Quitting & resigning in Chinese 辞职

cízhí

Resign in Chinese is 辞职 (cí zhí).

Also searched for as: quit my job, resignation letter, hand in my notice, leaving a job, notice period.

How to hand in your notice and leave on good terms. 15 essential quitting & resigning words in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.

To resign in Chinese is 辞职 (cí zhí), and leaving well usually means telling your manager in person before handing in a formal 辞职信 (cí zhí xìn), resignation letter. You'll then need to 交接 (jiāo jiē), hand over your work, and collect a 离职证明 (lí zhí zhèng míng), the leaving certificate that new employers in China routinely ask to see. Handled well, you leave with your reputation intact.

Chinese	Pinyin	English
辞职	cí zhí	to resign
辞职信	cí zhí xìn	resignation letter
提前	tí qián	in advance
离职	lí zhí	to leave a job
跳槽	tiào cáo	to change jobs
裸辞	luǒ cí	to quit without another job lined up
另谋发展	lìng móu fā zhǎn	to seek opportunities elsewhere
挽留	wǎn liú	to try to keep someone
交接	jiāo jiē	to hand over (work)
离职证明	lí zhí zhèng míng	certificate of employment termination
竞业协议	jìng yè xié yì	non-compete agreement
裁员	cái yuán	layoffs; to lay off
赔偿	péi cháng	compensation
被开除	bèi kāi chú	to be fired
不干了	bù gàn le	I quit!; I'm done

Usage tips

辞职 (cí zhí) is your decision to resign, while 离职 (lí zhí) is the neutral word for leaving, used on forms and in phrases like 他已经离职了 (tā yǐ jīng lí zhí le), 'he's left the company'.
另谋发展 (lìng móu fā zhǎn), 'seeking development elsewhere', is the standard polite reason in a resignation letter and stays diplomatic whatever the real reason is.
Under mainland labour law, employees generally give 30 days' written notice, or 3 days during probation, which is why you'll hear 提前一个月 (tí qián yī ge yuè) so often.

Common mistakes

Saying 我被辞职了 for 'I was let go': 辞职 is always voluntary, so being dismissed is 被开除 (bèi kāi chú) or 被辞退 (bèi cí tuì), and being laid off is 被裁员 (bèi cái yuán).
Announcing 我不干了 (wǒ bù gàn le) to your boss: it's a dramatic 'I quit!', so for the real conversation say 我想跟您谈谈辞职的事 (wǒ xiǎng gēn nín tán tan cí zhí de shì).

Mini dialogue

A王经理，我想跟您谈谈辞职的事。Wáng jīng lǐ, wǒ xiǎng gēn nín tán tan cí zhí de shì.Mr Wang, I'd like to talk to you about resigning.
B怎么这么突然？是不是有别的机会了？Zěn me zhè me tū rán? Shì bù shì yǒu bié de jī huì le?Why so sudden? Have you had another offer?
A是的，我决定另谋发展。谢谢公司这几年的培养。Shì de, wǒ jué dìng lìng móu fā zhǎn. Xiè xie gōng sī zhè jǐ nián de péi yǎng.Yes, I've decided to move on. Thank you for everything the company has done for me these past few years.
B真可惜。什么时候离职？Zhēn kě xī. Shén me shí hou lí zhí?That's a shame. When are you leaving?
A下个月底。走之前我会把工作交接好。Xià ge yuè dǐ. Zǒu zhī qián wǒ huì bǎ gōng zuò jiāo jiē hǎo.At the end of next month. I'll hand everything over properly before I go.

Example sentences

我想跟您谈谈辞职的事。I'd like to talk to you about resigning.
辞职信我已经发给老板了。I've already sent my resignation letter to my boss.
辞职要提前一个月说。You have to give a month's notice.
她下个月正式离职。She officially leaves next month.
他跳槽去了一家大厂。He jumped ship to a big tech firm.
我裸辞了，想休息一段时间。I quit with nothing lined up, I want a break for a while.
感谢公司的培养，我决定另谋发展。Thank you for everything the company has done for me; I've decided to move on.
老板挽留了我好几次。My boss tried several times to get me to stay.
走之前要把工作交接好。You need to hand over your work properly before you go.
别忘了开离职证明。Don't forget to get your leaving certificate.
我签了竞业协议，两年不能去同行。I signed a non-compete, I can't join a competitor for two years.
听说公司要裁员了。I heard the company is going to make layoffs.
被裁员的话，公司一般要给赔偿。If you're laid off, the company usually has to pay compensation.
他上个月被开除了。He got fired last month.
这活儿我不干了！I'm done with this job!

Practise speaking

Ready to use these words? The Quitting & resigning speaking island has 8 everyday questions about quitting & resigning to prepare your own answers to.