My own "never have I been so glad to leave a job" story:
Me: I think it's time for me to move on. To be quite honest, I see no potential for advancement here and I'm being expected to work dozens of hours of unpaid overtime each month. As we've discussed previously, my hourly rate is already low compared to industry standards and my experience level, and you've told me that the funds simply aren't available to rectify that. I sympathize with your position, and I wish everyone here nothing but the best, but that still doesn't change the fact that this job simply isn't paying well enough to cover my expenses.
Boss: I wish I could talk you out of it, but if that's really what you want to do, I can't stop you... but honestly, I don't think you're good enough to make it anywhere else.
It was my first job out of college. I was, however, a fair bit older when I graduated and did have a few years of experience freelancing, but this was my first time working in a corporate environment.
The whole company culture was one of distrust. We would be told in meetings, for example, that the we were to lie to the sales team about product details and were regularly encouraged to infringe on copyrights when doing design work.
The ethics were a huge part of why I left the company as well, but it wasn't a battle I was going to win. I'd tried before and failed, so at that point, I just didn't bring it up.
Me: I think it's time for me to move on. To be quite honest, I see no potential for advancement here and I'm being expected to work dozens of hours of unpaid overtime each month. As we've discussed previously, my hourly rate is already low compared to industry standards and my experience level, and you've told me that the funds simply aren't available to rectify that. I sympathize with your position, and I wish everyone here nothing but the best, but that still doesn't change the fact that this job simply isn't paying well enough to cover my expenses.
Boss: I wish I could talk you out of it, but if that's really what you want to do, I can't stop you... but honestly, I don't think you're good enough to make it anywhere else.