Preface: I am not thinking of leaving my current job. Additionally, this is my experience of leaving a job in the United States. Certain logistics ...
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That’s called the indispensable trap! If any of us become that big of a piece then something is wrong. Find a way to distribute the knowledge in your mind to your coworkers. Making yourself dispensable is a favour to your company! It’s both humbling, and the professional thing to do!
Thanks a lot Emma for writing this article.From past one week my mind is revolving around this whether to quit the job or not and when should I have to quit the job is it before getting any other offer or after getting the offer. You answered all of them .
My reasons for quitting the job are
Aw I'm happy to hear that!
Imagine yourself sharing with your replacement! Early in my career I was introduced to the idea of - what would happen if I was hit by a bus? Would my codebase and documentation be worthless or could someone with a bit of skill pick it up? What can I do to make sure that’s the case?
At a minimum, that’s a list of servers, passwords, repos etc that your boss knows about. Unless you invented the platform you’re working with, that should be enough for the “new guy” to go on!
In short - future proof your organisation against your absence!
Thanks for the great post! So I have this situation that I'd like to share with you guys. What if your manager is not that nice and the HR management is in favor with that manager. I am about to resign and I am afraid that they will put bad things on my record (certificate of employment) just like what they did to my former colleagues. The company's environment is the worst and there is no career growth there. Totally no reason for me to stay. The manager uses delaying tactics so that you will not be able to finish rendering your knowledge transfer (even if you did, just because he/she is not there he want to repeat the knowledge transfer) ending up not signing your clearance and the thing is HR management is OK with that even if you have sufficient evidence that you did. What would be the best move? I have 2 months resignation period to fulfill, 1 month to give them time to find a guy to take my place and 1 month to render knowledge transfer. I planned to resign in advance even though I am not that active on searching for a new career opportunity because of that to overly long resignation period. I really do not know what to do. I just want to leave the company with out any hassle. I am still building my foundations and I am not getting any experiences related to what I see my self a couple of years from now. help
There is no one in HR who can protect you against backlash?
In my own experience, I came across more than my fair share of HR departments where their primary function was to protect the company first, and only as an after thought protect the employees.
As soon as I recognized those kinds of companies I would run to the hills and stay as far away from them as possible, since in my own personal opinion HR is the only real lifeline employees have in a bigger company.
Long story short. The HR manager is somehow related with our manager so yeah that's why.
Unfortunately, no one. They're so bias in favor of the manager(family friend). HR management will make you feel that they are on your side but no. haha! Anyway I'll be submitting my resignation letter today and that's the best option I have. Thanks Emma!
Great post. But you have worked on quantum computing, that's really amazing! Have you wrote anything on the subject or are you considering writing something?
It's true that we feel some sort of guilt about quitting a job, when we do. But I think at some point we will all be job quitters and the managers will accept that and even help us, to some extent.
I haven't, but I built the IBM Q Network site!
That's nice work. Isn't it open source by any chance? That video they did with Wired is brilliant, I watch that over and over again.
When I left my last position, which was a leadership position in the US, because I was moving cross-country (with lol no plan), I actually gave a year notice to my direct boss and 6 months notice to the head of the company.
That gave us time to find new leadership, be a part of the hiring and training process, and do my darnedest to tie up any loose ends I had left. The last 3 months I was effectively "emeritus" status, which both let me do some blue-sky research, take care of overflow, and overall be grease for the wheels as my replacement (quickly, because he was more experienced than i was) ramped up.
If you're moderately senior, I'd always suggest being as open and honest about what you're planning with your managers! Getting blindsided by losing even a great front-line worker really showed me the value of communicating upward with your direct managers -- we'll (almost) always fight for the best thing for you!
Just a word of caution about the 2 weeks notice. Depending on where u work notice period may be stated in the contract. In Sweden it is usually anything between 1 to 6 months depending on how senior or important you are to the company.
Otherwise yeah, nice post. Often we only hear about quitting jobs because the current job is bad, but that doesn't have to be the case.
Yep - that's why I started the article with the preface that my experience is U.S. specific and you should consult with a mentor in your country for specifics
That's why I offer to back-fill my position with a great candidate :)
💯!! Especially about the stigma of quitting. Employer/employee relationships are often unbalanced. I've known people that have felt guilty about quitting a job even when they were in a toxic work environment. Quitting is a human right!
I like the US-style notice periods. In Hungary, it was 2 months for me, in France it's 3 months. So it goes usually the other way around. People are not thinking about offering more as a courtesy but trying to negotiate for less.
And as this negotiation doesn't always go well, often you can see people not working on full speed for months before leaving. Full speed? Not even half speed :D
At least in my country it is customary (and in some cases required by law) to have a longer notice period. It usually depends on the contract and how many years you've been employed in your company. For me it is 6 weeks, but I'd rather give them a couple of months if possible as too many projects depend on me and we're a small company so they need to find somebody to replace me, and I want to have at least 2-3 weeks with the new hire.
I sometimes ask myself how they'll do without me, I'm the one who started the most important company project and I'd feel sorry if they struggled to manage it without me, and I have a great relationship with both the managers and my team mates, so I'll be sorry to say goodbye.
In the end when I decide to leave I'll do it for the better, of course, and my family is my top priority. I've turned down some interesting positions because they'd have been better for my career, but would have required sacrifices for my family and I can't accept that. It is not easy to find a job that is both great for myself and remote or so close to home I can spend as much time as possible with the kids.
If you work at a startup, or small company, a few weeks notice is difficult for them to deal with. I've left companies with several months notice before, and ensured my position was filled, or no longer needed.
That said, there's an abundance of jobs where a few weeks notice should be fine. But be sure to consider all your unused vacation days, don't needlessly give them up! :)
“Two-weeks notice is sufficient and standard. If you want to leave on a better note you can always give three or four weeks.”
It differs, depending on the particular industry and type of role. In my country (NZ) the standard for high school teachers is eight weeks.
So, my advice (FWIW), would be to check out the notice period for your job.
I was suprised to read that two weeks is a sufficient standard in the US. Here in France, my contract says that I must inform the company 2 to 3 months before leaving, depends on how long I stayed in before.
What is the standard in Germany ?
Hi, Emma! Thanks for the post, really nice. I'm currently on my third job already, so I am familiar with the process a little bit.
The only thing that puzzles me is whether or not should I be honest regarding wether or not I'm doing interviews somewhere else with the intent to leave.
My last manager really got mad with me for not letting him know before, but from my point of view the relationship could get awkward if I said "hey, I'm doing interviews somewhere else" and suddenly I don't get the job and have to stay.
What are your thoughts on that?
You’re not obligated to tell them that in my opinion!
I was asking to myself if I was taking a good decision. Your post makes me feel more confident with my decision an growth my mind with another point of view. I'm still a Computer Science student but I have been working in dev for a years. I'm really thankful with dev.to and its community. Such a pleasure being here! I want to improve my social, english and dev skills and this site seems fallen from heaven to me. By the way, you write great posts, new sub here!
Very informative and inspiring !!
Thank you!!
Great read! Thanks for sharing the experience. Indeed very helpful!
Wish you all the best and I am inspired and motivated by this article!
Aw, thank you!
Real nice advices, thanks!
Totally agree!
~afraid to like this post, as my current employer might be watching~ 👀