OT - Ever get nervous giving 2 week notice at a job?

nicstt

kaotkbliss said:

I've been with the same company for 9 years now and I've got a real good job offer elsewhere (More than double what I'm currently making) and they want me to start asap which means I need to give my 2 weeks now, even before all the paperwork and such is finished.

This has me nervous as all get-out because I don't want something to fall through and end up without a job at all...

Yeh, it's normal, and probably healthy.

 

Granville said:

Try being a teacher - you have to give a whole year's notice. We sign a contract for 1 year at time. In Washington state, we are 10 month employees with our salary spread over 12 months. That means we are paid in August for work we did in June. In most states that doesn't even comply with labor law. It gives teachers the illusion of being paid in the summer. But when you compare our degrees and experience with employees in other fields and pro-rate for 10 months, it can be depressing. That said, we are not teachers for the money. We only want enough to support our family. The problem is the real-estate costs in Seattle. 

I'm sorry this is crap, no matter how much we love our job, we have to live; this is just bull fed us by those trying to justify poor cash for an essential and skilled career.

CypherFOX

Greetings,

First full-time job I had, I gave 2 months notice.  I'd been with them for almost 5 years, and my stock options (we'd gone public while I was there) were finishing up in 2 months.  I gave them the extra time because I knew they were going to have a hell of a time replacing me, as I had a bunch of specialized knowledge.  I was also insanely stressed, and needed to chill for a bit.

15 years later, I gave Google 2 weeks notice, and was writing code until the second-to-last day.

Some places will escort off if you give notice (they won't fire you, that's silly and expensive for them, they accept your resignation, pay you for the 2 weeks, and have you off the property immediately), but most of the places I've worked expect folks to be professional and pass along any knowledge that might be specific to their work.

...and I had one company give ME 6 months notice.  Well, they essentially paid me a stipend (and covered my insurance) for 6 months to not work for their competitors after they shut down my group.

I'm always sad when I leave a company; mostly because I've had the pleasure of working with some really smart, good people, and it always sucks to leave them behind.  It's like tearing a piece of yourself out. :(

For those folks who've been places for dozens of years, I envy you.  I haven't managed to stay at a company for more than 5 years.  (It's my fault, and I'm trying to change.  I'm two and a half years into my current company, and it's looking reasonably good.)

Anyway, don't stress about giving notice.  Make sure you find ways to stay in touch with the folks you think are really good.  If you've worked with them for up to 9 years, they might be good contacts in the future.  Be professional every step of the way, though.  Don't burn bridges, even if HR encourages you to 'tell us what we're doing wrong' during an exit interview (if they do exit interviews).  I got more respect for my work ethic during the 2 weeks I was on my way out at Google, than the same work ethic during the previous year and a half, and those folks are valuable references, possible future coworkers, and good people.

Don't let 9 years of essentially professional networking go up in smoke; preserve it as best you can before you go.

--  Morgan

 

kaotkbliss

very sound advice :)

Tobor

Mistara said:

2 weeks notice is courteous enough, leave on good terms.  
as the saying goes, don't burn your bridges.  
you'll need them to give you good references if the job you going to hasn't contacted them already.

All true, but circumstances always prevail. For example, sometimes it would be unwise to remain on the job another day (example: harassment), and leaving without notice is probably the safest bet.

In some states it's not legal to give out more than just basic employment dates and salary history (though it's not illegal to ask). Most savvy companies won't give out such information as the number of weeks you provided in your notice. As FSMCDesigns points out, though, such information can be retained inhouse and may become part of the employee's file. How this information is used by the new hiring manager is up to him or her, and the policies of the firm.

All this said, if you got along with your boss, and left on good terms, at the least you might be able to ask for a letter or recommendation -- not just a reference -- later on. This is ideally what to strive for.

TangoAlpha

CypherFOX said:

Some places will escort off if you give notice (they won't fire you, that's silly and expensive for them, they accept your resignation, pay you for the 2 weeks, and have you off the property immediately), but most of the places I've worked expect folks to be professional and pass along any knowledge that might be specific to their work.

Here they call that Gardening Leave. Generally they require you to stay contactable, but otherwise you don't work out the notice period. Very common in IT jobs.

Also used as a euphamism for being suspended (as in cops being put on gardening leave).

kaotkbliss

Just an updated -

The company I was leaving decided after I gave my notice that they didn't want to lose me and  basically matched the other company's offer.

I can't wait to get some of these old bills paid off now so I can start putting together a killer Daz Studio PC LOL

carrie58

Congatulations!! It's really nice when you are shown you are valued isn't it .

kaotkbliss

Thank you,

Sure is :)