What is a Two Weeks Notice?

During the end of any professional journey, there is a step called “a two weeks’ notice.” A two weeks’ notice is a two weeks resignation period. It is a practical declaration of your resigning plan. During this period, you are supposed to prepare for your resignation letter and attend the process of transition, if required, before you leave your job. In this article, you will see how to write a two weeks’ notice letter and how you submit it

The purpose of two weeks’ notice:

Before any resignation, some companies require employment during the notice period and no direct dismissal, because they usually need time to arrange and decide to whom your position is going after your departure. 

Sometimes the employer has specific reasons that encourage him/her to prepare this two weeks letter. If you want to know them, read this article on: Comprehensive List of Good and Bad Reasons to Leave the Job.

Two Weeks’ Notice Letter:

Now let’s see from an employee’s perspective on how to write a two weeks resignation letter.

1. The letter’s format: experts recommend the usage of a business letter format. It’s a professional format that looks very informative and simple. Don’t forget to add your contact details on the top, the date and your employer’s contact information too.

2. Appoint for your departure date: in your two weeks’ notice letter, you need to arrange for your departure date, because is the same date, in which a new employee is going to take your place.

3. Acknowledgement and thankful statements: like any other resignation letter, you should give grateful statements thanking your employer, co-workers and contributors to your working journey.

4. Offer or suggest an extra service: be positive and productive even in the last working days. Offer to supervise new workers.

5. Positive and Short Content: your two weeks’ notice letter should not exceed 5 sentences in length. The first sentence includes the subject of your letter. The second and the third sentences are about your resignation decision and date. The fourth and fifth sentences are about your offers and your thankful statement. This is the maximum number of sentences, inside a two weeks’ notice letter.

6. Keep a copy of your letter: it is necessary to take your precautions. You should prepare an extra copy of your two weeks’ notice letter in case you have lost your first one, or in case your letter didn’t reach your employer.

Two Weeks Notice sample letter:

1. Indent the top left of your page and write your name and your contact ( phone number+ address)

2. Write the date, the name of your sender, your professional title and company’s name, your company’s address. Don’t forget to add the city and the zip code.

3. Write Dear and the name of your employer.

4. Write your content which provides the main subject of your letter, your resignation date and what you are going to do during your pre-resignation period.

5. Final statement such as sincerely, best regards…then your signature and your name.

You will find a two weeks’ notice letter sample down below.

Your Name

Your Address

Your City, State Zip Code

Your Phone Number

Your Email

Date

Name

Title

Company Name

Address

City, State Zip Code

Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name:

Five Sentence content

Regards,

Your Signature (hard copy letter)

Your Name

What you should not include in your two weeks’ notice letter:

1. Complaints : your issues inside this company should not be discussed inside this letter.

2. Salary negotiation: your two weeks letter is not about your salary and is not about asking for a raise.

3. Suggesting a specific person to take your position: this is considered as nepotism. You are an employee and not a hiring agent. Therefore, suggesting a specific person after your resignation is not accepted.

4. Threatening statements: you should never threaten your company inside your two weeks’ notice letter. This will put you in endless troubles.

A two weeks notice letter sample through email:

Mailing a two weeks letter is very effective and time saving. If you are an e-mail user and you want to quit your current job for a new career, do check these mailing strategies:

Follow 7 Tips for Writing Cold Emails for Jobs and Get Warm Response.

Now here is the two weeks notice letter e-mail steps:

1. Go to your gmail account.

2. Press compose.

3. Write in the “New Message Tab” the email of your employer.

4. Write the subject of your two weeks letter in the subject section

5. Write your content, which must be short and brief.

6. Write your name.

As you can see signature is not possible when it comes to sending emails.

Or here is another option for emailing a two weeks’ notice letter.

Do the first four steps listed in the previous section.

1. Write your two weeks’ notice letter on a Microsoft word document, with the shown format.

2. Write a statement to invite your sender to open the sent document

3. Press attach file and send your two weeks’ notice letter through email.

These were the different options of writing two weeks letter notice. Try to apply these guiding steps of crafting a better version of your resignation announcement. If you face some troubles about what would be your next career, check this article:

I Don't know what Career I Want. Let’s Figure this Out