The Graceful Exit: How to Leave Your PA Role Like a Pro

It’s Not You, It’s Me: Breaking Up With Your Job

Breaking up is hard to do – but it doesn’t have to be messy. Leaving a job can feel a bit like ending a relationship. There’s the “we need to talk” moment, the mutual exchange of feelings, and the hope that you’ll still be on good terms once it’s all over.

For Personal Assistants (PAs) and Executive Assistants (EAs) who often form close bonds with their bosses and teams, the process can be especially delicate. But handled with care, it doesn’t have to be awkward. It can actually strengthen your professional reputation and leave a lasting, positive impression.

Before You Resign: The Pre-Departure Checklist

Resigning from your PA or EA role isn’t something to do on a whim. Think of it like preparing for a trip. You wouldn’t leave the house without packing your passport or booking your flights. Similarly, before you hand in your notice, you need to get your ducks in a row:

Review Your Contract

Before entering any conversation with your next employer, it’s essential to have a thorough understanding of your current contract. Familiarising yourself with the terms will help you navigate your exit smoothly and avoid any unpleasant surprises. Pay particular attention to the following key areas:

Notice Period: Is it one month, 3 months or rolling? Knowing this upfront will help you plan your transition and manage expectations with both your current and future employers.
Garden-leave and Payment-in-Lieu: Check if your contract includes a garden-leave clause, where you might be required to stay away from the office but still receive your salary. Alternatively, some contracts offer payment in lieu of notice where you’ll receive compensation instead of working through your notice period. Be clear on how these scenarios work and how they could affect your exit strategy.
Non-Compete or Confidentiality Clauses: Review any agreements that may restrict your ability to take on certain roles or work for competing companies after you leave.
Unused holiday Entitlement: Clarify how your unused holiday days will be handled when you exit. Will you be paid for them? Or do you need to use them before leaving?

Assess Timing

Try to plan your resignation around a quieter period – not in the middle of year-end reports, a major event, or your boss’s annual holiday. Align your notice to coincide with your new job’s agreed start date, and factor in key dates like planned holidays, bonuses or performance reviews before resigning.

Secure Your Next Step

Before resigning, always ensure your next role is confirmed in writing with salary, job title, start date and hours agreed.

Before You Resign

Don’t resign based on emotion – make sure it’s a strategic, well thought out career move.
Prepare answers to “Why are you leaving?” and “Can we counter-offer?” and stay calm and professional.
Keep your decision confidential until you’ve told your boss—no gossip or venting.

Being a Good Leaver Means Resigning Gracefully

For PAs and EAs, whose roles often require a high level of trust and proximity to leadership, reputation is everything. You don’t want to be remembered as the person who left abruptly or dropped the ball.

Why? Because references matter

The PA and EA world is surprisingly small. Today’s boss might be tomorrow’s connection. And your professionalism in departure speaks volumes about your integrity and maturity.

Book a private meeting with your boss, ideally face-to-face.
Thank your boss for the opportunity, state your intended last day, and follow up with a formal resignation email confirming your conversation and leaving date.
Keep the conversation positive and professional – even if you are leaving for difficult reasons.
Come prepared with a handover plan and confirm your intention of ensuring a smooth handover.
Ideally, agree to be available once you have left for a limited time to help with any questions.

Be Transparent and Cooperative

Share your availability for handover meetings.
Work diligently up until you leave.
Train your replacement (if required) and ensure you do everything possible to make their life easier.

Create a Comprehensive Handover Pack for your Successor

Tie up Loose Ends.
Ensure diary updated with regular meetings and future events highlighted.
Prepare guides on systems, contacts, passwords.
Clean up inboxes, shared drives, and bookmarks so successor can find essentials easily.

How Long Is Too Long? The Sweet Spot of a Notice Period

A notice period is a bit like the time between deciding to move out of your flat and actually handing back the keys. It’s a transitional window - designed to give both sides time to prepare for the change. But much like moving homes, the length of that period can make a big difference to how smooth (or stressful) the whole thing feels. And in the world of business support recruitment, it can be the crucial factor that determines whether you land your next opportunity – or aren’t considered in the first place.

Notice periods are a particularly relevant topic in the PA and EA market. Increasingly, we are seeing three-month notice periods written into contracts in an attempt to future-proof against sudden exits. But here’s the reality: most employers seeking PAs, EAs and business support staff want someone who can start within a month. A three-month delay can take you out of the running for the vast majority of roles right off the bat. But there are, of course, pros and cons to both sides.

The Pros of a Three-Month Notice

More notice can mean more financial security if your role is made redundant.
Financial buffer: continued salary can ease planning if your next role’s start is delayed.
It gives employers more time to find the right replacement and plan a proper handover.

But in practice, it can also box you in. And unlike executive-level roles where longer lead times are expected, the business support market moves quickly.

The Cons of a Three-Month Notice

For many employers, waiting three months to onboard someone isn’t feasible – no matter how strong the candidate.
As the departure date looms, your focus might shift towards your next role, leaving your current responsibilities feeling less engaging.
Disengagement can impact not just your productivity, but also team morale. When a PA or EA begins to mentally check out, it’s noticeable – tasks may take longer, communication might slip, and the energy that once fuelled the role starts to fade.

The Pros of a One-Month Notice

Keeps you competitive in the recruitment market – most hiring managers want a candidate who can start as soon as possible – a one-month notice keeps you in the running for competitive roles.
A one-month notice ensures that morale and performance are maintained to a high degree until the end of your employment.
With a clear timeline, you can focus on a streamlined transition without dragging things out unnecessarily.

The Cons

If a notice period is too short, you might find yourself rushing to tie everything up – key details could be overlooked, files left half-organised, and tasks incomplete.
For a PA or EA, whose role often involves managing sensitive information, complex schedules, and longstanding relationships, this kind of rushed exit can leave a real gap.

However, this is easily managed with clear communication and proactivity throughout the transition period. So, it seems that shorter notices – around a month – tend to strike a healthy balance. They offer structure without stagnation. Clarity without dragging things out. In most PA and EA roles, a well-organised individual can oversee an airtight handover in this time with minimal disruption.

How to Negotiate Your Notice Period

At Knightsbridge Recruitment, we would never advise a candidate to resign from their role without another position secured – except in very rare and carefully considered circumstances. While temporary work can be a helpful bridge, it’s not always guaranteed and comes with its own uncertainties.

A more strategic approach is to address notice periods proactively, ideally at offer-stage. If a potential employer includes a three-month notice in your contract, it’s worth having a respectful conversation about whether that’s necessary for the role. BUT ... it won’t always be appropriate to push back, however, raising the topic early can help avoid roadblocks in your later career.

The key is to balance professionalism with practicality: protect your long-term flexibility without compromising the job offer in front of you.

If you have previously agreed to three months’ notice in your contract, it doesn’t always mean it’s set in stone. It can be perfectly acceptable to try and negotiate your notice period. Here’s how to approach it:

Know Your Contract First

Check the exact notice period stated in your employment contract. Look for clauses about:

Mutual agreement
Early release
Garden leave
Payment in lieu of notice (PILON)

Some companies are flexible even if the contract isn’t – especially if the working relationship is good.

Time it Right

Wait until your resignation is official, as well as for a calm, professional moment to start the conversation.

Frame the Request Positively

Instead of saying “I want to leave”, say:

“I’m committed to a smooth handover, but my new role starts in six weeks. Would you consider an earlier end date if I deliver a detailed transition plan and train my successor?”

Offer solutions

A detailed handover plan outlining each task and timeline.
A proposed final date that balances your team’s needs and your new job’s start date.
Willingness to take garden leave or unpaid leave to reduce overlap costs.

Be Ready For Pushback

Your employer may say no – and that’s within their right. If they decline, stay professional and follow through on your full notice. Don’t burn bridges – your exit sets the tone for future references.

Confirm It In Writing

Once agreed, get the adjusted notice period confirmed in writing.

Propose A Realistic Plan

Come prepared with a suggested end date that gives the business a fair amount of time to adjust. You can also outline a basic handover plan, showing you’ve already considered how to keep things running smoothly in your absence.

Stay Constructive

Instead of framing it as “leaving early”, focus on how you can make your transition efficient for everyone involved.

As an employer, remember that holding someone to a long notice when they’ve moved on rarely results in quality output. Consider whether an earlier exit might actually serve the business better.

Exit Interviews: The Final Impression

Handled well, an exit interview can be a chance for mutual learning and growth. For the PA or EA, it’s an opportunity to give constructive feedback. Be honest but diplomatic. Focus on systems and structures, not personalities. You want to leave the door open, not burn it down.

Focus feedback on processes and tools—not on individual personalities.
Suggest one or two concrete improvements (e.g., “a shared To-Do template for incoming assistants”).

For the employer, it’s a moment to gather insights – what worked, what didn’t, and how you might improve the experience for the next hire. Asking thoughtful questions shows you value your staff even as they depart.

The Golden Rule: Flexibility on Both Sides

Ultimately, the best outcomes arise when both the employee and the employer approach the process with flexibility. A rigid stance often misses the bigger picture. Each situation is unique. Each PA and EA role is different in scope and responsibility.

So, whether you’re the one leaving or the one left behind, the real art lies in being open to conversation, reasonable in expectation, and thoughtful in execution.

Remember: a collaborative, flexible approach turns your departure into a professional highlight – never a headache.

Knightsbridge Recruitment is a boutique consultancy which has been placing stand-out candidates in the most sought after permanent, temporary and part-time Chief of Staff, Executive Assistant, Personal Assistant, Private PA and executive office support jobs in London, for over 35 years. If you would like advice on hiring and retaining exceptional staff, or would like to discuss your next career move, we would love to help - please call us.

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