YOUR RESIGNATION: BEWARE OF THE RETALIATORY STRIKE

If your desire to change careers is genuine, and nothing will alter your decision to leave, you should maintain a high level of security. Unless you know how to prevent your employer's retaliation, you could get hurt emotionally or maybe consider returning to the job you wanted to leave. Keep in mind that employers experience three predictable stages when an employee resigns, so you can be prepared for the mixed emotions that come with submitting your notice.

Tactic #1: Your boss will be taken aback. “You're leaving at quite an inopportune moment! Who's going to conclude the project we started?” he might say. The implication is that you're vital to the team.A possible response to being told by the company that they cannot live without you would be to say that if something did happen to prevent you from coming into work tomorrow, like being hit by a truck, chances are the company would find a way to survive.

Tactic #2: Your boss might start asking questions like, “Who did you get the job with? What’s the position? How much are they paying you?” You have to be careful not to give away too much information or look overeager. If you're not careful, your current employer could use what you say against you later. For example, they might say things like, "I've heard some pretty terrible things about your new company" or "They'll make everything look great until you actually get there. Then you'll see what a sweat shop that place really is."

Tactic #3: Your boss will make you an offer in order to prevent your departure. “As we discussed a few months ago, I wanted to let you know that the raise has been processed and confirmed.” You might respond, "Gee, it appears that you are rather concerned about my happiness and well-being today. Where were you yesterday, before I stated my decision to resign?

Though the three stages could take a few days, you'll eventually find yourself in conversations like these. After they resigned, candidates contacted me several times to inform me that their former organization conducted the three-step strategy precisely as I had outlined it. They not only felt more prepared to defend a counteroffer attempt but also found the procedure almost comical in its predictability.