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Ask HN: How do you tell your boss you're ready to move on?

• swombat 16y ago
  Your boss has heard it all before. Don't worry about it. He probably already knows you're leaving. Ask your boss for a private meeting. Sit down. Chances are he'll glance at you and say "So where are you leaving to, then?" Above all, don't stress about it. It's not as important as you seem to think.
  • steveklabnik 16y ago
    This. I've only had to do this a few times in my life, but it always seemed worse than it was. Just be straightforward and honest, it'll all turn out just fine.
    • unmotivated 16y ago
      Thanks, the both of you.
    • cmeiklejohn 16y ago
      Totally agree. Worrying about it ahead of time always ends up being worse than actually doing it.
  • kerryfalk 16y ago
    Agreed. It's not hard to tell how someone is feeling about their position. Your boss probably wants to find something for you that you'll be happy with as much as you do, the pain of losing someone good sucks, but it's worse watching them toil away unhappily for you.
  • chrisaycock 16y ago
    > Ask your boss for a private meeting. I once emailed my boss to say that I want to talk to him about some career choices I've made. When we finally spoke, he was mentally prepared for my resignation.
• jfb 16y ago
  I did this when I left Apple; it seemed a lot harder until the moment I walked into his office and had the conversation. It helped that I wasn't leaving because of problems with him or the culture, but rather to strike out on my own. He and my grandboss were very understanding. Be prepared to as you say spend the energy bringing someone new up to speed, but don't knock yourself out over it, because a) that's your boss' responsibility and b) you'll never get it 100% right in any reasonable amount of time. Too, cut the cord. Don't offer to contract or help out on an informal or even formal basis. You are going to need to concentrate 100% on your new gig; they are going to need to get someone up to speed; delaying this process is in nobody's best interest. Good luck! It sounds like you have the right attitude already, which will go a long way towards smoothing the process. EDIT: Oh, and be sure to set a definitive end date. That will focus attention on the problem of replacement. Be reasonable (e.g., not so much the "I've already packed and there's a helicopter outside"), but firm.
  • gte910h 16y ago
    > grandboss Oh god what a great term. Never heard it but will use it.
    • monological 16y ago
      I always use bigboss. MGS anyone?
• darklajid 16y ago
  Be honest. Be polite. That's it. I quit quite some jobs so far and know the "But the guy's nice" attitude far too good. That doesn't matter here. You're ready to move on and romanticising (is that even a word?) your connection to the boss and trying to spin analogies to splitting up a romantic relationship are not useful. You're a professional. Your boss is. He's seen other people leave - and it's again just a matter of business, nothing personal. Just remember that you follow the rules in the first sentence. If you explain yourself honestly and do it in a polite way, you've probably a spot to return to, if you should want to in the future..
• gte910h 16y ago
  For internal company moves, you just apply for the position, and respect the corporate structure to handle the swapover from departments to departments. Your current boss will say something like "I'm hurt you didn't come to me" etc possibly, but you can't risk talking with him about it, as he may feel you're going to leave the company if you don't get the internal position. Sucks that things have to be this way, but it works out fine and if you're boss is older than 24, he's done it before.
• brudgers 16y ago
  >"Two weeks ago the manager of another department came to me and said he's interested in bringing me onboard his team." People move around in big companies all the time. It's a great way of building inter-department relationships, giving people a sense of the bigger picture, and providing opportunities for growth. Everyone affected is probably aware of what is going on. It may even be that the offer is to keep you from doing something desperate...like real-estate. If your old boss is going to hold moving on against you, it was time to go anyway.
• JimmyL 16y ago
  If a manager of another department came to talk to you about moving (and you're at that large a company), there's a very good chance that the prospective manager has already given your current manager a heads-up that you had that conversation, and may have even cleared it with him beforehand. Most companies of your size have a large HR department that has some serious procedures for all aspects of hiring, including interdepartmental hires. Plus, it's doubtful that your prospective manager would want to piss off your current one by going around him, seeing as it's in the prospective one's interest that he feels happy with the process (so that he doesn't block it in the future). If your current manager is a really good boss, he may have set this up to begin with because he sees you're the kind of guy the company want to employ, and that moving you somewhere else is preferable to losing you. Bottom line is don't worry about it - your boss is almost certainly waiting for you to have this conversation with him. Ask your prospective manager when you should talk to the current one about it (the answer is probably after the new one has filed the HR forms), and don't worry about finding a replacement - that's what you have an HR department for. You may be asked to set a reasonable transfer date to deal with knowledge transfer, but that's an issue for discussion between HR, your new manager, and your old manager. Given the size of your company, you're not the first person who has ever wanted to do an interdepartmental transfer; there's a procedure for it, so it's just a matter of kicking that into motion and following along. Your situation is unlike most of those discussed here (a multinational vs. a small business/start-up); don't get romantic notions about doing your personal bit to help out your manager or current team. There is a (likely large) HR department that exists to manage these things and set procedures, and it's unlikely your current manager even has much choice in terms of when and how you move departments.
• danilocampos 16y ago
  Any good boss wants his people to be successful. Assuming he has even a bit of maturity and genuinely likes you, he's going to encourage your growth, even if it means you move on to another group. The alternative is that you stagnate and become miserable, and that's no good for either of you. He gets that, I guarantee, if he's even a tenth as great as you say he is. So in short, you have nothing to worry about. It sounds like you're both menschy guys. He'll help you out, you'll help him out, and you can be friends after all of this. Ask him to grab coffee, lunch, or something else private. Be direct, be honest, tell him what's up. He probably already expects it, if your frustrations are such a common topic of conversation. edit: Yeah, listen to swombat, he said it even more efficiently than I did.
• Eliezer 16y ago
  Okay... I'm probably not the person to take advice from on this issue... but I have to say, if it was me, and if your boss is a nice person, I'd just take what you wrote up there, and copy and paste it into an email. Or just send him the URL to HN.
• shareme 16y ago
  Offer to pick and train your replacement so that your boss has the best of both worlds and do not tell him an email, this needs to be face-to-face
  • phamilton 16y ago
    So I just did this last week. I told my boss I would like to transfer, but I told him that I have really appreciated my time there, and I want to work with him to make the transition as smooth as possible. He really appreciated it, and there were no hard feelings. We are going to have a little chat with the rest of our team during our next staff meeting and decide how long they want me to hang around to keep the transition smooth.
• Andaith 16y ago
  Perfect timing for you to post this thread, I need this advice too. If you don't mind, can I ask if there's any specific advice anyone has regarding moving on from a startup?