There are a number of ways to say goodbye to a job – some helpful and effective, some not-so-great.
Here’s a goodbye email that I received this week (names and contact info fictitious) sent blind copy from their work email account:
“I’m leaving Salesforce.com. Please use “george.richards@gmail.com.
My cell phone number will remain the same: 1-650-299-4242.
George”
What works about this blast email?
The person has given contact information both in email and mobile form. It means you won’t wast your time wondering where they are? You can reach them easily.
What could be better?
Letting people know what’s next (take time off, look at other options, has taken another job, founding a start up, etc.).
While I happen to know (and remember) what’s happened (organizational restructuring – his job was eliminated), some people who received the note won’t remember and/or won’t know.
And if people don’t know why you left or what you want to do next, they won’t be able to be that extra pair of eyes in your network being helpful for you.
Here’s a near-perfect goodbye note from an earlier post. It’s about as good as it gets.
“George” should have used it.
Life Back West is an occasional set of writings focused on ways people, teams and organizations can be both more effective (doing the right thing) and more efficient (doing the right thing well). More about executive, career and team / leadership coaching services can be found at the “About J. Mike Smith and Back West, Inc.” sidebar or the “Hire Me” tab. You can also read an online interview with me at