I gave 4 months notice once, at a 15-person company where I was the lead of a 3-person team responsible for everything technology at the company. My boss was the sort who would tell people to leave immediately, and happily pay the 2 weeks they intended of notice. But I was critical to the functioning of the company, and I was able to hire and onboard a successor. I continued consulting part-time for a while past the end of my employment, it was good for everybody. I've never worked at a job where I would afford the company such a luxury of my time.
Career advice no one gave me: Give a lot of notice when you quit
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Re: Career advice no one gave me: Give a lot of notice when you quit
#12[deleted]
Re: Career advice no one gave me: Give a lot of notice when you quit
#13Agree with others that it's bad advice. At my last job I gave about 5 weeks notice which my manager convinced me to extend to 6 weeks. I was a manager and timing at the end of the year was not ideal due to performance review schedules and holidays.
Never again. Everything was much more dragged out. Lots of idle time. Lots more "so I hear you're leaving" conversations. Next time, I might do one week notice since this seems to have become a lot more common.
Re: Career advice no one gave me: Give a lot of notice when you quit
#14Agree with others that it's bad advice. At my last job I gave about 5 weeks notice which my manager convinced me to extend to 6 weeks. I was a manager and timing at the end of the year was not ideal due to performance review schedules and holidays. Never again. Everything was much more dragged out. Lots of idle time. Lots more "so I hear you're leaving" conversations. Next time, I might do one week notice since this…
I've seen people give management 1-2 months notice and only make it broadly known for the last 2 weeks. Obviously depends on how much you trust management, but it can avoid that awkwardness.
Re: Career advice no one gave me: Give a lot of notice when you quit
#15A note on the last paragraph about being a “lazy engineer”: this shouldn’t be a factor. Being lazy is subjective and the same engineer can be seen differently depending on the management, team, moment, etc.
Re: Career advice no one gave me: Give a lot of notice when you quit
#16LOL, I tried that at Apple, was immediately made to pack my stuff after watch of a security guard and escorted off premises. As if I couldn't copy their stuff first and give notice later if that was my intent.
Now obviously, in a mom and pop shop, I would discuss my desire to leave before I even started looking and help find/train my replacement, while they would likewise help me find a new job that better fits my life situation. But that's just not how corporate America works.
Re: Career advice no one gave me: Give a lot of notice when you quit
#17I've generally given a lot of notice as an IC, 2-3 months in some cases. and I have to say, I think it's not been appreciated, not even once. I've tried to spend the time wrapping things up, communicating my tacit knowledge to my coworkers, and writing documentation for things that I've done and created and am responsible for; I'm fairly certain that no one has given my opinions and thoughts any more than a cursory a…
I completely agree. I've been asked to stay on an extra week or two and I think it was a terrible decision. Nobody really cared or paid attention in hand off meetings (I'd like to think careful documentation was later appreciated when someone had to take those things on later) and I was interested in moving on.
Re: Career advice no one gave me: Give a lot of notice when you quit
#18I think there’s a kernel of truth in this post, it does make the correct observation that 2 weeks is not always the correct time. I think it’s deeper than that, there are multiple correct times that are incompatible with each other.
This is because there are multiple ways you are integrated into the company and the correct wind-down period for each is different. A few months to find and train a replacement, a few weeks to document all your organizational knowledge, a few days to say goodbye to your colleagues - and for companies with valuable secrets it’s obviously desirable that your access to their information is revoked instantaneously.
Ultimately, for a senior software engineer, quitting is just complicated. I think if you want to try a variable-length notice of resignation you need to find someone in the chain of command you trust to be level-headed and pragmatic, approach them with your thoughts of leaving, and (matching their level-headedness and pragmatism) discuss how to make your departure as successful and effective for the company as possible - maybe you start documenting knowledge now, wind down day-to-day fire-fighting responsibilities a week from now, and formally announce your two weeks notice a week after that.
But you have to go into that discussion prepared to roll with the decisions they make, all the way from “immediate dismissal and escort from the building” to “they do not want you to quit and try to offer you more money or different responsibilities”. If that gives you trepidation, maybe it’s better to stick to the business standard of two weeks notice. It’s not optimal, but it is well-trodden ground.
Re: Career advice no one gave me: Give a lot of notice when you quit
#19I've given two weeks notice to employers I didn't like, and had immediate layoffs from employers I liked exceptionally, so I don't feel I should have any obligation in that regard except to myself. I'll the factors that the author mentions and plan ahead (like, taking vacation or exercising options if I care to), but negotiate the rest to my benefit.
Based on the article and some comments here, I realize it could be quite valuable to resign early in the month--like, in the first week. For my jobs (in the US), if they take the resignation and walk me out the door immediately, my health insurance would still be in force until the end of the month.
My direct experience is that its important to have a week of vacation in-between jobs, just to clear my mind and prepare for the new work. I had an employer who found it urgent that I start ASAP. I tried to negotiate away from their insistence, but eventually gave in to their request. It was the worst starting week ever in terms of my focus and comfort with the new job. Might have been better if I'd taken it as the bad sign that it was and declined their offer.
Re: Career advice no one gave me: Give a lot of notice when you quit
#20Given the recent round of layoffs when employee access was terminated overnight with no warning or conversation, I think employees should treat the employers the same. Now, I am not saying you just stop showing up one fine day but I am merely saying that I would give my notice, do my 2 weeks and leave. I wont spend time writing any docs for knowledge transfer (been there done that and honestly no one cared) but I will try to wrap up stuff I was working on only because I usually care about what I do.