John Coletta quit as chief financial officer of Real Goods Solar Inc. in late August─just five months after he arrived. He announced his departure to his boss and other company board members in an email.
入职仅五个月后，约翰•科莱塔(John Coletta)于去年8月辞去太阳能公司(Real Goods Solar Inc.)首席财务长一职。他通过电子邮件向老板和公司其他董事递交了辞呈。
Mr. Coletta says he felt guilty leaving so soon to take the same position at Quiznos. But the restaurant chain, which needed him to start in mid-September, offered a chance 'to go from a good fit to a great fit, ' he adds. He believes he exited 'with style and grace' because he briefly advised his interim successor at the solar-energy company.
科莱塔说，对于这么快就离开然后去Quiznos担任同样的职位，他感到内疚。但他也说，Quiznos公司为他提供了一个“从合适变为绝配”的机会。这家餐饮连锁企业需要他在9月中旬入职。科莱塔相信，他的辞职得体而有风度，因为他给予了太阳能公司的临时继任者简明扼要的指导。
His former boss, Real Goods Chief Executive Kam Mofid, views the departure differently. 'It would have been a little better handled to have the face-to-face conversation first and then send the (resignation) letter, ' Mr. Mofid says. Mr. Coletta replies that he 'wanted to notify the board at the same time.'
然而，他原来的老板、太阳能公司首席执行长卡姆•穆菲德(Kam Mofid)却对这次辞职有着不同的看法。穆菲德说：“如果能先面谈然后递交辞呈，就会处理得更好些。”科莱塔回应说，他是想“同时知会董事会”。
Leaving a plum management post less than a year after being hired is a risky, but often necessary move. It requires careful action because inevitably, someone will be unhappy about the fast quit. At a minimum, experts say, you should bend over backward to help during the transition. You also should craft a strong rationale so future potential employers don't raise an eyebrow. Besides a better offer, acceptable excuses include a culture mismatch, corporate reorganization or sudden exit of your supervisor.
上任不到一年就离开一个肥美的管理层职位，虽然有风险，但常常也是必要之举。这需要小心行事，因为免不了会有人对这种闪电离职感到不悦。专家说，起码你应该在交接期竭尽全力地帮忙。另外你还应该给出一个有说服力的理由，让将来的潜在雇主不至于莫名惊诧。说得过去的诸多借口当中，除了下家条件更加优厚外，还有不认同公司文化、遇上公司重组或上司突然离开等等。
Without a persuasive story, 'you look like an opportunist instead of a business builder, ' cautions John Keller, a vice chairman of executive recruiters CTPartners.
高管猎头CTPartners的副会长约翰•凯勒(John Keller)说，如果没有一套让人信服的说辞，“那么你就会像是一个投机分子，而不是一个企业建设者”。
Jolie Hunt, whom AOL recruited as chief marketing officer last July, parted ways in December when CEO Tim Armstrong decided to decentralize marketing. John Browett resigned from Apple Inc. in October, six months after joining to run its retail stores. Stephen Gillett, Best Buy Co.'s head of digital, stayed nine months before jumping ship to become chief operating officer of Symantec Corp.in December.
朱莉•亨特(Jolie Hunt)在去年7月被美国在线(AOL)聘为首席营销长；12月，在CEO蒂姆•阿姆斯特朗(Tim Armstrong)决定下放营销权时，她与公司分道扬镳。约翰•布洛威特(John Browett)10月份从苹果公司(Apple Inc.)辞职，离他加入苹果负责零售店才六个月时间。史蒂芬•吉列特(Stephen Gillett)以数码部负责人的身份在百思买(Best Buy Co.)工作了九个月之后，便于12月跳槽到赛门铁克(Symantec Corp.)担任首席运营长。
AOL had hired Ms. Hunt to centralize its marketing, according to someone familiar with her thinking. But she and Mr. Armstrong 'disagreed over what the chief marketing officer should do, ' this person recalls. Upon her departure, the company cancelled a $10 million branding campaign that she spearheaded.
据某位知悉亨特想法的人士说，美国在线招她过去是让她集中营销职能。但据这位人士回忆，她和阿姆斯特朗“对首席营销长的职责认定产生了分歧”。亨特离职后，美国在线旋即取消了她所牵头的一个1,000万美元的品牌推广项目。
Ms. Hunt tells recruiters the AOL job changed shortly after she arrived, the informed individual says.
上述知情人士说，亨特对猎头讲，她加入美国在线后不久，职责内容便发生了变化。
Apple's Mr. Browett soon discovered 'that their culture and strategic direction was different from what he envisioned, ' says a spokesman for Monsoon Accessorize, a U.K. fashion retailer where he took command in early March. Mr. Gillett declined to comment.
布洛威特在3月上旬成为英国时装零售商Monsoon Accessorize的掌门人。该公司发言人说，布洛威特加入苹果后不久便发现，“他们的文化和战略方向有别于他的想象”。吉列特则拒绝置评。
In job interviews following a rapid resignation, 'you should admit that you didn't do enough homework before accepting your last position without blaming anyone there, ' says Laurence Stybel, co-founder of Stybel Peabody Lincolnshire, a Boston leadership consultancy. He also suggests describing lessons learned from this mistake.
波士顿领导力咨询公司Stybel Peabody Lincolnshire联合创始人劳伦斯•斯泰贝尔(Laurence Stybel)说，在闪电辞职之后的面试中，“你应当承认自己在接受上一个职位前没事先做好功课，而不要去怪罪上家公司的任何人”。他还建议描述一下从这次错误中所汲取的教训。
Putting a positive spin on a rapid resignation doesn't mean glossing over the truth, however. Recruiters say they reject prospects whose resumes omit a short stint, and dig deep to confirm reasons for fast exits.
但是，把闪电辞职事件往好的方面说并不等于掩盖真相。猎头说，他们会将那些在简历上省掉某段短暂工作经历的求职者拒之门外，并且会通过深入调查来证实闪电离职的原因。
Two years ago, the chief operating officer of an Ohio retailer interviewed for a CEO post elsewhere. He said he had stepped down as second in command of another retailer in 2008 because the chief executive resisted relinquishing control, according to Peter Crist, chairman of recruiters Crist/Kolder Associates, which handled the 2011 hunt.
两年前，俄亥俄州某零售企业的首席运营长去参加另一家公司CEO职位的面试。经手这次招聘的是猎头公司Crist/Kolder Associates，其董事长彼得•克里斯特(Peter Crist)说，这位首席运营长表示他曾在2008年辞去另一家零售企业的二把手职务，原因是首席执行长拒绝放权。
But a board member at that retailer contradicted the former COO's explanation, telling the search firm that he left because 'he crossed the professional line in how he dealt with women subordinates, ' Mr. Crist remembers. The rejected CEO candidate should have told the truth because 'leadership is about character, '' the recruiter says. 'You can run but you can't hide in our world.'
但那家零售企业的一位董事反驳了这位前COO的说法。据克里斯特回忆，这位董事对Crist/Kolder Associates说，该首席运营长之所以离开，是因为“他在如何与女下属打交道方面跨越了职场界线”。克里斯特说，这位被拒的CEO候选人本该讲出真相，因为“领导力事关品格”，“在我们的世界里，你躲得了一时但躲不了一世”。
To be sure, there are times when making a hasty exit makes sense. Mitch Marcus resigned as chief financial officer of Orbitz Worldwide Inc. on Jan. 8, two months after he arrived, in order 'to pursue other opportunities, ' the online-travel agency said in a regulatory filing. Mr. Marcus joined Orbitz after extensive due diligence, a Marcus acquaintance says. But he quickly realized 'it was not the right place for him.'
需要说明的是，有些时候匆忙离职确实是合理之举。米奇•马库斯(Mitch Marcus)在上任两个月之后，便于今年1月8日辞去了在线旅行社Orbitz Worldwide Inc.首席财务长一职，以“追寻其他机会”。这是Orbitz公司在一份监管备案资料里的说法。马库斯的一位熟人说，他是在做了详尽的尽职调查之后加入Orbitz的，但他很快意识到这家公司“不适合他”。
For those who wait nearly a year to leave an ill-fitting management post, 'there's a perception that the company fired you, ' warns Jane Howze, a managing director of recruiters Alexander Group. That attitude partly explains why the search firm still woos candidates like the current CFO of a South Carolina law firm whose last job lasted a week.
猎头公司Alexander Group.的董事总经理简•豪兹(Jane Howze)提醒，如果是等了将近一年才离开某个不合适的管理层岗位，“别人会觉得是公司炒了你”。正是出于部分此原因，猎头公司仍然会去挖南卡罗莱纳州某律师事务所现任CFO那样的候选人──这位CFO的上份工作才做了一个星期。
That finance executive says he accepted a sizable pay hike and temporary housing to join a bigger Midwestern law firm in 2009. (His family planned to relocate later.) By his third day, he concluded 'they weren't going to need me as much as I thought they would.' He flew home that Friday, leaving his clothes at the corporate apartment because he didn't know whether his old employer would rehire him. It immediately did.
这位财务高管说，2009年，中西部地区一家更大的律师事务所开出大幅加薪和提供临时住房的条件，他接受了。（他的家人打算过一段时间再搬过去。）到第三天，他总结下来认为“他们不会像我想象的那样需要我”。那周的星期五，他便飞回家里，留在公司公寓的衣服都没有拿走，因为他不知道老东家会不会招他回去。结果老东家马上就让他回去了。
For employers, writing a corporate biography for a newly hired executive with a brief tenure elsewhere requires a 'a bit of finesse, ' says Howard Polskin, a New York media consultant who has held senior communication roles at two Fortune 500 companies. He's used phrases such as 'left after a short stint' or just mentioned the executive's year of employment at another firm.
曾在两家财富500强公司担当高级公关职位的纽约传媒咨询师霍华德•鲍尔斯金(Howard Polskin)说，对于雇主来讲，为某个刚刚招聘进来、曾经短暂供职于其他公司的高管写介绍材料，需要“采用一定的技巧”。他曾使用“短暂任职后离开”之类的措辞，或只提及高管是于哪年在另一家公司工作。
Quiznos omitted Mr. Coletta's Real Goods tenure from its Oct. 16 announcement about his appointment. Instead, the press release emphasized his franchise and restaurant experience at two other businesses. 'Real Goods was a short period of time and very different, ' observes Elizabeth Sapp, a Quiznos spokeswoman. 'So why mention it?'
Quiznos在10月16日公布任命科莱塔为CFO时，便省掉了他在Real Goods的工作经历。相反，新闻通稿强调了他在另外两家公司负责加盟招商和餐饮管理的经历。Quiznos发言人伊莉莎白•赛普(Elizabeth Sapp)说：“他在Real Goods的时间很短，很不一样，为什么要提它呢？”