You’re absolutely right that working hard until the end and not burning bridges, although peraps tiresome, can be better for you in the long term. You never know if you might be working with or across the table from former colleagues.

When I left my position in DC, I did the same thing. Actually, I told them in November I needed to leave and my last day ended up being in mid-January. We were in the middle of a major project deadline and I knew that 1. they’d need lots of time to find a replacement, and more importantly, 2. that at that point in the project, it would be impossible to bring in someone new, get them up to speed, and still meet all the deadlines. As for the exit interview — I was very honest because there were some serious interpersonal concerns in working with my boss that I felt negatively impacted the whole team and wanted them to have the opportunity to make changes if possible. It wasn’t bad mouthing, just honest reflection on how to make things better for those who were still there. I still use my old boss as a positive reference, so I know that if anything was relayed back to her, it didn’t impact her opinion of my work or skills.

The job I took after that, I did not leave in an anywhere near acceptable manner. In fact, I’m still a bit amazed that I actually had the nerve to just quit the day after closing on our house (when I didn’t need the job anymore) without any notice. But, again, I busted butt knowing I was going to do that, and scrambled to tie all my loose ends that day before walking upstairs to let i be known. Did that extra effort make it okay? Not at all, but it was all that what I was able to do at the time. Sometimes thats the best you can give, though hopefully that is never the case.