I'm thinking about leaving my current employer and wondering how one goes about that process in the programming world. We have a lot of projects on the go at the moment and I'm the only developer. We have 4-5 projects that are fairly big and need to be done in the next few months and even a few longer than that.

I'm leaving because I'm the only employee and that's doing me no good. I'm young and want to learn, so a team would be nice. It's also too much work and the company is managed horribly. 

I have no contract to worry about so I could theoretically quit and just not come back without notice. Just wondering how this is normally handled. 


Should I write a resignation letter
How much notice should I give
Should I give a reason for leaving
Should I go to my boss who is the main reason I'm leaving or go to his boss?


Overview of replies

From the feedback here, it looks as though it's best to give 2-4 weeks of notice, and present a written resignation. Don't go into detail explaining why you're leaving in most cases. Don't burn bridges. Be professional.

Assuming that you've made your decision to leave, you should put it in writing. Whether this is an actual letter, an e-mail or a form you fill out will depend on the company and culture, but it should be written down and not a phone call, text message or even just face to face. If you do one of the latter things it's only polite to follow it up in writing.

The amount of notice should be in your contract - assuming you have one. Even if you didn't sign the contract you should abide by its terms. By working and getting paid you and the company are working to that contract even if it's not "official". If nothing else you'll be seen to be doing "the right thing" and it will be harder for your employer to get you to work longer. If they want you to leave straight away you still should get paid as though you were working.

You don't need to give any reasons for your decision.

You should leave all files etc. you've worked on so that they are accessible to your manager, co-workers and anyone who follows you. A short document explaining what's what would be polite. Don't delete anything. The files/data aren't yours they are your employers.

Once you've made your leaving official you should then talk to managers, co-workers etc. about how you can handle the hand over of information.
