For those happy applicants who now hold acceptance letters from their target business schools, there still may be important work ahead: namely, breaking the news to your current employer. In a post to the Forté Foundation’s Virtual Campus website, a Forté Fellow at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business shares some tips for telling your boss you’re headed to business school.
Tricia Felice, Chicago Booth MBA 2014, tells us her best practices for how to approach this task with tact and technique – maintaining valuable relationships that could serve you in the future.
Felice left a full-time job in Los Angeles to start her MBA program. She is the recipient of a fellowship through the Forté Foundation, an organization dedicated to increasing the number of women in MBA programs and business leadership. “Telling my boss about my decision was difficult, but it helped to remain focused on the personal progress I knew I would experience through my MBA,” she wrote.
Even while you’re focusing on your own future, it pays to be considerate about the impact your decision will have on the company you’re leaving, Felice advises. In terms of when you share the news, the earlier the better. “Provide more than enough time for the company to make a transition with your role,” she says, adding that she personally doesn’t think the standard 2 weeks is enough.
You should also make a plan for how you will complete or hand off your ongoing projects and share it with your boss, Felice recommends. “Even if your boss would like to alter the plans, it shows a level of respect that you have thought this through beforehand. “
Make your end date official with a professional letter of resignation –- even if it’s just an email covering the points you discussed with your boss about your departure, Felice writes. “This letter is also a wonderful time to recap your appreciation for the company and leave the door open for a future relationship,” she adds.
Read Felice’s full post for more tips.
Learn more about the Forté Fellows Program.
