If after you’ve weighed up your options, you feel that switching jobs is your best course of action, the next best thing you can do is leave elegantly from your current job.  Doing so is key to preserving your reputation and your relationship with your boss and colleagues.  Always remember that in the end, we’re all free agents in the world of work.  So trust me, being known as someone who always does the right thing will always play to your advantage.

These are my ground rules for leaving a job with a bit of bling:

1. Aim to be missed. This is my mantra during the last few weeks in any job.  During those last few weeks (usually 4), my main objective becomes to leave everything in proper order.  Even if it means going above and beyond the call of duty, this becomes easy because knowing that the end is in sight usually gives me a sense of excitement which brings with it a new-found burst of energy. 
2. Give voluntary notice.  Last time I resigned from a job I made it a point to let my boss know that I was working for 4 more weeks because I wanted to, not because I was bound by a contract to do so.  By transcending a contract, I was saying loud and clear that our relationship went beyond a work setting.  In my book, a contract will never offer a relationship what transparency and good intentions can.
3. Always build bridges. In my mind switching jobs is simply a change of course in the big blue ocean of possibilities.  It’s not a run and hide exercise.  For that reason I believe that it’s important to preserve existing relationships, especially those you’ve spent so much time building – like with your boss and team mates.  They will always be your allies in the universe of work.
4. Get closure.  I see the last few weeks as a great opportunity to iron things out and make things right with people I didn’t see eye-to-eye all the time.
5. Use the spotlight to your advantage.  Don’t kid yourself. More often than not, as soon as you announce to your boss that you’re leaving, more eyes than usual will be looking at you to make sure that you don’t do anything inappropriate during your last few weeks. I say don’t resent that, instead use the extra attention to your advantage.  Make it a point to go the extra mile during the home stretch. Doing so will make a lasting impression on those making sure that you don’t pull any fast moves on your way out.

How have you left a job in style?