How to QUIT YOUR JOB - BUSINESS ENGLISH vocabulary and communication tips + FREE PDF

Quitting your job can be really stressful, especially in your second language. If you use English to communicate at work and you're not a native speaker then today's podcast aims to give you the professional vocabulary and Business English communication tips that you need to do this in the most polite, courteous, and professional way possible. To maintain a great relationship with your manager and your colleagues, and to make sure that you ask all the right questions!

This podcast is all about helping you to communicate better, in English, at work. I work with international English speakers from around the world who use English, at work, as a second or third language and I hope that I can bring some of the ideas, vocabulary, and grammar, from those sessions, to you in this podcast.

Don't forget, if you want to work with me in one on one, private sessions then I am a full time Business English coach and tutor. I spend my whole professional life helping international professionals to improve the way that they communicate at work. If you'd like to book some of my time, listen right to the end of the podcast to find out how you can get on my schedule.  

To get the FREE PDF DOCUMENT with the vocabulary and grammar points from today's episode, visit https://www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com/episode17

Transcript

Welcome back to the Breakout business English podcast. My name is Chris and my full time job is helping international English speakers, who speak English as a second language, to communicate better at work. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to the podcast and our topic today is quitting your job. Most people change jobs at some point in their careers. In fact, I think this is becoming more common than ever before. In the past it was not uncommon to keep a single job your entire life. However, as time has gone on, the time that the average person stays in a job has gone down. I know that in my 20's I changed jobs far more often than I now do in my 30s. Most people will change jobs multiple times in their working lives. With that in mind, today we're going to look at some tips and vocabulary that we can use when having conversations about changing jobs. We'll also look at some ways to speak about your career move with new employers and some sentence structures that you might want to use the next time you decide that it's time to quit. 

At the end of our podcast today we'll also have a short quiz to find out how much of the vocabulary from today's podcast you can remember. As I mentioned, helping non native English speakers improve their professional communication skills is my full time job and if you listen until the end I'll tell you how you can book some time on my schedule for a one to one video call to improve the way that you communicate at work. So with that said, let's get started. 

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Let's start today with a piece of vocabulary. This is a word, or often a phrase, that we use to talk about the amount of time that you should keep doing your current job, after you've decided to leave. When we choose to leave a job we usually do this in writing. We write a letter or an email explicitly telling our manager that we intend to leave the company. This letter is called a notice letter. We often talk about "handing in your notice" to your manager, and once you've given them that letter, your "notice period" will begin. I think most of the jobs that I've had in the past have required a four week notice period. This means that, from the moment I tell my employer that I'm leaving, to my last day, I need to work for 4 weeks. If you have a particularly well paid job, or maybe your role is just really important to your employer, you might have a longer notice period. Equally, if you're doing a more casual job or a part time job, then you might find that your notice period is a little shorter. Either way, handing in your notice can be a scary moment depending on your relationship with your boss. I know that a couple of times when I've handed in my notice I've been a little nervous about doing this, but other times I've known that my manager would be really supportive in the transition process so I haven't felt as worried. You may have heard there that I used the phrasal verb, "to hand in". We often use this phrasal verb to talk about giving your resignation letter or notice letter to your manager. In other contexts we can use "hand in" to talk about giving a completed piece of work to a manager or someone in a position of authority. You might hand in a report you've been writing, or maybe just your time sheets for the week.

Let's talk about that conversation. What should you say to your manager when you hand in your notice? Is there anything that you can say that can make the process easier? Let's take a look at a couple of possible sentences.

As you may know I've been applying for other jobs. This morning I accepted another role so I'd like to hand in my notice please.

As you may know I've been applying for other jobs. This morning I accepted another role so I'd like to hand in my notice please.

If you have any questions for me then please feel free to ask and of course if there's anything that I can do to help with the transition then please let me know.

If you have any questions for me then please feel free to ask and of course if there's anything that I can do to help with the transition then please let me know.

In the first example there we heard the word "role". There are several words that we could have used here. We could also describe this as a new "position" or simply a new "job". Both "role" and "position" sound slightly more formal than "job". We also heard there the phrasal verb, "to hand in". As I mentioned earlier, this is the phrasal verb that we usually use when talking about giving our letter of resignation to our manager. 

In the second example I used the phrase, "feel free". This is a really common way to invite someone to do something if they want to. If you come to visit my home and I say, "feel free to take your coat off", then I'm inviting you to do this. I'm not saying that you need to, I'm just letting you know that it's OK. Feel free to use this phrase next time you want to offer someone an opportunity at work. 

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One thing that you will likely need to do at some point is to get references. A reference is a letter from a previous employer telling a future employer about you, what you're like to work with, and what you did while you worked for them. In my experience, maybe companies send reference requests to the HR department these days and your reference letter will simply say the day that you started, the day that you left, and what your responsibilities and duties were. Let's take a listen to a couple of ways that you might ask your manager about references.

Would it be OK with you if my new employer emailed you for a reference?

Would it be OK with you if my new employer emailed you for a reference?

What's the best way for my new employer to send a reference request?

What's the best way for my new employer to send a reference request?

Would it be possible for you to write me a reference letter before my last day?

Would it be possible for you to write me a reference letter before my last day?

One thing that's important to note of course is that your current employer shouldn't say no to this. Unless you've done something particularly awful to them everyone should be happy to offer a reference. This question is more of a formality and a way to find out whether they would like to be emailed for a reference, write you a reference letter directly, or if indeed the company requires that the referencing process is handled by the HR department and not by your actual manager. Oh, I also used the word "formality" there. If you say that an action or procedure is just a formality, you mean that it is done only because it is normally done, and that it will not have any real effect on the situation. When we're leaving one job and starting another there are a lot of formalities that we often have to deal with. 

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Let's turn our attention now to what happens next. After you've handed in your notice and worked your last day at your old company, eventually you're going to need to tell people that you quit. The problem is however that the word "quit" feels so negative! We often associate this word with being angry or upset at your previous employer or boss. Similarly, there's always the chance that you were fired. If it wasn't your choice to end your contract then telling this to friends, colleagues, or a new employer might be something you'd prefer to avoid. Let's take a look at a couple of more neutral pieces of vocabulary that we can use to talk about this transition. 

I left my previous company a few weeks ago.

I left my previous company a few weeks ago.

I moved on from my last role in August. 

I moved on from my last role in August.

I parted ways with my last employer at the beginning of the year.

I parted ways with my last employer at the beginning of the year.

Let's start with that first example. In that sentence we heard, "I left my previous company". This is the verb, to leave, which in the past tense becomes "left". This is probably the best word that we could use here. It sounds natural, native, and is not particularly formal or informal. It's the word that I usually use when I talk about previous roles and the word that I coach people to use when talking about their career timeline in job interviews. The good news is that you probably already know this word so all you need to do is to start using it in a new context!

In our second example we had the phrasal verb, "to move on", "to move on". There are many professional contexts in which we can use "move on". Maybe you're in a meeting and you stop talking about one topic and begin talking about another. Or you're in a particular place and you travel to another. However, here we're using it to say that you stopped working at a company. Another really nice, natural, and native sounding way to express this idea. 

Finally we have the phrase, "to part ways" with someone. This actually feels quite formal. We see this phrase used in lots of contexts, from the ending of a romantic relationship, to the break up of a musical group. If people or groups part ways it means that they stop being together or working together. If you and I meet for lunch and spend the afternoon together then I might say something like, "we parted ways around 4pm". In the same way we can say that you "part ways" with your employer when you quit a job or are fired.

There is another phrase that we should talk about and that is the term, "lay off". If you are "laid off" it's slightly different from being fired. It does mean that it was not your choice to leave your job, however the circumstances are more specific. Companies lay people off when there is not enough money to pay them or not enough work for them to do. Maybe your company is closing a part of the business so your job no longer exists, or the whole company is shutting down. Layoffs often happen to tens, hundreds, or even thousands of people at the same time and even appear in the news from time to time. If you lose your job due to layoffs then feel free to use this piece of vocabulary or one of the more neutral pieces of vocabulary I mentioned earlier. You might also have noticed that I used "layoff" as both a noun and a verb. As in "I was laid off" or "there have been some layoffs recently".

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Now, depending on how your experience was in the role that you're leaving you might want to say thank you. You could do this in an email to your boss, a message to the whole team, or a thank you card left on your manager's desk. I think some people want to burn all of their bridges when they leave a company, especially if they dislike their colleagues. However, I hope that most of us can be appreciative of the experience and growth that we find in our jobs and try to communicate this on the day that we eventually leave. Let's take a look at some ways to do this.

I've grown a lot in my time here and, even though I'm moving on, I'd love to stay in touch.

I've grown a lot in my time here and, even though I'm moving on, I'd love to stay in touch.

I want to say how grateful I am for the guidance and opportunities you've given me here.

I want to say how grateful I am for the guidance and opportunities you've given me here.

I really appreciate all of the support that you've given me during some of the more challenging times here.

I really appreciate all of the support that you've given me during some of the more challenging times here.

I want to talk about the word "grow". You heard it there in the first example, "I've grown a lot in my time here". I hear a lot of people use the phrasal verb "grow up" in this context. For instance, "my presentation skills have grown up a lot". This is a mistake. We usually use the phrase "grow up" to talk about the transition from being a child into being an adult. There are a couple of other less common contexts, but we can't use it as a synonym for grow. There are many phrasal verbs where the phrasal verb and the verb on its own mean the same thing. For instance, "help out" and "help" mean basically the same thing. However, "grow up" is not one of those, so be careful with that phrasal verb. 

We also heard there the word, "grateful" , "grateful" is an adjective that means the same thing as "thankful". We sometimes hear the noun form, "gratitude" used. We often talk about "showing gratitude" when we want to thank someone for something. Of course, we can just say thank you, but talking about our gratitude and how grateful we are often feels more formal and helps to emphasize how strongly we feel.

In that last example we heard the phrase "challenging times". I feel like this is an old vocabulary trick that managers have been using for years, but the word "challenging" is very carefully chosen. There are other words that we could have used here. Perhaps "problem" or "difficult". However, challenging has a slightly more positive feeling. We tend to look at challenges as positive things that help us to improve our skills and that we can feel proud of completing. So, if your time at your previous company hasn't been 100% positive then maybe you can describe some of this time as challenging. 

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OK, let's see how much of the vocabulary from today's podcast you remember, and first, I wonder if you can tell me the R word that we use to talk about the letter that your old employer sends to your new one to tell them how long you worked for them, what your duties were, and often what you were like as an employee? This letter, or maybe email, is called a "reference". For instance, "we're just waiting for a reference from your previous employer", "we're just waiting for a reference from your previous employer"

Next, can you give me any of the words that we can use as synonyms for "job". Often when we're speaking more formally we prefer to use other vocabulary. One word that begins with the letter R is often used to talk about actors in movies and that word is "role". For instance, "I'm excited to transition to a management role next month", "I'm excited to transition to a management role next month". We could also use the word "position" here. As in, "this position reports directly to the general manager", "this position reports directly to the general manager".

And finally, can you give me any nicer, less negative ways to say that you quit or were fired from a job. I'll give you a second. One beginning with L, and probably the most common way to say this is "leave", as in "I left my previous job two weeks ago", "I left my previous job two weeks ago". We could also say that we "moved on" or that we "parted ways" with our previous employer.

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Don't forget, if you'd like to work with me one on one in a video call to improve the way that you use English to communicate at work then you can head over to breakoutbusinessenglish.com and book some of my time. Also, if you're listening on Apple podcasts or anywhere else that you can leave a review, please do so. It really helps me out and helps other people to know that there is value in this podcast. 

Until next time, thank you so much for your time and I'll speak to you again soon on the Breakout Business English podcast.

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To get the FREE PDF DOCUMENT with the vocabulary and grammar points from today's episode, visit https://www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com/episode17