Diplomacy

17 Mar 2006

diplomat:

n 1: an official engaged in international negotiations [syn: diplomatist] 2: a person who deals tactfully with others

If there is one thing I’m good at, it is being nice to people. It is saying all the right things at all the right times to all the right people.

Such it is with my exit from this place that I work. I have had four exit interviews so far. People from all aspects of management and development asking me “Why are you leaving? What can we do better? How was your time here? Can we do something to get you to stay?” and rewordings of the same questions or hidden versions of them.

I tell them what they want to hear. I’m not the bridge-burning kind. Each interview ends with “If you ever want to come back we would love to have you here again.”

So far in this whole experience I have once again found that quitting your job is one of the worst and the best experiences. It is wonderful to have a chance to move on to a project I’ve wanted to work on forever. At the same time, it’s kind of sad to leave a city I’ve come to love and friends behind.