Resignation Letter for Switching Departments or Transferring Within the Same Company

A resignation letter may not always need to be authored to resign from a company but rather a position within the company. It is common to switch departments, accept a new job title, and write a resignation letter informing the job transfer employer. A human resources department may need this letter to keep on file following the increase in salary, additional benefits, or officially transferring the job title.

The resignation letter from the previous job title should be submitted to the supervisor, manager, or “boss” of the role. This informs the manager that the employee is transferring duties and may report to another department, manager, or position head.

Related: Notice Period

If the role reports to a new manager, the older manager may still want to initiate an exit interview. This is an interview where the resigning employee can provide the manager with feedback that can help improve the job function within the business and the manager's experience.

It’s important to note that a resignation where a current job is being left to accept a new position within the same company is not the same as resigning from a job position where there is an end of employment. For example, resigning from a position where the end employment date would be listed and updated on the resume. The example letter below should only be used when accepting a new position within the company, rather than accepting a new company or deciding to pursue a career change.

During the switch of roles within the company or department, the HR department may still send an offer letter. The resignation date on the resignation letter should act as the formal resignation of the old job duties, and the date of accepting the new job duties should be listed in the formal resignation letter, too.

A transition period may still be expected from one manager to another. A transition period is considered two weeks’ notice. This allows the position to be replaced by a colleague, new hire, or other personnel. If the supervisor or manager agrees to accept resigning from the position immediately, then the resignation letter's effective date should be the same. Though, a two-week notice period is common. This allows the employee to complete any pending projects that the current position requires.

Federal employees will experience this type of resignation letter most commonly. Since their entire career may be at one employer. Similarly, four-year education academics may see this type of resignation letter frequently, as well.

Resignation Letter Switching Departments

Below is a sample letter of resignation when switching departments within the same company or accepting a new job offer on behalf of a current employer.

John Smith
[email protected]
888-888-8888
123 Road, St., New York NY 11121

June 1st, 2019

Company Inc.
Sarah Doe
[email protected]
Senior Management
123 Business Road, New York NY 11121

Dear Sarah —

This resignation letter is to inform you that I have accepted the position of Senior Engineering Manager on the Sales team, alleviating the duties of Engineer on the Product Development team. I am very excited about this opportunity to advance within the company, and I look forward to working with you through another team. We’ve discussed providing a two week transition period to alleviate the duties I currently have. The last day of my work as an Engineer on the Product Development team will be August 2nd, 2019.

I am very grateful for this opportunity, and I look forward to starting my new position as Senior Engineering Manager on August 3rd, 2019.

Thank you so much,
John

Resignation Letters

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Additional Resources

author: patrick algrim
About the author

Patrick Algrim is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), NCDA Certified Career Counselor (CCC), and general career expert. Patrick has completed the NACE Coaching Certification Program (CCP). And has been published as a career expert on Forbes, Glassdoor, American Express, Reader's Digest, LiveCareer, Zety, Yahoo, Recruiter.com, SparkHire, SHRM.org, Process.st, FairyGodBoss, HRCI.org, St. Edwards University, NC State University, IBTimes.com, Thrive Global, TMCnet.com, Work It Daily, Workology, Career Guide, MyPerfectResume, College Career Life, The HR Digest, WorkWise, Career Cast, Elite Staffing, Women in HR, All About Careers, Upstart HR, The Street, Monster, The Ladders, Introvert Whisperer, and many more. Find him on LinkedIn.

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