How To Move On In Your Career Without Burning Bridges

Career & Workplace

how to move on in your career without burning bridges
One of the more important things you learn as you move up the career ladder is that it has all kinds of crazy switchbacks putting you back in contact with the people you used to work with. This is particularly true when you stay in the same industry, but it happens for all of us no matter where we move in our job path. Think of all the “old friends” you have on Facebook and you’ll see what I mean. Who knew you’d be in contact again?

Burning Bridges Usually Is A Bad Idea

It’s very tempting to tell an annoying co-worker or aggravating boss exactly what you think of them when you hand in your resignation. After all, you are quitting so you don’t have to live with the consequences, right?
Wrong.
These are the people who give you references, and who will be talking about you in the months ahead. Nowadays that gossip goes online in moments and is there for a potential employer to find. We all have to work on reputation management, when you think about it. So what should you do instead when you have been looking for another job and finally can move out of your old one?

Leave Your Connections Intact

You can’t make everybody like you, but you can be responsible and professional up to the end of the job. Many ask how much notice should be given when leaving a job. The standard two weeks notice is probably the best idea. One young professional had been looking for a new position with her manager’s encouragement since attempts to move up in the company continually fizzled. When offered a position in a new field, she was asked if she could start right away. This is how she told the story:

I knew that my manager would be okay with the idea of me leaving right away, but it would be leaving them in the lurch as they tried to fill my position. I told my new boss that I really thought I should give them at least two weeks notice and asked if he was okay with that. He said that he would get back to me.
When he spoke to me again, he said that the more he thought about it, the more he liked that I respected my previous employer’s need for the full two weeks and that he would hope his employees offer him the same respect. So I start in two weeks.

This young woman has the right idea. Her last two weeks at her old job will be good ones, and she hasn’t burned any bridges if someday she wants to come back.

One Thing An Executive Resume Cannot Do

Executive Resumes

one thing an executive resume cannot do
Sometimes it might seem like an Executive Resume is the kind of resume you need because “Top Level C-Position” is the top rung of the mythical career ladder. The problem with that thinking is the idea that there’s only one career ladder and it is an inexorable march to the one goal of CEO. The Executive Resume is for someone who is:

  • experienced in working within an organization and ready to transition to this type of position
  • interested in things like planning the strategic infrastructure of a Fortune 500 company or negotiating multi-million dollar partnerships
  • seeking positions as President, CEO, COO, CFO, CIO, CTO and other senior/c-level positions

In reality, there are many career ladders, and every rung is an important rung. Being a senior level executive is just one of them. That’s good, when you think about it, because if there were only one type of job, most of us would be pretty unhappy. Your resume is the tool you use to show potential employers how well you can fill the openings in their enterprise, and there are many varieties of job openings. Resumes need to be maintained: as we work, learn and grow, we change. Then the jobs we are suited for will change, too.
An Executive Resume cannot help you if your experience and preference is that you explore managing a garden shop to see if you can blend your love of growing things with working beside people and learning business techniques. That’s why Professional Resume Services offers different types of resumes and a consultation with every one: When it comes to your resume, one size does not fit all.