If you’re quitting your full-time career to become a freelancer, there are important reasons to avoid burning bridges on your way out.

How can you quit your job without burning bridges? Put yourself in your boss’ shoes and think of what you would expect. Provide more notice than is necessary, help train your replacement, compromise, and generally try to leave as gracefully as possible.

In this article, I’ll let you know how I went about leaving my job without any hurt feelings.

Why Should You Avoid Burning Bridges?

The big reason that you should avoid burning bridges is because if things don’t work out, you might end up having to come back. Or at the very least, you may need a reference for a future job.

While it might feel amazing to do a big dramatic exit, especially if you hate your job, it’s never worth it. It just comes across as immature and reflects poorly on you. Both to your boss and all of your other coworkers.

If I had to sum up all of my advice for not burning bridges when you quit, it would be to just not be a dick. But below are some more details on how to go about that.

Put Yourself In Your Boss’ Shoes

Think about what you’d want from your employee if you were the boss.

You know your boss best, so you probably have a good idea of how they might react.

Some bosses are likely to be supportive, encouraging, and caring. Even if you’re leaving the company, they know you’re doing what’s best for you.

Other bosses may be petty and just fire you on the spot when you announce your plans to leave.

Try to figure out where on that spectrum your boss is, and give them the accommodation and communication that you’d want to receive from your employees if you were the boss. If you’re not sure, it’s better to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they have your best interest in mind.

I let my boss know months early that I was planning to leave to start my business. But it depends on your relationship. Some bosses may just fire you on the spot, so read your situation

Provide Lots of Notice

The standard is to give two weeks notice when you’re quitting a job. But personally I would give a lot more notice than that.

Two weeks might be enough if you’re just working at a grocery store or some other position that’s easily filled when you leave. But if you have a specialized education or lots of training would be required to replace you, give ample time for your company to transition.

Definitely don’t do it impulsively. If nothing else, you can get a few weeks more of stable paycheques at your current job before you leave. And chances are that once you announce you’re leaving, you’ll be coasting somewhat and just doing the bare minimum amount of work anyway, or overseeing the training of your replacement.

Sleep On It First

Before you even mention that you’re thinking about leaving to anyone, consider it for at least a month or two.

You want to already have a solid plan in place before you make the big announcement that you’re quitting.

Assume that when you announce that you’re quitting, you’re going to get fired the same day. That’s the worst case scenario that you should be prepared for. Even though it isn’t likely to happen, at least then you’re ready.

Consider Your Risk Tolerance

Quitting your job might be more or less risky depending on where you are in life.

If you have a spouse or kids that also depend on your income, you’ll have more to take into account since you aren’t just looking after yourself.

Even if you’re single and living alone or with a roommate, you want to have enough savings for at least a few months in case your new business or job doesn’t materialize right away. Personally I think enough money to cover six months of all expenses is a pretty safe buffer for most people, but a year is even better.

Ask For Flexibility

Some managers may consider you valuable enough that they’d rather keep you on part-time than lose you entirely. So see if you can get a flexible working arrangement.

Maybe you can work remote. Or perhaps you can get one day off per week to work on your business, in exchange for a reduction in salary. Either could be a great way to start transitioning without having to give up your entire salary right away.

Offer To Train Your Replacement

With most jobs, there’s a lot of knowledge and expertise that people have that isn’t necessarily written down anywhere.

Offering to train your replacement shows that you care about your coworkers. Otherwise they may end up picking up the slack and cleaning up messes that you left after you’re gone, which can lead to resentment.

If you’re leaving before your replacement starts work, take the time to write out instructions for what you do every day. Imagine if you were off sick or got hit by a bus and someone had to fill in for you. Give them all of the instructions they’d need to keep your department running without you.

Leave Your Desk Organized

Don’t leave your desk with messes of paperwork and other items on it.

Chances are that you’re taking any personal items with you. But it’s worth spending some time during your last days doing some organization. Your desk, any filing, or anything else should all be left in a tidy manner.

Think about what it would be like if you started a new job and your first task was cleaning up the mess that someone else left behind. Don’t do that to your fellow worker!

If you have time, wipe everything down. Don’t forget to get into your keyboard with some compressed air to blow most of the crumbs out too!

Don’t Complain On Social Media

Chances are that you’ve got at least one coworker on social media, maybe even a manager or boss. So if you vent about your job on social media, chances are that it’s going to get back to the higher-ups.

Instead, focus on the positive and where you’re going. Instead of bringing down the place that you currently work at.

In some cases, your old employer can become your first customer, depending on what industry your new job is in. So don’t give them any reason to cut you off.

Build Your Business Gradually

You don’t have to go cold turkey and quit before you have any other plans in place.

If you’re looking for another job, don’t quit until you actually have a job offer from somewhere else first.

If you’re starting a business, you can do it gradually in your spare time. Spending just a few hours during the evening on weeknights or weekends can start to grow your business. Eventually if you keep at it, it could even overtake your regular salary. Then there’s a lot less risk when you do finally leave your job, since you already have a fairly stable second source of income.

That’s the best case scenario. Then you’re fully independent and it doesn’t even matter if you burn bridges or not. (Although I’d still recommend against it, even when you have all the power!)

Conclusion

Staging a big dramatic exit when you quit your job might feel good in the moment. But it’s likely to do more harm than good. What if you need to get your job back in the future when things don’t work out, or to use your current boss as a reference for another job?

In business and in life, it’s best to avoid burning bridges as much as possible. If you follow the steps I’ve outlined above, you should be well on your way to making a smooth exit already.