Quitting your job takes guts. Besides leaping into unknown territory, you ultimately have to break the news to your boss, too. Intimidating stuff.
You can take the classy road and quietly, gracefully file your two week’s notice. You can take the angry route, which includes but is not limited to destroying everything in sight, screaming hysterically and lighting things on fire. Then there's the sneaky way, in which you walk out one day and never look back. (Bonus: Coworkers will ponder what happened, and you’ll become the mysterious, exotic office legend.)
See also: The Millennial's Guide to Personal Finance
No matter how you do it (hint: do it the first way), you have to form a plan. Here are seven ways Millennials in particular should prepare to quit their jobs, when necessary.
Image: Flickr, 401(K) 2012
As a young person in the workforce, you probably haven't built a cushy savings to support yourself while hunting for another opportunity. Therefore, it’s important to take a good, hard look at your finances and calculate how long you can cover rent, food and other basic human needs with the budget you have saved. This is all the more imperative if you've stacked up student loans.
Take a look at your daily expenses and figure out what you could live without when push comes to shove. It’s amazing how you can survive without that daily Starbucks habit.
It can take months to nail down a job. Remember how long it took you to land the gig you’re quitting? It's important to remain patient. The economy may be tough, but with social media, resume tools and employment sites like Monster, CareerBuilder and Indeed, finding available jobs is easier than ever. Plus, if you went to college, look for a campus career center available to alumni. You can even find jobs on Twitter, just by typing search terms or hashtags like “hiring” and “job application.”
Image: Flickr, mhkmarketing
Speaking of Twitter, maybe you took so much pride in your job that you changed your Twitter handle to “@MashableYohana.” Sorry, but that will look bizarre to future employers. Stick to something simple, like your first and last name.
On that note, keep your public social media activity professional. Your old boss might not have cared about your way-too-personal tweets, but potential employers will balk and wipe your name from their lists.
When you leave your job, most of your data goes with it. That means emails, documents, contacts and anything else acquired through company usernames and passwords. You didn’t do all that work for nothing, so take out some time, grab a flash drive or a cloud account and save what you need to save. Note: That does not mean stealing confidential data or informational perks only afforded to actual employees. You don’t want to end up jobless and in legal trouble.
Image: Flickr, Woodley Wonderworks
If you’re quitting to move on to greener pastures, remain polite and grateful to your former coworkers and employers. They could be useful contacts, and can often serve as references for future jobs. Make sure your boss knows how much you appreciated working there — a meaningful thank you note goes a long way.

As a Millennial, it’s hard not to look at the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and weep. Give it a positive spin and let it inspire you, instead. Maybe you were meant to start a small business, a startup or a blog. (Yep, thousands of people make a comfortable living just by blogging.) It’s the 21st century, the golden age of unconventional careers.
Image: Flickr, hslo
Look, just because you majored in engineering or art history does not mean your career destiny is set in stone. Analyze why you left your last job and think, “Is this what I want to do with my life?” Chances are if you quit your last job and find another one just like it, you might end up unhappily turning in another pink slip. As much as you value a certain company on your resume, that accolade alone does not equate to true fulfillment.
This is the time to try new things and acquire new skills, so carpe diem, Millenials.
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