Do not resign until the new job is real
A verbal offer is not a job. Neither is an email saying an offer is coming, nor a recruiter's assurance that it is all agreed.
Wait for the signed contract, and check that any conditions attached to it have been cleared — references, background checks, right-to-work documentation, and any medical or security clearance. Offers do get withdrawn at exactly this stage, and someone who has already resigned has no protection at all.
Once the contract is signed and conditions are met, agree a start date that allows you to serve your full notice period. Asking a new employer to wait four weeks is completely normal. Asking your current employer to release you early, so you can start sooner, is where goodwill gets spent.
Tell your manager first
Your direct manager should hear it from you, directly, before anyone else in the organisation. Not from HR, not from a colleague who heard it at lunch, and not from a calendar invite titled "resignation".
Ask for a short private meeting. Keep the opening simple and unambiguous: "I wanted to let you know directly that I have accepted a role elsewhere, and I am giving my notice today." Then hand over or send the written letter.
Expect a range of reactions. Some managers are gracious, some are visibly annoyed, and some immediately start negotiating. You do not have to resolve any of it in that meeting. "I understand — I am happy to talk more once you have had a chance to think" is a complete response.
Keep the letter short
A resignation letter is a legal formality, not a place to explain yourself. Three or four sentences is right.
State that you are resigning, name your role, give the effective date based on your notice period, offer to help with the handover, and thank them for the opportunity. That is the whole document.
What does not belong in it: your reasons for leaving, criticism of anyone, a list of grievances, or anything sarcastic. This letter goes on your permanent file and may be read by people who have never met you, years from now, in contexts you cannot predict.
Think carefully about a counter-offer
If you are valuable, there is a reasonable chance you will be offered more money to stay. It is flattering and it deserves genuine scepticism.
The first question is why the increase required you to threaten to leave. If the money was available all along, it was being withheld; if it was not available, something unusual has just been approved, and the goodwill behind it may not survive the next budget round.
The second question is whether money was actually the problem. If you were leaving because of your manager, the work itself, or the direction of the company, a raise changes none of it — and a large proportion of people who accept counter-offers leave within a year regardless.
There are legitimate reasons to stay, particularly if the counter-offer includes a genuine change in role or scope rather than just a number. Just be honest with yourself about which one you are being offered.
Work your notice properly
The temptation to disengage the moment you have resigned is strong and worth resisting. This is the period people remember.
Finish what can be finished, and be honest about what cannot. Do not start anything that will outlive you unless you are handing it over deliberately. Keep normal standards on timekeeping and quality — checking out visibly is what turns a good reputation into a qualified one.
Be careful about how you talk to colleagues. It is fine to say you are moving on and that you are excited. It is not wise to hold court about everything wrong with the place, however cathartic, because it will be repeated and it will define how your departure is remembered.
Leave a handover worth having
A good handover is the most concrete kindness you can leave behind, and it costs surprisingly little.
Write a document rather than relying on conversations. Include what you own and its current status, where things live, who the key contacts are internally and externally, what is due in the next few months, and — most valuable of all — the undocumented knowledge. The client who needs handling a particular way, the report that breaks every quarter and how to fix it, the approval that always takes two weeks longer than people expect.
Offer to walk your replacement or your manager through it. If nobody has been appointed yet, leave the document somewhere findable and tell two people where it is.
Handle the exit interview carefully
Exit interviews are usually presented as confidential. Treat that as aspirational rather than guaranteed.
There is real value in constructive, specific feedback about process and structure — it can genuinely improve things for people who remain. There is very little value in personal criticism, however deserved, because it rarely changes anything and it can follow you.
A workable standard: say things you would be comfortable having attributed to you. Frame problems as patterns rather than as accusations about individuals. And if you were treated badly, it is entirely legitimate to be brief and neutral rather than to relitigate it on your way out the door.
Tidy up your own affairs
Before your access is switched off — often on your final day, sometimes sooner — deal with the practicalities.
Collect anything that is genuinely yours: personal files, contact details of colleagues you want to stay in touch with, a copy of your payslips and any performance reviews you might want later. Do not take company data, client lists, code or documents; that is a straightforward way to turn a resignation into a legal problem.
Confirm the administrative details in writing: final pay date, payment for untaken leave, what happens to your pension or retirement contributions, when equity or bonus entitlements vest, and whether any repayment clauses apply to training you have taken. Ask while you are still an employee and people still reply to your emails.