Don’t Burn that Bridge or Should I?

08 Nov Don’t Burn that Bridge or Should I?

To burn or not to burn…that is the question. I have always held the truth that it is best to always leave any employment situation on as good a footing as possible. Nearly every online application you fill out will require you to not only list your prior positions but you will also be required to list employment references. Heck, you can’t even get into college or graduate school without personal and professional references. I support Isaac Newton’s notion that “We build too many walls and not enough bridges.” Mike Davidson also states “It’s all about people. It’s about networking and being nice to people and not burning any bridges. Your book is going to impress, but in the end it is people that are going to hire you.”

According to Time Staffing’s web article there are 8 Ways to not burn bridges when leaving your job.

1) Choose your next job carefully
2) Write a positive formal letter of resignation
3) Give as much notice as possible
4) Make sure that you DO give notice
5) Help find and maybe even train your replacement
6) Thank your co-workers
7) Don’t use company tools or time for your transition
8) Stay focused and tie up loose ends before you leave

In contrast to Time Staffing’s advice, Rebecca Healy, who represents generation Y, wrote an essay entitled Don’t burn bridges’ is bad career advice. She does state that “You shouldn’t just walk out. You should give notice and finish your projects and be polite (if for no other reason than your own sense of pride and accomplishment). But there’s no point in continuing a negative relationship once you’re out the door.

Her reason’s for considering it OK to burn bridges are as follows

1) You’ll change careers too often for it to matter
2) Your old boss won’t help you
3) You won’t need a reference- cool jobs don’t require traditional references
4) You can have an enemy (or two) but probably not more
5) You can start over

From the sound of Ms. Healy’s article it appears that she may be in agreement with the 1977 Johnny Paycheck song “You can this job and shove it”. Her reasoning also matches with Fiorello LaGuardia quote “It makes no difference if I burn my bridges behind me – I never retreat.” I am not really sure exactly how or why this new attitude is showing up in Generation Y. Is it that they have struggled so much in getting their career started? Is it that they have seen Generation X work so very hard to only see their jobs shipped overseas in order to find “cheap labor”?

Even though the market is still so very difficult, I still hold true to the concept of maintaining as many positive relationships as you possibly can. You just never know when you might want to change jobs. Your personal network (digital and personal) is the new currency according to Aisha Johnson Adams speaker at the 2014 Women’s Business Conference held in Flat Rock NC at Blue Ridge Community College. Peggy Collins, the key note speaker, spoke about The Science of Networking and the Art of Connection. She felt that in today’s market that our connections are even more valuable. She proposed that you could make a professional connection within just 3 degrees of separation and that it only told 6 degrees of separation to connect with anyone in the world. With the degree of interconnection we all have, especially with social media links, why on earth would you ever feel comfortable burning a bridge?

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