Whenever you resign from a job, you should give notice in writing via a formal letter. Although the document should be addressed to your immediate supervisor, you may need to send a copies to others, such as human resources or a department head. In that case, you can include a CC line at the end of the letter to indicate to the primary recipient that others have also received the letter.

Adding a CC Line

To add a CC line to your letter, simply skip a line underneath the signature line of your letter, and type CC (in capital letters) followed by a colon. After the colon, add the name of the person you are copying on the letter. If you are CC’ing more than one person, type the first person's name after the colon, and then the second name on the next line. For example:

Closing,

Signature Line

CC: Mary Smith

Tom Smith

Formatting the Letter

A resignation is a formal business letter, and as such, you need to follow proper business letter formatting. Choose either a block or indented style of letter; with a block-style letter, all of the elements of the letter are aligned with the left margin. With indented style, the left edge of the recipient’s address and the date are aligned with the center of the page; each paragraph is indented by a half-inch, and the signature line is aligned with the address block. In either case, the CC line is aligned with the left margin after the signature line.

Drafting the Letter

Maintain a professional tone when writing your letter. Begin with the purpose of the letter; for example, you should write, “Please accept my resignation as marketing assistant from ABC Company.” Note the date that you intend to leave, being sure to provide adequate notice in line with company policy.

Next, briefly describe your plans after leaving the company. You may or may not opt to include the name of your next employer if you have accepted another job; the circumstances of your resignation will determine how much detail you provide. End the letter by thanking your boss for the opportunity to work for her, and say something positive about your time with the company. Do not get into your reasons for leaving or use the letter to detail your grievances against your supervisor or the company. End on a positive note, as you may wish to use your supervisor as a reference in the future.

Considerations

Never use company letterhead for a letter of resignation. The letter is coming from you, so use your own personal stationery. If you do not have preprinted letterhead paper, include your name and home address on the letter above the address of your company.

If you're sending multiple copies of the same letter to different people in your company, send each letter in its own envelope. Keep a copy of the letter for your own records.