Quitting a job can be a bit of a tricky (and nerve-racking) thing. No matter how happy you are to be getting the heck outta there, you still want to leave your coworkers and higher-ups with a good impression. After all, you never know if you might end up working with them again, and it can't hurt to have a few good references.
Though the conventional advice is to play it safe when you're on your way out, recently a 33-year-old California man named Chris Gonzalez made a splash when he let his coworkers know he was quitting via a Cameo video from William Hung, whose American Idol audition performance of "She Bangs" basically took over the whole internet back in 2004.
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William's audition was so legendary that the show even had him back this year to celebrate its 20th season.
Chris's girlfriend Joellen posted a video to TikTok, showing that Chris had shared the clip in his company's Slack, using @here to notify literally everyone who was online so they could see his message.
In the video, William says, "Hi, everyone, this is William Hung. Christopher is going to put in the notice to leave the current job for a new job in two weeks. He found a new job, but he'll miss all of you. You're all amazing, so don't give up creating the life you want." And then he treats us all to an inspirational original song.
In the comments, people are absolutely loving this idea, and the video has been viewed over 900,000 times on TikTok.
Joellen told BuzzFeed, "We were both working from home, and I was so excited to witness the reaction, knowing he dropped the '@here' (notifying everyone on Slack), and I decided to film the reactions and replies in real time."
And Chris's old coworkers absolutely loved this gesture. "Chris instantly started receiving direct Slack messages from his different coworkers congratulating him and saying it was an 'epic' way to go."
Not only that, but people at his new job have also seen the video. "A new coworker had speculated that the video he had previously seen on TikTok was the new 'Chris' at their office, and Chris confirmed," Joellen said. "When his new boss found out, she proudly shared her new team member's video in their work Slack, and people loved it. It was almost like a rite of passage."
And she revealed that the original song was a totally unexpected delight. "Chris never instructed or prompted William to sing — his original masterpiece was conceived all on his own. Chris absolutely loves his new job and is excited William Hung got to be a part of that moment."
As for William, he's been super busy since his American Idol audition catapulted him to fame. He has put out three albums, started a career as a motivational speaker, and has even given a TED Talk about turning failure into success.
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Also, starting at just $39, his Cameos are verrry reasonably priced.
While, in some more old-fashioned companies, a quitting video like this would fall into "Don't try this at home" territory, it's clear that Chris knew (and amused) his audience. And his coworkers will probably not forget about this for a long, long time.
You can follow Joellen on TikTok and Instagram, and William has a TikTok too.