Few top an incident she heard about the other day.

Kursmark, a Blue Ash-based resume writer, career consultant and author of 11 books about resumes, careers and work, said one of her clients felt badly about having to fire a subordinate.

He wanted to do something to help the fellow, something that would ease his own remorse, and decided to offer the person a great package of post-employment benefits.

He figured that would ease the pain for this soon-to-be-former employee.

It would help smooth the transition to a new company representative, and it would help the guy keep the bill collectors at bay while he looked for new work.

"He had to fire this person for performance reasons and wanted to give the guy a chance to save face," Kursmark said.

So the boss made a deal with the worker.

If the person would work for two more weeks and keep a neutral attitude - that is, not be openly negative - he would get three months' severance.

Work for two weeks, get paid for 12. Not bad.

"So what did the employee do? He couldn't take the fact that his performance was substandard and stalked out of the building on the spot," Kursmark said. "That's just dumb."

Not good way to leave

And it's not a good way to leave a job. That drama will inevitably follow him to his next job.

Kursmark, whose 12th book, How to Choose the Right Person for the Right Job Everytime (McGraw-Hill: $14.95), is planned for an August release, believes the best advice is for workers to keep their egos in check when leaving one job for another.

"You can't let your ego get in the way of your professionalism," Kursmark said. "Most people have egos about something, and business performance is held close to the heart.

"Some people define themselves by what they do, and that makes it even more difficult."

The resignation letter should always be one of the first steps for anybody who is planning to leave one job for another. Kursmark advises clients not to be shy about putting any notice in writing.

Indicate why you are leaving and the date for your departure and make sure the company has had adequate notice.

Above all, be nice.

Be polite, gracious

"Polite and gracious is good practice," Kursmark said. "It's always nice and politically beneficial to say something good about your experience at the company, something you learned, maybe something about the culture, the people you worked with, maybe complement the boss."

You'll get a better reference, leave behind a better vibe and not have to worry about a tarnished reputation to haunt you.

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E-mail jeckberg@enquirer.com