All posts by Gianina Chrisman

Career Development Blog

The Two Weeks’ Notice: How to Professionally Quit Your Job

By: Michael Tamsuriyamit ‘23

 

For many people, the first job they land isn’t necessarily the job they will have for the rest of their lives. In fact, their first may be one of many throughout their professional career.

 

Over time, people gain valuable work experiences and skills from their job, which can start to unlock greater opportunities for them. It is very common, then, for people to get accepted to a new job while they’re currently employed somewhere else.

 

The big question then becomes: how do I tell my employer I’m quitting?

 

Below are some helpful tips on how to professionally quit a job with a two weeks’ notice.

 

What is a two weeks’ notice?

My big question is: what is it?

 

The phrase “two weeks’ notice” refers to when an employee notifies their boss at least two weeks in advance that they will be resigning from their job.

 

Rather than leaving unannounced, the two weeks’ notice is a way to show courtesy to your boss – and your colleagues – that you are going to be leaving in the near future. It sets into motion a window of time in which you finish up any work and start to move your stuff out.

 

Why should I submit a two weeks’ notice?

Can we ask why?

 

There are many reasons why you may want to put in your two weeks’ notice. Some reasons include:

 

  • It is arguably considered the most professional and respectful way to quit your current job
  • The two weeks’ notice officializes that you are going to be leaving your job, thereby giving you a period of time to transition out of your job
  • It gives your employer enough time to find your replacement or reassign your roles/tasks to another employee at your workplace

 

NOTE: Some employers are allowed to end your work contract immediately after you’ve given a two weeks’ notice. If you are an at-will employee, your employer has the right to terminate your employment right away, rather than giving you two weeks to transition out.

 

If you’ve realized you’re employed at will, check out the following article from The Balance Careers for advice on what to do: Can a Company Fire You After You Give Notice?

 

How should I put in my two weeks’ notice?

How?

 

Quitting a job may often be bittersweet for both you and your employer, especially if you’ve been such a phenomenal employee.

 

Under normal circumstances, it’s always best for you to have an in-person conversation with your boss when you are about to resign from your job – you wouldn’t want someone else telling them about your plans to quit.

 

Sometimes, however, you aren’t able to meet your boss face-to-face, and so the next best option is for you to submit your two weeks’ notice as a letter or email. Even if you tell your boss in-person about your two weeks’ notice, it is always good practice to follow up and have a written record of your two weeks’ notice as well.

 

Check out the following article from The Balance Careers on how to craft a successful two weeks’ notice letter and/or email: Two Weeks’ Notice Resignation Letter Samples

 

What Should I Say/Include in a Two Weeks’ Notice?

What would I tell them?

 

Whether you give your two weeks’ notice through an in-person conversation or by writing, there are certain pieces of information you don’t want to leave out. When putting in your two weeks’ notice, be sure to:

 

  • Identify yourself and the department you work in
  • State that you are giving your two weeks’ notice and when your final day at work will be
  • Describe your transition plan for the next two weeks (i.e. what work you will be finishing up, what projects will need to be taken up by your coworkers, etc.)
  • Thank your boss for the time you spent working at your company/organization, maybe even highlighting an unforgettable experience/memory you’re walking away with

 

I Put in My Two Weeks’ Notice… Now What?

What are we supposed to do now?

 

If you’ve already put in your two weeks’ notice, it’s time to start preparing to leave your job. Before you go, consider doing the following:

 

  • Complete any ongoing assignments/tasks you’re still responsible for
  • If applicable, offload any personal files/information from your work computer into a personal, external hard drive
  • Say your farewells to your colleagues, while also asking them for their contact information as well as connecting with them on professional networking platforms (e.g. LinkedIn)
  • Enjoy your final days/weeks at your soon-to-be former workplace

 

For more information about how to craft your two weeks’ notice, check out the following links:

 

Vault: Is It Time to Quit Your Job?
The Muse: Everything You Need to Know About Putting in Two Weeks’ Notice
The Balance Careers: What is Two Weeks’ Notice?
Indeed: How to Give Two Weeks’ Notice (With Examples)
The Wall Street Journal: How to Give Two Weeks’ Notice Without Burning Bridges

 

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Interested in writing a blog for the Career Development blog? It’s open to Macaulay students and alums. If you would like to contribute or have any questions, feel free to email gianina.chrisman@mhc.cuny.edu.

Career Development Blog

What it’s Like to Intern at Macaulay?

By Sebastian Leung ’21

 

Did you know that Macaulay offers internships to its students? They’re flexible, paid, and offer a wonderful amount of experience in the various departments at Macaulay. So what exactly is it like to intern at Macaulay? Well I’ve interned at Macaulay for three semester and I asked several other interns from different departments to get their perspective. .

 

“It’s flexible, fun, and in a lovely office,” says Marie-Elise, an intern with the Career Development department. Marie-Elise is in charge of updating CareerPath, sharing jobs to the head of marketing for the Macaulay Monday newsletter and ensuring that great jobs and internship opportunities are always available to Macaulay students of all majors.

 

Megan, an intern who runs Macaulay’s social media accounts, and Catherine, an intern who formats and writes the Macaulay Monday emails both agree that they have a good amount of control over their own work and that they’re pretty autonomous when it comes to getting things done. “I like that I get to choose what to post on Macaulay’s Instagram,” stated Megan.

 

When asked what her favorite part about the internship was, Marie-Elise confidently said “the free food,” chuckling. “I also like how the work I do gets published on Macaulay’s website. That’s pretty cool,” she finished. Catherine said that her favorite part was being able to have information to share with other students on her campus. “Writing the Macaulay Monday gives me the chance to hear about these things first.” Megan said that “coming to the Macaulay building is such a great part of the internship. Without this, I wouldn’t come here so often.”

 

So, what’s it like?

#spinandspilltea

 

Interning at Macaulay is a great experience. It gives you a chance to visit Macaulay and become a more integral part of the community. Additionally, you meet and interact with all the people who work here to make things run smoothly while making the student experience so wonderful. As an intern at Macaulay, I feel much more connected to the people here and with what they do compared to being just a student. It’s a great opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes.

 

Another great thing I like about interning at Macaulay is the amount of events I get to help out with that I normally wouldn’t attend. Many of the events such as career fairs and information sessions allow you to talk and learn about diverse opportunities that I would have otherwise not known existed.

 

An intern’s general time during the internship consists of about 10-20 hours per week at Macaulay, allowing them to choose which days they’d like to work to fulfill those hours. The tasks given by supervisors are all hands-on and relevant to the goals of the department, so the intern truly has the chance to make an impact to the whole student experience. Personally, I have learned so much from interning with Gianina Chrisman and Jamie Ruden from Career Development. A lot of new knowledge, both big and small, has stuck with me since I started the internship. I started in the Summer semester of 2018, and because the internship was so valuable, I stayed over the next Fall and Spring. Because I stayed, I continued to learn more and develop more professional connections than I ever thought possible. . That’s why interning with Macaulay is one of the greatest experiences you could ever have.

 

Overall, the best part of the internship is getting to see what goes on behind the scenes at Macaulay. My biggest takeaway is that the people who work here aren’t just here doing their jobs; everyone who works here truly puts in their best effort and truly cares about the Macaulay student experience. And getting a chance to help out with that is what makes interning at Macaulay so worth it.

 

To find internships at Macaulay Honors College, check out our job portal, CareerPath, hosted on Handshake: macaulay.cuny.edu/careerpath

 

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Interested in writing a blog for the Career Development blog? It’s open to Macaulay students and alums. If you would like to contribute or have any questions, feel free to email gianina.chrisman@mhc.cuny.edu.

Career Development Blog

A Resource Guide for People with Disabilities in the Workplace

By: Michael Tamsuriyamit ‘23

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1-in-4 adults in the United States live with a disability.

 

Despite this statistic, many people choose to keep conversations about their disability to themselves. When it comes to work, opening up about one’s disability can be extremely rewarding, yet daunting at the same time. In fact, sometimes it’s so daunting that people choose not to go public about their disabilities in fear of being treated differently by their colleagues.

 

Below are just some things to consider for those who are thinking about disclosing their disabilities at work:

 

The American Disabilities Act: What It is and its Importance

 

Picture of a person using a braille screen reader.

 

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a monumental piece of legislation that champions for people with disabilities. In a nutshell, the federal law protects them from discrimination while participating in everyday activities. In the world of work, the ADA ensures employees with disabilities are guaranteed equal employment opportunities, including work accommodations if necessary.

 

Under the ADA, a person with a disability is someone who:

 

  • Has either a physical or mental impairment that significantly impacts their daily activities
  • Has a documented history of physical or mental impairments, or
  • Is observed by others to be dealing with an impairment

 

To learn more about the ADA and how it can specifically protect those with disabilities, check out the following link: Introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act

 

To learn more about possible disabilities covered under the ADA and the potential work accommodations you could receive, check out the following link: A to Z of Disabilities and Accommodations

 

IMPORTANT NOTE:

When talking about disabilities, the terms “physical” and “mental” are often conflated with “visible” and “invisible,” respectively. It should be noted, however, that not all physical disabilities are visible and not all mental disabilities are invisible. For example, congestive heart failure, which is a physical condition, is considered an invisible disability but not a mental one. For the purposes of this resource guide, disabilities will be referred to as either “visible” or “invisible” in order to promote a more inclusive conversation about people with disabilities.

 

Disclosing a Disability at Work: The Whom, What, When, Where and Why

 

person sitting down with their face covered by their hands, engaging in self-introspection

 

One of the most important questions that a person with a disability may ask themselves is: should I disclose my disability to my employer?

 

In hindsight, there is no right or wrong answer to this question. Everyone who is protected under the ADA lives their own unique experience as a person with a disability, and it is up to them to decide whether or not disclosing information about their disability will benefit them.

 

If you are contemplating disclosing a disability at work, consider the 5 W’s:

 

1) WHOM should you disclose information regarding a disability to?

 

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, you should disclose your disability on a “need-to-know” basis. In other words, you don’t need to disclose anything about your disability if it doesn’t affect your ability to work.

 

If you need work accommodations, however, consider informing your company’s/organization’s human resources department, since they are the ones in charge of managing work personnel. You may also want to inform others such as your coworkers or maybe even your boss.

 

Ultimately, this decision is entirely up to you and how comfortable you are in telling certain people about your disability.

 

2) WHAT should I disclose as a person with a disability?

 

Similar to the previous question, what you end up disclosing about your disability is also entirely up to you. In general, consider giving the following information:

 

  • Identify yourself as a person with a disability (NOTE: you may need to give proof of medical documentation if requested later on)
  • Give a brief background on the disability itself
  • Describe which of your daily work tasks are impacted by your disability
  • Politely Request work accommodations (if needed) and describe how they will help you complete your affected tasks

 

3) WHEN should I disclose information about my disability?

 

There is no “right time” to disclose information about a disability. However, depending on the type of disability (i.e. visible or invisible) you have, certain times to disclose would make more sense than others.

 

If you have a visible disability, being transparent with your company/organization about your disability right from the start will ensure that you will have the resources necessary to access your workplace comfortably. For example, if you walk with a cane, see if your company can provide an elevator for you to use instead of taking the stairs to your office every day.

 

On the other hand, if you have an invisible disability, it may not be as visible to job recruiters, but may ultimately affect the way you work. If this is the case, you should consider disclosing information about your disability before or when you start to see it potentially affect your life and productivity at work.

 

4) WHERE/HOW should I disclose information about my disability?

 

Although having a conversation with your employer is always an option when you have work-related concerns, including your disabilities, it may be best to first draft an email to them.

 

Drafting an email allows you to have a written record of your conversation about your disability. It indicates you are willing to go on the record about your condition. With the email, you can also offer to meet with them in-person, if they would like to follow up and discuss your situation in more detail.

 

5) WHY should I go on the record about my disability?

 

There are many reasons you may want to go on the record about your disability. Some reasons could include:

 

  • You may receive reasonable work accommodations because of your disclosure
  • If you do receive work accommodations, certain work tasks may become easier for you to do
  • Your disclosure can help clarify an unusual changes in terms of your work quality and productivity
  • Your disclosure can also possibly enhance the relationship between you and your employer because you were being fully transparent with them

 

For additional information and resources regarding how to support those working with a disability, check out the following links:

 

 

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Interested in writing a blog for the Career Development blog? It’s open to Macaulay students and alums. If you would like to contribute or have any questions, feel free to email gianina.chrisman@mhc.cuny.edu.