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Quitting your engineering job is no easy task. On Average, engineers change jobs every 3-4 years, meaning they need to learn a few tips to professionally quit their job without any hard feelings before leaving the company. The following are steps to quitting your engineering job without being awkward or arrogant:

1- Give verbal and written notice

It goes without saying that if you decide to leave your work for whatever reason, which is usually for another job, you need to be upfront about leaving this position which means giving adequate notice.

So how should you open the subject about you leaving the company?

All explained in the following 3 steps

Notice Period

No one will appreciate this sudden leave, especially if you have worked with this company for a few years. Giving an adequate period means giving notice based on the minimum leave notice based on your contract. Therefore, you should read your contract before you speak to your manager.

Generally, if you have worked in this company for less than a year, it is a minimum of 2 weeks’ notice; if you worked in the company for 2 years, it is 3 weeks’ notice, and 2+ years is usually 4 weeks’ notice.

Verbal Notice

After you learn how much notice you need to give, you must verbally open the subject to your boss. It would be more appreciated if you could have a 101 conversation with your manager about your leaving the company and why you are leaving.

You do not have to give too much information about why you are leaving. Still, suppose you are going to a company that is considered a competitor to your business. In that case, you much let your manager know, as it is considered unethical to leave such detail out, especially since you will be competing with your current company.

The verbal conversation is good because you can negotiate when you are leaving based on your contract and or where you need to extend that period because of current projects you are working on.

Written Notice (Resignation letter)

If you had verbal notice from your boss or manager, writing a resignation letter is very easy as you know exactly when you will leave as agreed with your boss. You should not delay your written resignation letter and submit it soon after discussing it with your boss.

Now what to include in your resignation letter?

Many overthink this step as they feel they need to be more elaborate and give many details as to why they are leaving. This does not have to be very detailed and can be a very short letter.

There are 6 things you much include in your resignation letter:

1. Your name and title (Resignation letter)
2. The recipient is usually your boss
3. Today’s date
4. Paragraph 1: The first paragraph is a formal notice of your resignation from this current position, including the date of your last day in this company.
5. Paragraph 2: This is a thank you paragraph for the position and the opportunity to work in this company with some highlights of your best moments and the projects you worked on in this company.
6. Paragraph 3: This is a call to action paragraph by offering help in this transactional period, training others, and finishing some of the projects you are working on.

You can download our free resignation letter template here:

You do not have to discuss why you are leaving this position unless you want to. Usually, you can convey the reason verbally if it is something personal.

2- Offer help to train a successor

When you leave a position, that position will be unoccupied for a while, or the person who is taking over might have a tough time adjusting to the nature of the work; therefore, you should offer your help to train someone for your position.

Often in this transitioning period, you will find that you will slowly be handed less work and included less and less in the company insight news. This is quite normal as you are leaving the company, which is why you should help the management to help train someone to take over.

This way, you are more likely to leave a positive impression and help the company stay strong after you leave, especially if you hold an essential position in the company. You can do so by showing the successor the current projects you are working on and what is your contribution to those projects.

3- Avoid disputes and hardships

Sometimes leaving your position is not easy, especially if your boss is against you leaving. There could be some dispute about leaving the company; however, your response is always trying to defuse the situation. There is no point in holding on to grudges for hard times in the company as you still want those people to be your reference in the future which is why you should aim to keep it professional.

Keep in mind:

• In this transitional period, you should avoid conflict at all cost
• Keep it professional as always and treat others the same as before

You do not know when you will be crossing paths with the engineers in this company. It might be in future work. Therefore, it is important not to burn bridges with others, especially if you work in a technical industry such as engineering, because any niche industry in engineering will get to know many people in this industry.

4- Send a handover email

In the weeks leading to your last day at work, you must prepare to hand over your work. This means you need to prepare a list or an email with all the current tasks and the projects you are working on. Usually, your manager or colleagues will have an idea of what you have been working on.

However, it is important to send a handover email that lists everything, which also helps tie up some loose ends or things you were unable to finish.

This will help your colleagues immeasurably, especially if something that you have been working on needs to be finished by someone else’s. Engineers are usually busy, and it might be difficult to let everyone know exactly what you are doing, which is why it can be beneficial to send this email before you leave. At least you will not make others’ jobs difficult after you leave.

5- Work hard to your last day

Working hard to your last day shows a positive outlook. It does not matter how long you have worked at this company or how much work you have. Working hard shows your commitment to the team.

You do not know when you will be meeting those people again, so it is important to show your commitment to the last day and get things done. This way, the people taking over your position and work can find a much easier transition.

Why do so many engineers quit?

The number one reason engineers quit or change jobs is salary. Often engineers might be underpaid compared to the amount of work they are doing which sometimes forces engineers to change jobs to get a higher salary.

On average, engineers change jobs every 3-4 years, which indicates huge demand for work but less stability to a certain position because of the salary. Sometimes the fastest way for salary growth is through changing jobs. For more reading, we did a survey where We Asked 1000 Engineers How Often They Change Jobs – Check the results here.

Do engineers quit because they are not happy?

Engineers generally are among the most satisfied people with their careers. However, engineers usually quit jobs because of salary where they are offered a higher salary elsewhere or because of the work environment, where their current job environment is toxic, which forces them to change positions.

We did a study where We Asked 1000 Engineers If They Are Happy. This study has proven that engineers are generally happy, but some issues with salary or the work environment force engineers to change jobs. You can check the results here.