Termination or Resignation?

I was less than 2 weeks to passing my probation period when out of nowhere I was told that I was being fired. No reason was given as to why and they said it was their right to fire me at will without notice at any point during my probation (which I understand is true). Anyway, I was instructed to either write a letter of resignation or if I did not then they would put on record that I was terminated. Now I asked if in the letter I will state "involuntary resignation" but they told me there is no such thing because I am not necessarily being forced to resign but being given the option to resign over being terminated.
Anyway, I have to submit my resignation (if I still choose that) letter tomorrow. I am fearful that by my submitting my letter of resignation it will disqualify me from unemployment benefits. I raised this issue to them and I was told not to worry, that all I had to do was explain this to them and with my letter of resignation it "should" be enough.
I also would prefer to resign versus it being on record that I was terminated before my probation ended, as this may affect my future employment search.

What are your thoughts or advice on this? Especially from those who have a background (knowledge and/or experience) in this type of situation.

Please help!!!
Additional Details
I'm in the state of WA, I was employed for 9 months & fired from a public/state agency (not corporate or private company) and this is my first job out of grad school. I did very high-level, quality management work in this position and would like to include my body of work in future job employment search.
I still do not know the reason I was terminated (they refused to provide me with that information until I request it in writing and they will respond in writing) and whether it was due to fault of mine or the employer.

michr

is unemployment insurance even an issue?
how long have you been in the workforce?
how many other jobs have you had and why did you leave them?
if this is your first job or you have not worked enough at a previous employer to qualify for unemployment then resign if you feel more comfortable with that.
if you are confident that you meet the other criteria for unemployment you can still quit.

quiting in and of itself does not disqualify you,
being fired does not in and of itself qualify you for unemployment.

in reality quiting or being fired will not make any difference as far as qualifying for unemployment or the job reference that may be given later. qualifying for unemployment(job loss criteria) is based on WHY you lost the job not if you are fired or quit. quit or fired is not an issue as long as the job loss was no fault of your own.
the job did not work out and you did not complete the probation period and those facts don't change.

the reason you lost the job will be the same as far as a reference is concerned. you lost the job due to not completing the probationary period and that is all that will be released if they even release that much. many employers only release dates of employment and rehire status.

EDIT:
you probably wont qualify for unemployment insurance either way due to your lack of ties to the workforce but .................
you should file, you can do so on line.

with the facts as you have them stated it won't matter if you are fired or quit it will be determined by the reason you quit. your reason is they told you that you were not a good fit and they were going to fire you, they gave you the option to quit instead. if quitting makes you feel better and you are better able to addresss the issue that way in your resume' and interviews then quit.

It sounds as if you are in the US so I'll answer it this way. Normally when an employee resigns they are not eligible for unemployment benefits because their job was available to them. However, when an employer says to you that you can resign to prevent the company from having to terminate your employment, it is generally looked at as still a company decision to terminate employment for no fault of the employee and therefore you should be eligible for benefits.
It sounds as if the company is trying to give you an out so that you can say you resigned rather than being terminated (even if this is a little misguided!)

If you choose to resign make sure that when you claim benefits that you inform them of the conversation, dates, who said this and a copy of the resignation letter. Hopefully that will be enough but if the company disputes this you can request a hearing.

By the way, this is your letter of resignation and as such a company can not tell you what to write. You may want to state in the letter that "I have been informed by X on (date) that if I do not tender my resignation that I will be terminated and therefore please accept this as my resignation immediately."

If they don't accept it what are they going to do fire you!?

Good luck.

hr4me

Short answer, if you are fired "for cause" meaning you broke a company policy or procedure, then you will not qualify for unemployment. Since you only worked there for 9 months your qualification for unemployment at all will come in to play here. Did you have another job before this one? You have to have wages reported for you going back 3 quarters and it sounds like you may barely make it or you may not have wages reported for you in that quarter. Read your state web site on how they determine your benefits so you'll know whether or not you have any money in the account to draw on. If not then there is no point.

Yes, resigning is better than being fired as far as your resume goes and the whole big picture.

Bookburner451

As the previous posters stated, make them fire you. All you have to put down on your work history is that it was a probationary release. If you resign, you will have a hard time getting unemployment benefits. Your former employer can actually fight your receiving of unemployment based on your letter of resignation. Early in my career, I had a real crappy job driving a truck, long hours and little pay. As my year long probationary period was ending, my Manager took me aside and told me that I wasn't a "good fit" for his team. He said that I should quit rather than force him too fire me. Being young and fresh out of school, I was concerned that being fired would blemish my future, so I resigned. When I tried to file for unemployment, the company fought me, saying that I had voluntarily quit. I had to appeal my case all the way up to an Administrative Law Judge, who found for the emplyer based on my letter of resignation. Call their bluff, make them fire you.

mister ed

no if you have enough points to draw unemployment let them fire you -- you can put on your resume terminate during probation period by mutual agreement!!!

evilattorney

All things being equal, I'd let them terminate me so I'd be assured of unemployment benefits.

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