'Never' burn bridges is too absolute a declaration to be possible in the real world. Some employers aren't worth the effort or brain power to preserve a relati

'Never' burn bridges is too absolute a declaration to be possible in the real world. Some employers aren't worth the effort or brain power to preserve a relationship with. Some are, and some are excellent employers you may not want to part with but are doing so for other reasons. For myself, I spent about 2 years with a company and I was completely burned out by the end of my time there. 14 or 16 hour days at times, some weeks I put upwards of 2,000 miles on the work truck, no raise throughout my time there despite bringing in more work for the outfit. To top it off, the owner had a habit of just telling someone not to bother coming in when they gave their 2-week notice, unless he really liked them. Sure enough, when I told them I was burned out and done with it rather than finishing out the two weeks, closing up the reports I was working on, documenting my workflow for someone else and so on, I was asked to turn in my vehicle and phone and get on with it. All well and good in my opinion as I was completely done with those folks, and it only solidified my choice not to answer any calls from them in the future were I to get any. And there it is, a burnt bridge. Not particularly through my actions or the way I exited, but I'm not sad that its burnt, either. That said I totally agree with the other point of the article, always turn in your best work. Networking, word of mouth, and relationships are worth far too much for future employment than to risk it on half assing some aspect of a job you don't really like.