How to Survive Resigning
Resigning is a two-week performance with a very long tail. The industry you work in is smaller than it feels, references get taken informally, and the person you leave badly will interview your CV in five years.
None of which requires anything heroic. It requires notice in writing, a straight answer about why, and doing the handover properly. The mistakes are almost all in the emotional register rather than the practical one.
The 10-minute version
- Give notice in writing, and give the right amount. Notice from an employee is set by your contract, award or agreement — commonly one to four weeks depending on service.
- Do not accept a counter-offer to solve a problem you have already decided about. A significant share of people who accept one leave anyway within a year.
- Say nothing in the exit interview you would not put in writing. It is not a therapy session and it is not confidential in the way people assume.
Notice, and what you are owed
Your notice period comes from your employment contract, or the relevant award or enterprise agreement. It is commonly one to four weeks depending on length of service. If your contract specifies longer, that generally applies.
What you are paid out on leaving:
- Wages to your last day
- Accrued annual leave, paid out
- Accrued long service leave, if you have reached the threshold in your state
- Anything owed under an award — allowances, overtime, penalties
What is usually not paid out: personal or carer’s leave. Accrued sick leave is generally not cashed out on resignation.
Superannuation continues to be payable on ordinary earnings up to your last day.
If you leave without giving proper notice, an employer may in some circumstances withhold an amount from your final pay, if the award or agreement allows it. Check before assuming you can simply stop attending.
The sequence
1. Have the new offer in writing first. Signed, with a start date, and any conditions satisfied. Resigning on a verbal offer is a genuinely bad idea.
2. Tell your manager first, in person or on a call. Not the team, not a group chat, not by email while they are on leave. This one detail affects how the whole thing goes.
3. Keep the reason short and forward-looking. “I’ve taken a role that moves me toward X” is sufficient and true enough. You are not obliged to catalogue grievances, and doing so buys nothing.
4. Follow up in writing the same day. A short letter or email: your last day, calculated from your notice period, and an offer to help with handover. This is the document that matters.
5. Do the handover properly. Write it down: what you do, where things live, what is in flight, who to contact. This is the single strongest determinant of how you are remembered, and it takes a few hours.
6. Work the notice period like you mean it. Coasting for a fortnight is the most common way people undo years of good work.
7. Ask for a written reference or a LinkedIn recommendation before you leave, while goodwill is high.
The counter-offer trap
If you are valuable, there is a reasonable chance you will be offered more money to stay. Two things to hold at once.
It is legitimate to accept, if — and only if — the money was the actual problem, and the offer resolves it, and nothing else was driving you.
It usually is not the problem. If you were leaving because of your manager, the work, the trajectory or the culture, a raise changes none of it, and a substantial share of people who accept counter-offers leave anyway within twelve months. You will also have signalled that you were looking, which changes how you are treated in ways that are hard to see.
The useful question to ask yourself before the conversation: “If they matched the money today, would I stay?” Answer it before you are in the room, because in the room it is flattering and hard to think.
The exit interview
Assume anything you say may be repeated to your manager, attributed. Assume the notes exist.
Say: what you liked, what you learned, and one or two specific, non-personal process observations if you genuinely want to help.
Do not say: anything about individuals, anything angry, or anything you would not put in an email with your name on it.
This is not cynicism about HR — their job includes the organisation’s interests, which is exactly why the confidentiality people imagine is not there. The cost of restraint is nothing. The cost of candour occasionally arrives years later.
What actually goes wrong
Resigning on a verbal offer, which then changes or evaporates.
Telling colleagues before the manager. It always gets back first.
A long grievance letter. Nothing improves and it is the last document about you on file.
Coasting through notice, undoing years of reputation in a fortnight.
No handover document, so the team remembers you as the person who left a mess.
Accepting a counter-offer for a problem money does not solve.
Not checking the final pay. Leave balances are frequently calculated wrongly and rarely in your favour.
Burning a bridge on the last day. Industries are small and the person on the other side of it moves around.
Forgetting the personal admin — copying your own contacts (not company data), noting your super fund details, and updating your address.
Thresholds
| Situation | The rule |
|---|---|
| Before resigning | New offer signed, in writing, conditions met |
| Telling people | Manager first, in person. Then in writing the same day |
| Notice | As per contract, award or agreement. Commonly 1–4 weeks |
| Reason given | Short, forward-looking, non-personal |
| Handover | Written document, not a conversation |
| Counter-offer | Decide in advance whether money was the actual problem |
| Exit interview | Nothing you would not put in writing with your name on it |
| Final pay | Check wages, annual leave, long service leave and super |
| Reference | Ask before your last day |
What it costs
| Tier | Spend | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Written notice, a proper handover document, a short honest reason, a reference requested before you go |
| Free but overlooked | $0 | Checking your final pay against your leave balances, and the Fair Work Ombudsman if it looks wrong |
| Occasionally worth it | $200–500 | An employment lawyer, if your contract contains a restraint of trade and your new role is with a competitor |
The drill: the resignation checklist
- ☐ New offer signed and in writing, start date confirmed
- ☐ Notice period confirmed from your contract, award or agreement
- ☐ Check any restraint of trade or non-solicitation clause
- ☐ Tell your manager first, in person
- ☐ Written resignation the same day: last day, offer to help handover
- ☐ Handover document written: responsibilities, systems, in-flight work, contacts
- ☐ Written reference or recommendation requested
- ☐ Personal contacts and your own records copied — nothing belonging to the company
- ☐ Final pay checked against wages, annual leave and long service leave
- ☐ Super fund details noted so the new employer pays into the same account
Frequently asked questions
How much notice do I have to give when resigning in Australia?
Whatever your contract, award or enterprise agreement specifies — commonly one to four weeks depending on length of service. A longer contractual period generally applies, and leaving without proper notice can allow an employer to withhold an amount in some circumstances.
What am I paid when I resign?
Wages to your last day, accrued annual leave, and accrued long service leave if you have reached your state’s threshold, plus any award entitlements. Accrued sick leave is generally not paid out.
Should I accept a counter-offer?
Only if money was genuinely the problem and the offer resolves it. If you were leaving over the manager, work, trajectory or culture, a raise changes none of that — and a large share of people who accept counter-offers leave within a year anyway.
What should I say in an exit interview?
What you liked, what you learned, and at most one or two specific process observations. Nothing about individuals, nothing angry, and nothing you would not put in writing with your name attached.
Do I have to give a reason for resigning?
No. A short, forward-looking sentence is sufficient and preferable. A detailed grievance letter changes nothing and becomes the last document on your file.
What is the most important thing to do before leaving?
A written handover — what you do, where things are, what is in flight, who to contact. It takes a few hours and it is what determines how you are remembered, which matters because references get taken informally for years.