the right time to resign

Can you resign when your department is in the middle of a huge, important project in which you're playing a key role? Will leaving at a "bad time" hurt your relationships or references in the future?

Over at U.S. News & World Report today, I answer a reader's question about this. Please head on over there and check it out! (And leave your own thoughts in the comments on that page.)

choosing end date when resigning

A reader writes:

I am leaving my job within the next month. I would like to carry over my end date into a new month in order to stay eligible for benefits within the next month. When I give a 2 week notice, is it 10 working days and can I give my notice mid-week?

Typically, two weeks notice means 10 business days, and you can give it any time during the week that you want.

However, be aware that employers can handle this however they want; your boss is free to tell you that they don't need you to work the full two weeks and your last day will be this Friday -- or even today.

Companies vary widely in how they handle this. Personally, I am a big fan of letting people work their entire notice period, even when they give months of notice -- because it's very helpful to me to be able to get a head start on the hiring process before the person is gone. However, there are some circumstances where I'd have a resigning employee leave faster than their notice period, such as a new-ish employee who is still being trained (since there's no point in continuing to train someone who is about to leave) or a poor performer.

Other companies do things differently. Your best bet is to pay attention to how your employer has handled other employees who resign. Are people shown the door immediately? Pushed out earlier than they would have otherwise planned to leave? Allowed to work their full notice period?

In any case, don't assume that you control the selection of your last day once you give notice (especially if you're deliberately manipulating it in order to extend benefits, something your employer might not be thrilled about).

resigning without 2 weeks notice

A reader writes:

Six months ago I was laid off from my job where I was a salaried employee with benefits. Since then, I have found employment freelancing for a media company where I am paid hourly with no benefits. The people in my position do not have a contract or a set schedule so you never know if you will be working a 2 hour shift or a 20 hour shift. Frequently we receive day-of notice that there is no work for us that day. If I were working 40+ hours a week, I wouldn’t mind so much, but lately, the work has slowed down to a point where in the past month I have been working 4, 8, 12 hour weeks.

I have expressed my concern to my boss about work being so slow lately. She keeps telling me that it will pick up, but things keep falling through (due to reasons beyond her control). She assures me that it will pick up in January. I love my boss. She took a chance on me when a lot of people didn’t and I have learned so much from her, which is why I don’t want to burn this bridge.

I am considering moving back home which is in another part of the country in order to save money. But with the holidays approaching (and my company being closed for nearly 2 weeks around Christmas and New Years) and the current economy, I can’t hold out much longer. I would like to cut my losses while I still can. Is there ever a situation where it is acceptable to give less than 2 weeks notice? And if so, how do I quit on good terms so that I can work for this company again in the future?

This is one of the few situations where it might be okay to quit with less than two weeks notice -- because your company is giving you little work and little notice of what your work (and thus your pay) will be like day to day.

I recommend simply talking to your boss. If you've made up your mind to leave and it's just a question of timing, just tell her that your finances have made it impossible to stay. Ask for her guidance on the question of whether you could leave with only a week (or less) of notice and whether it would be a problem or not. With the company about to close for the holidays and work so light, it might be a non-issue to them. Just ask.

And if she tells you that they really need the two weeks notice and can't be flexible, then you can figure out from there how much of a hardship it would be to you to give it. If she makes it clear that two weeks is expected no matter what, and you really can't give it without significant hardship, then just be really apologetic, even mortified, and explain that there's been so little work that you're now in dire financial straits and need to take this opportunity while it's in front of you. Sounding genuinely sorry often makes people want to cut you some slack.

Good luck!

how to resign gracefully

I get a lot of questions from people who are nervous about the best way to tell their boss they're resigning. Fortunately, there's a basic formula for doing it well, and that's what I wrote about for U.S. News & World Report this week. Check it out, and as always, I hope you'll weigh in in the comments over there.

should I tell my boss I'm leaving after my vacation?

A reader writes:

I have been with my employer for 1.5+ years, and at the start of this year I told them I was going to go to Europe in September. I booked my leave time, even though half of it is unpaid as I haven't accrued enough paid leave. This is all fine, and very nice of them to allow, but then I did give them 8 months notice!

In the last 6 months, however, I've become increasingly dissatisfied with my job. Eventually I made the decision that I wanted a new job, and about 3 months ago I put out some feelers about whether it was worth trying to find a new job, since I would need 8 weeks leave very quickly. A recruiter friend basically told me there was little point trying to find a new job since a new employer was unlikely to want to take me on with an 8 week holiday in the future.

So I put the issue to bed until after the holiday, but I'm feeling a bit guilty now. Essentially I intend to go on holidays (we leave in 7 weeks), and then come home and try to find a new job.
I already know they aren't replacing me while I'm away, the owner of our business (in another branch) was too disorganized to hire + train someone new, so our little office will go from 2 to 1 (+ 2 in warehouse) while I'm gone. I know this stresses out my manager, as he will have to cope with everything alone while I'm gone.

Should I tell him I'm unhappy with my position and will be job hunting after my holiday? My fear is I will come back to no job entirely though!

(As a side note, I haven't told my manager I'm unhappy in my position, as there's only two of us. Essentially if I don't like my duties, I simply need to ship out, there's no way to reorganize them, and I don't hold it against him. It's just unfortunate that this job isn't the best fit it could be for me.)

I'm in Australia, have no contract exempt/non-exempt status or anything like that to consider. Its more that we're such a little team I don't want him to think I'm screwing him over.

This is tricky. A lot of it depends on your relationship with your employer and your knowledge of how willing they've been to work with other people in similar situations. If you were a very long-time employee, I'd say to go ahead and give them a heads-up now ... but at 1.5 years and a long vacation planned, I'd be more cautious.

If you talk to them now, you risk them either reneging on their agreement to let you take the long trip (because they have no more incentive to keep you happy) or replacing you before you're ready for it.

Regarding the ethics of it and the guilt you're feeling: It's true that I wouldn't be thrilled if I gave an employee special permission to take eight weeks off and she quit soon after returning. But these things happen; people move on to new jobs, and employers know that (well, the sensible ones do). The fact is, they approved your vacation time, and they didn't ask you for any sort of long-term commitment in exchange. So I don't think it's crazy to look at this as two entirely separate issues.

Additionally, you don't know how long the job search will take once you return; if the Australian job market is anything like the U.S.'s right now, you may end up staying there long enough that the vacation will become a non-issue anyway.

Ultimately, I think this illustrates the need for employers to make it safer for employees to be honest with them when they're thinking about leaving. The reason most employees aren't candid about it is because they have reason to think they'll be pushed out earlier than they wanted to leave (often because they've seen that happen to others). So it's in employers' best interests to create an environment where employees know they can safely talk about this sort of thing, but too few of them do, and they end up with employees who can't safely divulge their plans.

old employer torpedoing new job offer

A reader writes:

My brother in-law, Ryan, has worked for his now-former company for a couple of years now. He began looking at changing careers and was recently offered a new job. This new job would be as a product representative for a company that is utilized by the same company he had been working for. He accepted his new offer and was very excited to start. However, the new job required that he start immediately, so he was unable to give notice to the former and he had to leave abruptly, not by his choice, but because he wanted the new job and it seemed a necessary evil.

His immediate supervisor wished him luck and understood the situation. The district manager, however, after hearing Ryan was leaving, took it upon himself to call Ryan's new employer to tell them he would not be welcome in the stores as a product rep, simply because he was upset that no notice was given. This was not a reference check, nor did the new company instigate contact. It was simply the district manager's attempt to submarine Ryan's new career. Upon hearing this, the job offer is in danger of being rescinded, post-acceptance, because "if he is not welcome in-store, he is of no use." Now, Ryan cannot go back and may effectively be unemployed because his former district manager decided to keep him from succeeding at his new job.

My question is whether this is legal or not, and what options he may have going forward as he will also have to explain this situation to every prospective employer should he not get this job, and his professional reputation may be tainted. Can you help?

Ugh, what a horrible situation. Yes, it's probably legal. Really jerky though.

If I were Ryan, I'd appeal to the immediate supervisor and ask him to intervene. Ryan should ask him to plead his case to the district manager and see if the damage can be undone. He should also speak with the new employer, explain that he gave no notice at their request, and ask them to work with him on finding a way to fix the situation.

I know it's of no help now, but always, always give notice. A company that refuses to understand that you need to give notice to your current employer is a company that is likely to be unreasonable in other ways too (as we're seeing now).

Update: A reader wrote to suggest that Ryan might have a legal case under tortious interference, which is a legal violation related to intentionally damaging someone's business relationships. My own reading (and I am not a lawyer) was that it doesn't apply here, because the old employer is within his rights to say that they won't deal with Ryan as a product rep because of the way his employment ended (again, a jerk, but within his rights). But I'm not a lawyer and if he's seriously interested in potential legal action, he should talk to one who specializes in employment law.

should you be honest in an exit interview?

A reader writes:

I am leaving my job in a few days, on excellent terms. Our HR manager just set up the exit interview and (somewhat to my surprise) asked me to fill out an exit survey. Is this normal? This is my first "real" job, so I don't know.

The survey asks, among other things, my reasons for leaving. Fair enough. However, I'm concerned that the unvarnished truth could damage the terms of my departure. Am I supposed to tell it? My stated and primary reason for leaving is to go back to school, but I've been very unhappy with certain changes in company culture in recent months, such as increasingly long hours (55 is the minimum, 60+ is very common) and the expectation that we all work the weekends. The company has grown faster than we can hire, but these were not the expectations I signed up for. I have a great boss with whom I have spoken in private about these items (my boss agreed but is not in a position to make changes), but I'm not so comfortable talking with HR. At the same time, my coworkers have expressed fear over my imminent departure, and turnover is through the roof. Morale is terrible. Should I voice the concerns of the junior people, or should I just make sure the terms of my departure stay excellent?

Yes, exit interviews and exit surveys are very common. People frequently recommend not being candid on them, out of fear of burning your bridges ... but I totally disagree. As a manager, I know there are things going on that I don't know about, and I rely on people being candid with me so that I can fix things that need to be fixed -- whether it's unreasonable expectations, a tyrannical manager, or whatever. So I cringe every time I see people advised not to be forthright in exit interviews.

That said, you do want to factor in what you know about how your company, and this HR manager in particular, handles honest feedback. Do they have a history of shooting the messenger? If so, they have only themselves to blame if no one is candid with them. But assuming they've seemed reasonably open to feedback in the past, my advice is to be honest about the things that bothered you. And assuming you can do so without resorting to lying, balance it out with comments about things you did like, so that you don't leave them with an impression of overwhelming disgruntlement.

didn't give full two weeks notice

A reader writes:

I quit my first job out of college after staying at a company for a year because I found a new opportunity. However, I did not give a full two weeks notice. I told my manager the day he came back from a vacation and by that time, I had to start my new job in a week and a half. He was very upset and asked if I could stay a week longer but I wasn't able to and I didn't want to start my new job on a negative note. It still haunts me to this day. I have learned my lesson and this time around, I gave a two month notice to my employer that I am quitting to go back to school.

When looking for a job in the future, how negatively will this affect me? And what could I do to not jeopardize future opportunities? Should I bring this up before a background check is conducted? I am sure that my future employers will find out about what happened at my first job when doing background checks because I am ineligible for rehire.

Oh jeez. Penalizing you for giving two or three days less notice than they would have preferred is silly, especially since it would have been a full two weeks if your boss hadn't been on vacation. Believe me, I am huge on giving lots of notice -- like months and months -- but two or three days really doesn't amount to much in the larger scheme of things.

You can explain this to future employers if it comes up, by explaining it exactly the way you did here. Any reasonable employer isn't going to hold it against you.

Should you bring it up ahead of time? If you're sure the reference isn't going to be a good one because of it, then yes. You could say something like, "By the way, I had glowing reviews from my boss at that job, but I was only able to give a week and a half notice rather than a full two weeks when I left, since he had been on vacation earlier. He wasn't happy about it, and I do worry that it could color that reference. I've always given lots of notice ever since." And if you can offer another reference from that company who can speak to your work there, that would be good too, although not strictly necessary. (In fact, sometimes merely offering it in this sort of situation is reassurance enough, even if they don't call the alternate.)

But I do wonder if the reference is going to be as bad as you think. It wouldn't be a bad idea to call them and ask, so that you know for sure.

By the way, if you need to give notice and your boss is on vacation, give your notice to someone else -- HR or, if you don't have an HR department, your boss' boss. Less than ideal, yes, but then you can't be blamed for not giving appropriate notice. People will understand why you wanted to alert them right away and not wait. And most of them will appreciate it.

quitting after only six months

A reader writes:

First I would just like to say I am a frequent visitor of your blog and have gleaned a lot of helpful information from it, so thank you. Secondly, I was wondering if you could provide some insight about the appropriate amount of time to stay at a job you dislike. I've been at my job for six months now and really do not like it. My manager and co-workers I interviewed with did not misrepresent the position in any way, I just feel like it is not a good match. I also have not received any negative feedback and had a pretty good 90-day review. However, despite all this, I feel very uncomfortable in my position. The majority of the clients I have to deal with are very demanding and difficult to manage. I feel, however, that you should give a job at least a year before moving on. In fact, I have a nine-month internship on my resume and I'm always asked in interviews why I was there for such a short period of time until I explain it was an internship that ended. Because I receive that question so often, I don't want to add another "black mark" to my resume, so to speak. Any insight you have would be greatly appreciated.

I have two suggestions:

1. Have you talked to your manager about the things you're not feeling comfortable with? He or she might be able to help. Frequently when people are unhappy with some aspect of their job, they suffer silently rather than speaking up. Not every problem is surmountable, of course, but quite a few are, and even if you're convinced it's not worth raising, you might be surprised if you give it a shot. Of course, it's also possible that there might be nothing he/she can do -- because it truly is just a mismatch, or because the manager isn't particularly adept in such situations, or whatever. Which leads us to...

2. I'd wait three months before you start looking for another position. Your job search is going to take some time, so if you start when you've been in your present job nine months, you'll likely have been there a year (if not longer) by the time you leave for something else. Three months isn't all that long to stick it out before you start looking, and it'll position you better to have the full year-long stay to point to.

But really, if your manager is even the tiniest bit approachable and competent, talk to her about the discomfort you're having. Good luck!

offering to consult after resigning

A reader writes:

Pending a job offer, I'm looking to leave my current organization, a non-profit, where I have been for over 5 years. During this time, there has been a tremendous amount of growth - when I started there were just over 30 full-timers, now there are well over 200. While there, I launched all web and e-business practices and I can solidly say I am currently the only one on staff that can maintain the current website. When I resign, I would like to offer my services as a "consultant" or at least continue the work they need on a part-time basis until they hire another full-timer, which I do not think will be a quick nor easy thing. While the option of taking a consultant hourly wage is extremely beneficial for me, my hope is to offer them the best financial option with the easiest transition because I certainly do still care about the organization and don't want to see it struggle. I believe I could make double my current hourly salary doing this, as well as underbid any flat web consultant they could hire - who would not know the business or those things that are particularly difficult to accomplish in our industry.

So with all the being said, what is a proper and appealing way to approach this as I resign? I certainly don't want to seem cocky or rude, but they are going to be a bit shocked, and even more so if they sever ties with me with no back-up plan.

This should be pretty straightforward. When you meet with your manager to give your resignation, say that you want to help however you can to ease the transition, including continuing to work on a consultant basis until they have a replacement trained. Your boss will likely not give you an answer then and there, and meanwhile you should also mention the other usual things you should offer when you want to leave an organization on good terms, such as working during your remaining time there to thoroughly document your areas of responsibility, leaving a detailed training manual for your replacement, etc.

If your manager doesn't bring up your offer to work as a consultant on her own after that, it's fine to directly inquire -- "Sue, have you had a chance to think about whether you'd want me helping out as a consultant after I go?" If the organization is interested, they might have no idea what an appropriate rate of pay is -- they may even think it's appropriate to offer whatever your current salary breaks down to when calculated as an hourly rate. If so, you can explain that consultants typically charge more than salaried workers, because they aren't getting benefits, etc. Tell them what rate you think would be fair, and explain that it's lower than the market rate for this sort of work because you care about the organization (assuming that it is).

Do be prepared for the possibility that they won't take you up on it, of course. I would actually be surprised if a 200-person organization wasn't able to continue running their Web site in this situation since -- unless the site is in some particularly rare programming language -- a competent Web person should be able to step in and pick up where you left off. That doesn't mean your offer won't be hugely helpful -- it very well may be, particularly while they're searching for a replacement. But we all tend to think our offices would be in shambles without us, even though life goes on when someone resigns. I mean that in a nicer way than it probably sounds; it's clear that you care about your nonprofit and I like that. Good luck, and write back and tell us what happens.

leadership style in Afghanistan

A reader writes:

I have been working with First Micro Finance Bank of Afghanistan for the last 8 months and I am leaving this organization because of personal problems. The leadership style in Afghanistan is very authoritative and I have brought a new sort of leadership style in this company where everyone is open and free to speak up. I think I have spoiled my employees a little. Now that I am leaving, they are hiring another Training Manager for my department. How do I talk to the new manager and what should I tell him/her how to handle the training department’s employees?

What an interesting dilemma. You probably can't change the new manager's management style, since you'll presumably only have a limited period of overlap with him or her. But you likely have the most chance of having an impact if you talk to him or her about how a more open style has benefited the company. Are there bottom line results you can point to, as support for a less authoritative leadership style?

Of course, many incoming managers may have their own plans and reject this advice, particularly if the advice is contrary to the dominant culture you're operating in. So to get the best results, frame it as much as possible as being the approach that got you the best results, rather than a personal preference that you're pushing on the new person.

You might also talk to the department employees and prepare them for the fact that the new person is likely to bring his or her own style to the job.

Beyond that, I'm not sure how much of this is in your hands. Any ideas from anyone else?

old boss blackmailing reader after new job offer

A reader writes:

I gave my two weeks notice this week at my current company. However, there is now some sort of issue. My boss said yesterday she would like me to stay until after the holidays. I already accepted the offer for two weeks from now and I had told her this when I resigned. However, yesterday she threatened to call my new boss and tell her I have a poor attendance record. This is really not true, in that I only took the amount of sick days granted to everyone but for some reason I had gotten in trouble for this awhile back when I had doctor's notes and was even in the hospital for a bad infection. But they even wrote on my last review that I had poor attendance and needed to obey company policies, even though I never thought I did anything wrong. But really after all of that I would not want to stay and jeopardize my time with the other company. I don't really know what to do.

It's unprofessional of your boss to try to blackmail you into staying longer. If she had an issue with your attendance, she should have addressed it with you at the time or utilized the option of discussing it if she received a reference call for you.

You know what? I wouldn't let it bother you at all. Tell her firmly and politely that you're sorry but you already made a commitment to the new company and can't alter it, but that you're willing to do whatever you can to leave things in good order when you go -- i.e., put time into leaving the work you're responsible for organized and in a form that will be understandable to her and your replacement, perhaps even writing a "manual" for your job. But hold firm on the exit date you gave her.

Chances are very good that she's not going to follow through on her threat. If she does, explain to the new company that your boss is reacting poorly to your leaving and tried to push you into staying longer, then blew up when you wouldn't. (Present this in as neutral and unemotional a light as possible; you don't want to sound like you're badmouthing her.) You can explain that you followed company policy on attendance as well. Hold firm -- you're out of there very soon. Congratulations on the new job!

update from reader being lowballed by her boss

I just received a fantastic update from the reader who wrote in recently about being ridiculously lowballed on salary by her boss, despite getting glowing feedback and being told she was a model employee. She felt she didn't have enough experience yet to get hired anywhere else, so she felt trapped at a company that was being pretty insulting to her. I and several commenters advised her to re-approach her boss and to look elsewhere if her company wouldn't bend. (Read the original post here.)

Read what's she's managed to do in the 10 days that have passed since -- hopefully it will make you feel as great as it did me:

I cannot thank you and your wonderful "comment-ers" enough for all the help! I read all the comments and I appreciate all the insight. I posted an updated resume on Monster.com the day before Thanksgiving. That next Monday morning, I got three companies inquiring about an interview! I had to take it down because I got paranoid that my company might see it, since we are also short-staffed!

Armed with the knowledge that there are other jobs out there, I went into the meeting with my boss. Unfortunately, the discussion proved unsuccessful. He said I should be the "best [me] that [I] can be" and not to worry about everyone else. He didn't give me any straight answers and tossed around a whole bunch of cliches about teamwork and only competing against myself. He tried to make me feel guilty and awkward, but his condescending manner helped me make a decision. I resolved to find a better working situation.

After that terrible meeting with my boss, I took the next two days off. I went in for an interview with a company, which happens to be one of our top competitors, and it was amazing. They really liked me and offered me an even better position. The position is very similar to what I do now, but I'll be able to use more of my skill sets. They've offered me a salary position that is DOUBLE what I am making right now. They assured me that the non-compete at my current job will not hold up in court because I started as an entry-level position. As long as I don't take my clients or anything propriety with me, they have no reason to go after me. I accepted the position!! :)

I gave my two weeks notice this afternoon. My boss was shocked! I was very professional, thanked him for everything, and told him that I was pursuing other opportunities. He didn't take it very well. He warned me not to let "company politics sour [my] promising career" and to be more patient but I've already made my decision. I'm worried that this is going to be the MOST AWKWARD two weeks of my life, but I at least I can see a "light at the end of the tunnel."

Thank you so much for encouraging me to be proactive and not let this situation consume me! I cannot believe how great it all worked out! Please also thank your "comment-ers" for me! I "share" this success with you all for motivating me!

guilt about job searching

A reader writes:

I have been working at my current job for about a year now. I started off bored at work but thought I'd get busier as the position settles down. A year later and I am still as bored as ever. I've started considering other positions because I feel my skills are going to pot because of the inactivity.

One thing that developed is that we are in the middle of a huge project at my current job -- an overhaul of our company web site and I am part of the team to implement and usher in the redesign project. So I anticipate things will be much busier at work pretty soon and I'll have as much work as I can handle in planning, content migration, etc.

Would I be doing my current company a disservice if I suddenly quit in the middle of this redesign process and took on another job -- one more in line with my graduate school degree which I just completed a few months ago? I know that we are short staffed and losing me would be a major blow to the team. But if by a stroke of luck, I happen to get hired at a job that is much more suited for my skills, interests and career plans in the future, would it be a wrong thing to do? Should I stick out the redesign process and then apply for jobs AFTER the new web site has been implemented? Or being an at will employee anyway, I really don't owe my loyalties to this employer who, by designating me an at will employee, indicates it feels no particular loyalty to me either?

I guess I am just feeling a bit guilty about letting down my team and the possibility of jumping ship right in the middle of a very important period.

What would you think if you were my manager?

It's interesting to me how often this question comes up. Yes, employers are disappointed to lose good employees -- but this is part of life, and all but the crazy/irrational managers recognize this. You've been there a year, you're not satisfied, and if you're able to find something you'd prefer to do, do it.

Something else to keep in mind: There's rarely a "good" time to leave a job. True, some periods are better than others, but it's very difficult to time a job search to guarantee that the offer you want will come at the ideal time in your current job. Your job search might take months; it might take less. There's no knowing. If you want to explore what's out there, go for it.

You asked what I'd think if I were your manager. If you gave me a reasonable amount of notice (minimum of two weeks, three is even better, four will make me love you for life), left your work in good order, and provided thorough documentation for your replacement, you'd leave on excellent terms.

(All that said, though, have you considered talking to your manager about the aspects of your job that are keeping you from being satisfied there? Before you move on, it might be worth seeing if changes can be made that can keep you happy where you currently are. I always want that opportunity when I value an employee. Something to think about.)

leaving a job gracefully

A reader writes:

I have been working in my current company for about a year and this is my first job experience. Maybe you should know that I am an expat and that somehow for this reason I felt grateful when I was hired. I realize now that I very poorly negotiated the conditions of my job and didn't even asked the right questions at the interview.

Now, I feel trapped in a job I don't really like and I don't know how to leave. My company plays a lot on the affectionate side ... My boss keeps insisting we are a family etc., etc. This company isn't right for me and I don't know how to tell them.

Maybe you have some advices on how to leave a company and on how to move on from a bad job experience. Thank you for your help.

Leaving a job isn't a crime. But many workers feel incredibly guilty about it and will even put off telling their boss, which actually makes it worse if it means your boss has less notice than he or she would otherwise have.

The big thing to know is that you don't owe anyone an excuse or an apology for leaving. People leave jobs all the time -- it's normal. Any boss who isn't crazy knows it's part of doing business. Simply be straightforward and professional about it, and you'll likely be surprised at how smoothly it will go.

When you're ready to resign, ask to meet with your boss privately. What you want to say is something like this: "I want to thank you for the opportunity to work here. I've learned a lot and really enjoyed my time here. After a lot of thought, I've decided that it's time for me to move on, and my last day will be ____."

Simple, straight to the point, appreciative. And with an appropriate amount of notice (a minimum of two weeks, although many companies appreciate more).

You should also offer to do whatever you can to make the transition smooth, such as leaving thorough documentation of how you do your job, contracts, passwords, etc. If you're up for it, you can also offer to be available for a phone call or two with your replacement after you leave if needed (that's strictly optional but can generate substantial good will).

Very rarely, a boss will react poorly. This reflects badly on the boss, not on you. If this happens to you -- the boss gets angry or tries to guilt you into staying -- stay professional and simply reiterate that you've enjoyed your time there but will be moving on. Emphasize what you're planning to do to make a smooth transition.

You may be asked if it's about money, and you may receive a counteroffer. Just turn this down gracefully in the same way.

If you're asked why you're leaving (which is likely), keep the focus off what you don't like about your current job and stay focused on what you're moving to. You want to "take advantage of an excellent opportunity" or "get experience in new areas" or whatever you're doing next.

By the way, if at all possible, I recommend finding another job before you leave this one. Job-hunting can take a while, and it's often easier to find a new position while you're still employed.

Good luck!