Resignation Letter Skill
A resignation letter has exactly one job: create a clean, dated record that you resigned, effective when. It is not the place for grievances, gratitude essays, or explanations — it goes in a permanent file, may be read by lawyers, and will outlive every feeling in it. This skill writes the three-sentence version that professionals use, plus the parts that actually matter and happen around the letter: the conversation before it, the timing, and the discipline about what stays verbal.
What This Skill Produces
- The letter — 3–5 sentences: resignation, effective date, transition willingness, one line of thanks; nothing else
- The manager conversation script — the letter is never how your manager finds out; the 5-minute verbal comes first
- The timing plan — notice period, when to tell whom in what order, and what to have done before the conversation
- The not-in-writing list — everything the person is tempted to include, with where each item actually belongs
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
- The basics — role, manager, intended last day, contractual/customary notice period
- The reason and the temperature — leaving happy, leaving burned, leaving for a rival? The letter stays identical; the conversation script changes
- What's at stake in the exit — unvested equity dates, bonus payment dates, non-compete concerns, references wanted — timing may need to move for these
- Any special context — remote manager (video call, not email ambush), toxic situation (shorter script, HR cc'd), or counteroffer expected (see counteroffer-decoder)
Framework: The Clean-Exit Rules
- The letter is a record, not a message: every sentence beyond resignation + date + transition + thanks adds risk and zero benefit. Reasons, feedback, frustrations — all deliverable verbally or in the exit interview, never in the file.
- Verbal first, always: manager hears it live (or video), letter follows within the hour "to make it official." A manager who learns from the letter — or the grapevine — is a reference lost.
- Check the money dates before picking the date: a last day two weeks before a vesting cliff or bonus payment date is a very expensive piece of politeness. Verify vesting, bonus eligibility ("employed on payment date" clauses), and ESPP windows first.
- Notice is the contract's number, not the guilt's: give what's contractual/customary; offering extra weeks to a company that walks resignees out same-day is a gift, not an obligation. Know which kind of company it is before the conversation.
- Warmth costs nothing and buys references: one genuine thank-you line in the letter, real appreciation in the conversation. Even a bad chapter closes better warm — the industry is smaller than it looks.
Output Format
Resignation Package: [role] → last day [date]
The Letter
[Full text, ready to send — addressed, dated, 3–5 sentences]
The Conversation (before the letter)
[Opening line · the two sentences on why (verbal-only version) · transition offer · what to say if pressed on destination or counteroffered]
Timing Plan
[Money-date check results → chosen date · tell order: manager → manager's plan for team/peers → letter · same-day-walkout contingency: what's backed up and returned before the conversation]
Not In Writing
| Tempted to include |
Why not |
Where it belongs |
Quality Checks
Anti-Patterns
1---2name: resignation-letter3description: Write a resignation letter that closes a chapter without burning it — short, warm, legally clean, and silent on everything that doesn't belong in a permanent file. Use when asked write my resignation letter, how do I resign professionally, what do I say when I quit, or review my resignation email. Produces the letter itself, the tell-your-manager-first script, the timing plan, and the list of things that must NOT go in writing.4---5
6# Resignation Letter Skill
7
8A resignation letter has exactly one job: create a clean, dated record that you resigned, effective when. It is not the place for grievances, gratitude essays, or explanations — it goes in a permanent file, may be read by lawyers, and will outlive every feeling in it. This skill writes the three-sentence version that professionals use, plus the parts that actually matter and happen *around* the letter: the conversation before it, the timing, and the discipline about what stays verbal.
9
10## What This Skill Produces
11
12- **The letter** — 3–5 sentences: resignation, effective date, transition willingness, one line of thanks; nothing else
13- **The manager conversation script** — the letter is never how your manager finds out; the 5-minute verbal comes first
14- **The timing plan** — notice period, when to tell whom in what order, and what to have done *before* the conversation
15- **The not-in-writing list** — everything the person is tempted to include, with where each item actually belongs
16
17## Required Inputs
18
19Ask for these if not provided:
20- **The basics** — role, manager, intended last day, contractual/customary notice period
21- **The reason and the temperature** — leaving happy, leaving burned, leaving for a rival? The letter stays identical; the *conversation* script changes
22- **What's at stake in the exit** — unvested equity dates, bonus payment dates, non-compete concerns, references wanted — timing may need to move for these
23- **Any special context** — remote manager (video call, not email ambush), toxic situation (shorter script, HR cc'd), or counteroffer expected (see [counteroffer-decoder](../counteroffer-decoder/SKILL.md))
24
25## Framework: The Clean-Exit Rules
26
271. **The letter is a record, not a message:** every sentence beyond resignation + date + transition + thanks adds risk and zero benefit. Reasons, feedback, frustrations — all deliverable verbally or in the exit interview, never in the file.
282. **Verbal first, always:** manager hears it live (or video), letter follows within the hour "to make it official." A manager who learns from the letter — or the grapevine — is a reference lost.
293. **Check the money dates before picking the date:** a last day two weeks before a vesting cliff or bonus payment date is a very expensive piece of politeness. Verify vesting, bonus eligibility ("employed on payment date" clauses), and ESPP windows first.
304. **Notice is the contract's number, not the guilt's:** give what's contractual/customary; offering extra weeks to a company that walks resignees out same-day is a gift, not an obligation. Know which kind of company it is before the conversation.
315. **Warmth costs nothing and buys references:** one genuine thank-you line in the letter, real appreciation in the conversation. Even a bad chapter closes better warm — the industry is smaller than it looks.
32
33## Output Format
34
35# Resignation Package: [role] → last day [date]
36
37## The Letter
38[Full text, ready to send — addressed, dated, 3–5 sentences]
39
40## The Conversation (before the letter)
41[Opening line · the two sentences on why (verbal-only version) · transition offer · what to say if pressed on destination or counteroffered]
42
43## Timing Plan
44[Money-date check results → chosen date · tell order: manager → manager's plan for team/peers → letter · same-day-walkout contingency: what's backed up and returned *before* the conversation]
45
46## Not In Writing
47| Tempted to include | Why not | Where it belongs |
48|---|---|---|
49
50## Quality Checks
51
52- [ ] Letter is ≤5 sentences with zero reasons, grievances, or feedback
53- [ ] Effective date is explicit and money-dates were checked before choosing it
54- [ ] The verbal conversation is planned before the letter is sent
55- [ ] Personal files/contacts handled before the conversation, employer property ready to return — nothing that violates policy
56- [ ] Tone reads warm-neutral even for a burned exit
57
58## Anti-Patterns
59
60- [ ] Do not put reasons in the letter — even good ones; they invite rebuttal and live forever
61- [ ] Do not resign by letter/email alone when a live conversation is possible
62- [ ] Do not vent — the toxic-job letter and the dream-job letter are the same letter
63- [ ] Do not promise transition help you won't deliver — "available for questions through [date]" only if true
64- [ ] Do not pick the last day before checking vesting and bonus dates — politeness is not worth a cliff
Mohit Aggarwal