If you were being transferred from a job you were ready to leave, and where you hated the boss, how much of that would you communicate in your goodbye speech?

Don’t burn your bridges!

Bejesus don’t say anything bad!!! Unwritten law!!! A “now screw you” speech can haunt you…

Remember, you’re gonna need a reference from these people someday!

I would not say a single word!

None of it. Don’t burn your bridges, like Mr_M said. Always be the bigger person!

None. You never know when it will come back to bite you, plus spite isn’t a spring color.

Don’t say anything bad. If you ever need a job reference…this can ruin your chances. Whenever someone tells me they want to do it I want to shake them and scream, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

You, your boss, and your coworkers all know the deal. Keep it vague and positive, and focus on how happy you are to be moving to a new position with new challenges.

Keep it impersonal and positive. Even if everyone agreed with you, it’s bad form to call out someone like that publicly in a situation like this, and it can backfire on you. Interoffice gossip’s a killer.

Keep it professional all the way, even in your humor.

Holy cow…never, ever say anything that can imply anything bad! Not a word! “Thank you for this opportunity” is always a good neutral line. Career suicide can result from anything less than a neutral or a positive speech – neutral meaning very generic.

Whenever you’re leaving any job, regardless of any circumstance, always keep it classy. I’ve seen snarky emails, heard comments made, seen behavior that has doomed people for other positions a few years down the line. Badmouthing anyone looks really, really bad and is an impression that sticks with people.

Say only the positive experiences you had there, and spin this move for all of its great opportunities for learning and growth and acknowledge and recognize the department for giving you the skills you’ve acquired. If you are outside of work with someone who knows you already and knows your problems, you can just say about your new boss, I’m really looking forward to working with a strong leader and I think _____has a lot to teach me. Anyone who already knows your issues can read through the subtext and you will be seen as taking the high road.

Do not say or imply one negative thing. You may need this boss or others at the company as future references.

Vent to your friends, but not at work. Even in a semi-social setting. All it does is make you look bad and unprofessional.

I agree. Say nothing that will come back to bite you in the butt. Leave with dignity & silence. You’ll be the better person for it.

Don’t be this guy

Postscript: It is perfectly fine to say that you are looking forward to the new opportunity, and you may also want to recognize how your present position helped you be ready to move into it. But don’t try for even the slightest innuendo unless you are utterly certain you can handle it. This is not the time and place to vent, not even in a whisper to your pals over a cocktail.

I understand exactly how you feel, and if I had the good fortune to be looking at a transfer I know I would be sorely, sorely tempted to say something like what you are fantasizing about. I would need all my friends and my husband, children, and everybody to rein me in. I would need fluther to tell me to stifle it. I would need a lifetime’s accumulation of common sense. But I hope I would get up there and smile and say a sincere thank you and not choose that moment to exhibit my rancor. The only person who would look bad then would be me.

(Also, think of how it will make you sound to your new boss and colleagues. Don’t think they won’t hear about it.)

Definitely don’t burn any bridges. Also, what if by chance someday you have to work together again, you wouldn’t want that to be awkward.

Take the high road….

Oh, hell no. Don’t do that.

Zero is the only correct answer here.

Edit: Never say anything bad about a boss, anytime. You will gain nothing from it, simply put, and stand a chance of having it bite you in the butt.

Say “I’ve learned a lot working here”, and take comfort in the fact that the phrase includes dealing with bad people!

My last boss was such an ass I couldn’t help but to let everything out when it became evident that I would no longer be working there, but it’s a very long story that you really don’t want to hear. Let’s just say he tried to extort me when he found out I had a second job.

It felt good to tell him everything I wanted to say for several years, but now there is no chance in hell he will give me a good reference. Lucky for me, the other doctor in the practice will give me a glowing reference, so I am saved.

But as the others said, don’t burn any bridges. It will come back to bite you in the ass when you least expect it. Just show the old boss you are classier than him/her, and leave with style and grace. Make him/ her regret your leaving.

Yup. None for me too.

If you’re transferring offices and not going to a new job, I wouldn’t say a word. Even if I were getting a new job, you still need that previous one for a reference. Definitely don’t burn bridges..like others have said!

Not the time or place to even the score. There probably is no suitable time or place. You don’t want any bridges biting you in the ass down the road…

@gailcalled – Or burning you in the butt!

It’s extremely immature, and if you do it, it will find its way into your personnel file. You never know where that person will pop up again. I know people who have done this, and they cannot be promoted or transferred, despite attaining higher education and professional certification in their field. They are considered a liability. Their only recourse is to leave the company completely.

Keep it as professional as you possibly can and keep your feelings to yourself even if you have to avoid the topic completely. Burning a bridge could backfire like mf and it could affect the way people treat you in the next office

yea! definitely don’t burn bridges! you never know when it will bite you in the ass!