Giving Notice
	Last week, I did something at work many of us have done, some never do, but everyone feels anxious about doing. No, I didn’t use a sharpie on the white board. I gave notice at my job. Giving notice is an unusual concept for our parents and grandparents, who generally stayed with the same job their whole lives. They didn’t have to worry about 401K rollovers or expiring stock options before they left. They just had to worry about expiring. These days, people switch jobs all the time. The practice of giving notice is actually not that new. Some say the premise was invented in medieval times when knight’s apprentices told their masters they were leaving one knight for another. The knights responded by slaying their apprentices, and the practice of giving notice did not resume for many decades thereafter. For those of you who have given notice, you know it can be complicated. For one thing, you have to act like you share your boss’ pain. If you honestly do, then go ahead and show it. If you don’t, then at least try not to smile. You also have to pretend that those three sick days, four “car couldn’t start” days, and two “waiting for cable guy” days were not conspicuous ruses for job interviewing.  David Buckley, a Maplewood resident and Managing Principal of the New York City executive search firm Buckley d'Elcano LLC, says “what comes around, goes around in the employment community”. He suggests writing and personally handing your supervisor a brief and upbeat letter of resignation, volunteering to help with the transition, keeping any negative comments and criticism to yourself, and taking time off for yourself between jobs. By the way, “I’m so outta here!”, though both brief and upbeat, is not a good resignation ice-breaker. Also, don’t go around trying to collect the snack run money you’re owed. It’s gone. Let it go. If there’s a gap in your medical benefits between jobs, know that employee healthcare coverage often extends to the end of any month you started, so you may want to time your departure as close to the start of a month as possible. After that, COBRA kicks in. I’m not sure how they got the name COBRA, but I’m reminded of the 1986 Sylvester Stallone movie of the same name with the tagline “Crime is a disease; Meet the cure.” That sounds pretty healthcare-like to me. More likely, COBRA is an acronym for “Coverage Only Because Recently Axed.” I wasn’t alone in bidding adieu to a job in early 2006. Recent resignations were announced by West Virginia Mine Safety Director Doug Conaway, resume-exaggerating Radio Shack CEO David Edmondson, Harvard University president Lawrence Summers, and the Fatah-led Palestinian government. Of all of them, Larry should have the easiest time in upcoming interviews. It’s one thing to have graduated from Harvard; another to have run Harvard. It doesn’t look quite as good for Fatah, who will have to explain to the next human resources recruiter why people preferred terrorists to them. Ouch! I wonder if any of them took office supplies with them on the way out. Not that I did. No way. Well, who can really read the writing on blue post-it notes anyway? I’m doing people a favor. And that ficus plant in the lobby – it’s not like anyone really noticed it. My co-workers took me out for lunch on my last day, as per the “free lunch on birthday or last day” rule observed by any U.S. company within five miles of a TGI Friday’s. What started with me giving notice ended with them getting the check. Just another moment in the classic American tradition of life, liberty, and the pursuit of better gigs. HOME