Best Resignation Letters: Three Graded Examples

Every resignation letter guide gives you a template. Almost none tells you how to tell a good one from a bad one, so here is a rubric and three letters marked against it.

The five criteria

1. Unambiguous. A reader knows you are resigning from the first sentence.
2. Dated explicitly. Your last working day is a named date, not a calculation.
3. One concrete handover offer. Something specific, not a general willingness.
4. Neutral close. Nothing that reads differently to someone without context.
5. Nothing extra. No reason, no destination, no assessment of the job.

Four out of five is a good letter. The first two are not optional: fail either and the letter has not done its job.

Letter A: the over-explainer

Dear Marcus,

After a lot of thought and several difficult conversations with my family, I have come to the conclusion that it is time for me to move on from Brightwell. This has not been an easy decision. I have learned a great deal here, although as you know the last eighteen months have been challenging for the whole team, and the restructure changed the role considerably from the one I originally accepted. I will be starting a new position at a company in the same sector in a few weeks and will be giving my notice accordingly.

I hope we can part on good terms.

Tom

Score: 1 of 5. It passes on nothing except a vaguely neutral close, and even that is undercut by “I hope we can part on good terms”, which implies a doubt.

There is no explicit resignation statement, no date at all, and “accordingly” leaves the notice period undefined. Worse, the middle sentence puts a grievance about the restructure into a permanent record while phrasing it as context. If this exit is ever contested, that sentence is now the first thing anyone reads. Language suggesting you were pushed out also has consequences beyond the file: whether a departure counts as voluntary affects state unemployment eligibility, and USAGov notes that eligibility rules are set by each state, so a half-argument in a resignation letter is a poor place to make your case.

Letter B: the polite blank

Dear Marcus,

Please accept this letter as notice of my resignation. It has been a pleasure.

Best regards, Tom

Score: 2 of 5. Unambiguous, neutral, nothing extra. But no date and no handover.

This is the failure mode of people who have read that short is better and stopped there. Without a last working day the letter creates work for HR, invites a follow-up conversation you did not want, and leaves the leaving date to whoever is calculating final pay. Notice is a contractual matter rather than a statutory one in at-will employment, as the Legal Information Institute sets out, which is precisely why the date needs to be in writing from your side.

Letter C: the one that works

Dear Marcus,

I am writing to give notice of my resignation from my role as Regional Account Manager. My last working day will be Friday 19 June.

Before then I will hand over the Kestrel and Lindqvist accounts with written notes on where each one stands, and I am happy to introduce whoever takes them on.

Thank you for the opportunity to work here.

Best regards, Tom

Score: 5 of 5, at 68 words.

Note that it is not colder than Letter A. It is warmer in effect, because naming two specific accounts and offering an introduction is a real thing being offered rather than a sentiment being expressed.

The line doing the most work

It is the handover sentence, and specificity is what makes it count.

“Happy to help with the transition” costs nothing and signals nothing. “I will hand over the Kestrel and Lindqvist accounts with written notes on where each one stands” tells your manager their actual problem is being solved. That sentence is what the person writing your reference remembers, long after the wording of the rest has gone.

Pick the one or two things only you currently hold, and name them.

Scorecard

	Clear	Dated	Handover	Neutral	Nothing extra
A, the over-explainer	No	No	No	Partly	No
B, the polite blank	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
C, the one that works	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Grade your own in two minutes

Read your draft and answer five questions. Does sentence one say you are resigning? Is there a named date? Is there one specific thing you are handing over? Would a stranger read the close the way you intend? Is there a sentence you would not want read aloud in a meeting in three years?

If the last answer is yes, delete that sentence. It is almost always the reason you were unsure about the letter in the first place.

Related

For building one from scratch, see how to write a resignation letter. For ready-made versions by notice period, see resignation letter templates. For the decisions around the letter, see resignation letter tips, and for layout conventions see formal resignation letters.

Our resignation letter generator drafts a letter that clears all five criteria, and the notice period is the right time to run your CV through the resume checker.

Five criteria, two minutes, one deleted sentence. You can update your resume before you go.