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Ask HN: How much to put in a resignation letter?

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Re: Ask HN: How much to put in a resignation letter?

#71
post #9

Get a new job first. Then quit. Downside: You're in a sucky environment for 1-6 months longer. Upside: You have a LOT more negotiating leverage for your next job.

It depends. If you're "hot" in the market and/or if you have a big emergency fund, consider having a 1-2 month mini-sabbatical between jobs (you can even ask the new employer to postpone the starting date). You will never get a chance like that. Of course, it doesn't always work, it really depends on the situation.

The problem with quitting before getting a new job is:

There's no guarantee you can find a new job right away, no matter how hot your skills are or how brilliant you are.

Also, you have less negotiating leverage when you're unemployed. If you are currently making $X and you get an offer for $X, you probably could negotiate for $X+10 or $X+20. If you're unemployed, and have been on the market awhile, you might get lowballed into taking $X or $X-10.

That actually happened for my current job. The boss was considering initially offering me my current salary, but I honestly said "I'm not so sure. Maybe I'll just keep looking instead." Then he wound up offering a 30% rate increase.

Re: Ask HN: How much to put in a resignation letter?

#72
post #9

Get a new job first. Then quit. Downside: You're in a sucky environment for 1-6 months longer. Upside: You have a LOT more negotiating leverage for your next job.

Except that if you quit and they offer to boost your pay, it's hard to take that offer if you've already (or nearly) accepted another job.

It might help to use a reference from the current employer too which is possible if you quit first.

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