just go in for my normal shift, and at some point during the day, talk to my manager and politely tell them that, due to a change in my circumstances, I needed to leave the job. I'd say that I'd be happy to continue working for a week or two while they sort out the scheduling, but only if they really needed it.
It's just a student job, and 5 years from now you'll hardly even remember you ever had it, but this is a good opportunity to practice ending a job professionally and on good terms. And who knows, maybe you WILL need them as a reference some day. Animation isn't exactly a field you jump into straight out of school, after all. Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion: Here's my plan: Call in sick today, take the letter on the morrow, I'm free that day anyway, and not show up afterwards.
posted
Hm. Frankly, I think you managed to pick the LEAST-mature option.
I would have EITHER gone in to work or quit today over the phone. Lying about being "sick" only to quit TOMORROW just drags things out and makes it harder for your boss.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Tom is right. Man up and at the very least just say, "This is Altariel, and I'm quitting, effective now." Yes, it will be awkward and your boss might give you some hell.
Seriously, it's the decent thing to do (although the more decent thing would be to give two weeks and leave it in their hands), it's not really that hard, and it's important to have the guts sufficient to tell people really awkward things face to face.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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I guess I'll take the letter to them on Tuesday, then since I'm not off. Then it won't look as bad, and I will stay there for two weeks.
Posts: 3389 | Registered: Apr 2004
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In my experience, retail employers like Target are usually shocked if you give two weeks notice and then actually work that two weeks. Most people, even if they say two weeks notice, call in sick or just plain don't show up that two weeks.
If you put in the two weeks and they schedule you for that two weeks, make sure you show up and work. It will make them think more of you and get you a better reference later on.
quote:Odds are that you will be removed from the schedule as soon as you give notice.... Integrity is often not respected by today's corporations.
I usually remove someone from the schedule when they give their two weeks. It has nothing to do with respecting anyone's integrity. When I get two week's notice, I'm grateful. It's a cool thing. Good for them. But I also understand that when an employee gives their two weeks notice, they're more often than not in Altariel's shoes... They don't want to be there anymore. They're giving the notice for *my* benefit. Well, usually I don't *need* them to work that two extra weeks. And since they don't actually *want* to work the two extra weeks, I'll go ahead and take them off the schedule.
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
OMG, its just a job at Target. Who cares if you don't call in sick in enough time? What they gonna do, fire you? You're already planning on quitting.
Personally, i would think writing a letter is a waste of time, just honestly tell your boss why you're quitting either in person or on the phone and get it over with. no big deal, quit worrying.
posted
I know back in 1998 when I worked at Kmart I gave a verbal 2 weeks notice to the Manager and office staff. I didn't have to at the time do much else. I told them the day that I had to leave. They had no problem with this as they all knew why I was leaving anyway. At the end of that 2 weeks I was headed off to Boot Camp. The Manager also happened to be prior military. I worked the time until I left, but that is just me, and the fact that I knew the guys in back needed my help for that 2 weeks. I worked with them too long to ditch them without getting the critical stuff done (we were in the middle of getting ready for inventory).
Posts: 2208 | Registered: Feb 2004
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TL, do you give them a two week severance? Some people honestly do give notice and they expect to work those two weeks, and taking them off the schedule and not allowing them to earn any money for those weeks seems excessively harsh for someone that was indeed giving you the benefit of the notice.
I have never given less than a 2 week notice and I always worked out my notice. It was the respectful thing to do. Taking people off the schedule doesn't seem right.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:Taking people off the schedule doesn't seem right.
It's, frankly, doing them a favor. If they wanted to stay or needed to stay the full two weeks, of course we wouldn't take them off the schedule.
However, 9 times out of 10 the situation is that they're giving their notice because they want to do the responsible thing -- however they really don't want to stay. They're usually relieved when I remove them from the schedule.
They usually say, 'Thanks.'
Am I the crazy one?
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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In general, when you quit "with notice," it's considered polite for an employer to either retain you for that period or pay you severance for the portion of that period they choose not to retain you.
This is actually written into my contract, because employers can no longer be trusted to treat their employees honorably. If I quit with notice, Edgewood has to keep me for two weeks or pay me the remainder in a lump sum (at their discretion, either way); my termination, for benefit purposes, is considered to fall at the end of that notice. (This is especially important since I, as a network administrator, will almost certainly be escorted out of the building immediately following any notice of intent.) Moreover, if I'm fired for some reason other than items identifed as grounds for immediate dismissal, they have to either give me two weeks' notice or, again, pay the remainder.
That this is becoming LESS common is due to those God-awful "at will" employment schemes, which are proliferating like fungus.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
Say "Am I the crazy one?" one more time and see what happens. Even if you're not "the" crazy one, people will start to think you are. Try it. C'Mon. It's cool to be crazy...
Posts: 499 | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Originally posted by TL: Of course we don't give them severance. When was the last time you quit a job and they gave you severance?
Am I the crazy one?
In some places, the employer is required to give severance pay in lieu of two weeks notice, and that includes people who quit giving notice if the employer doesn't want them to stick around for the notice. Of course, it depends on how long the employee has been with the company, full time versus part time, etc.
So no, that's not a crazy question.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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The general rule in most states is that, absent a contract to the contrary, all employment relationships are "at will." This means that the employer can fire an employee at any time, for any reason, and that the employee can quit at any time for any reason. But most states also have a caveat to this rue: the employee can be fired only with "reasonable notice" and the employee can quit with with "reasonable notice."
"Reasonable notice" commonly means 2 weeks advance notice, but what constitutes "reasonable notice" depends on the circumstances of the particular case. For example, an employee performing a highly specialized skill who has been employed for a long period of time would be entitled to more notice of termination and also would be required to give the employer more notice before quitting. Alternatively, an employee who performs no specialized skill and has been employed for a short time may be entitled to less notice of termination, and also would be required to give less notice before quitting.
Posts: 195 | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:"Reasonable notice" commonly means 2 weeks advance notice, but what constitutes "reasonable notice" depends on the circumstances of the particular case.
In my industry, despite the fact that what I do is a fairly specialized skill that involves a fair amount of on-the-job localization training, we're taught to expect immediate terminations due to our level of security access. That's why I'm choosier with my contracts nowadays.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: In my industry, despite the fact that what I do is a fairly specialized skill that involves a fair amount of on-the-job localization training, we're taught to expect immediate terminations due to our level of security access. That's why I'm choosier with my contracts nowadays.
What constitutes "reasonable notice" often is guided by industry standards. Also, an employment contract will modify the general rule of at-will employment. At-will employment only applies in the absence of a contract.
quote:Originally posted by TL: I think the gap in this conversation is that some of us are talking about entry-level work, and some of us are talking about career-level work.
The rules of at-will employment still apply, in the absence of a contract. Under the ambit of "reasonable notice," entry-level jobs may demand less notice, or perhaps even no notice under some circumstances, then do career-level jobs.
Posts: 195 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I wish I could quit my job. People rarely ever give two weeks notice at the restaurant where I work. They are either fired on the spot for whatever they've done wrong, or they quit on the spot and walk off the job. I don't know though, I think people at restaurants tend to quit more often in the heat of the moment than in many other professions, or to expand that, in the service industry in general.
I've seen a half dozen people quit during a rush in the middle of their shifts in the last six months alone. Big turnover rate in restaurants.
Much as I would LOVE to just walk in, say "I quit" and then never go back, I know they'd be a little screwed without me, and I'd be perfectly willing to train my own replacement. A TGI Fridays just opened up next door to us, and I think about every five minutes of applying there.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote: I think the gap in this conversation is that some of us are talking about entry-level work, and some of us are talking about career-level work.
Common courtesy doesn't have that boundary. Sure, different rules and expectations apply, but we are still talking about being respectful and courteous here. We are talking about people (supervisors), not just companies
I would NEVER want to treat a supervisor in any way other than the way I would want to be treated if I were in their position.
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