6 ms·

As a rule, you never, ever tell about your new job nor position, your boss could call your new future boss and you could lose the job.

• sigstoat 5y ago
  > your boss could call your new future boss and you could lose the job and say what? "hey yeah that guy who worked for us until leaving of his own accord is total garbage, you don't want to hire him"? they'd sound like an idiot doing that.
  • fian 5y ago
    In the past senior people at major companies that were competitors entered into agreements not to poach staff from each other. I have seen this happen to a colleague who tried to leave for a competitor. His manager at his current job found out, contacted their counterpart at the competitor and got the job offer rescinded. Needless to say, my colleague was extremely pissed off and ended up exiting to a non-competitor as soon as possible. Also I used to work at a consultancy. The unwritten rule was that clients would not try to hire any of the consultants directly, especially if they had been seconded in to the client for an extended period. If a consultant applied for an advertised position, it wouldn't be blocked but would be frowned on and cause tension for the client with the consultancy (usually an increase in rates).
    • bencollier49 5y ago
      Your first example is illegal in most places. The second is perfectly normal practice - it's in most contracts and stands to reason - if you're introduced to a client by your employer and you jump ship to work for them, it represents a breach of trust.
      • greenyoda 5y ago
        > Your first example is illegal in most places. But that didn't stop it from happening in some of the largest companies in Silicon Valley: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_Litigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_L...
    • JohnBooty 5y ago
      Also I used to work at a consultancy. The unwritten rule was that clients would not try to hire any of the consultants directly Here (East Coast, US) this is almost always a written rule in the consultancy contract, because otherwise it is a very common case. Usually I think it's like, "if you hire one of our consultants you owe us $xx,xxx" or something. While I am just about always pro-worker, I accept this as a necessity. Otherwise consultants get "poached" non-stop, because they've basically already "auditioned" for the client and the client gets an extended amount of time to figure out which ones would be great to poach. Makes it just about impossible to run a consultancy otherwise.
  • ferreus 5y ago
    I once tried moving from parent company to child company. And such a phone call made the move impossible. Also, I've heard similar stories from people trying to move within the company to new department. Your old manager might be higher in the hierarchy and just might be an asshole.
  • bitL 5y ago
    No, it's more like: "Hey Mike, I understand you are hiring Joe, though because of our good relationship, I'd like to tell you why exactly is Joe leaving. Well, we didn't want to cause an uproar in the company, but Joe caused this one issue that cost us $100M and his behavior was exceedingly erratic." Now mix in some typical subconscious behavior of Joe that anyone could notice in 10 minutes and build some story on top of it so that the new manager has it always in front of his eyes. That's how intelligent character assassination works these days. Many managers got to the position of power by using these "dark techniques" so they know how to do it properly without raising a suspicion. Don't tell anyone where are you going. Don't put it on your LinkedIn until you are established there.
    • darekkay 5y ago
      If Joe costed you $100M and his behavior was exceedingly erratic, why didn't you let him go? You should be happy to have such a problematic employee go. If you _did_ let him go, why are you stalking him and make his life even harder? In both cases, I would rather talk with Joe directly over a manager who's either lying or causing harm to his employees. It's also not like hiring managers form some kind of a club, warning each others about bad hires.
• crummy 5y ago
  Is this common? I've always told folks at my previous job where I was going, and have asked people where they are headed to when they leave.
  • systems_glitch 5y ago
    Worked for a company doing tens or hundreds of millions in sales a year (automated metrology machinery). VP did stuff like this. It was illegal in the jurisdiction in which they operated, but it happened anyway.
  • twirlock 5y ago
    No, companies don't do this because it gives you good legal standing to sue the shit out of them ianal
    • twirlock 5y ago
      Yeah probably some random anecdote about anon's important vp friend trumps the stated policy of every corporation in existence.
  • MichaelMoser123 5y ago
    don't know about 'phoning the company', but someone from the previous place might consult their linked-in profile and contact some acquaintance from the new place informally, with the aim to bad mouth their former peer. I stopped updating my linked-in profile, because this is quite possible, if you have worked in a toxic work environment (in terms of security: all what is in the realm of the possible, is also likely to happen in reality)
    • bbarn 5y ago
      As a hiring manager, if someone did this, I would just feel bad for the person who was on their way to me, that they had to work with people like that.
      • MichaelMoser123 5y ago
• enraged_camel 5y ago
  Not at all, because then you can sue the shit out of them and very likely win.
• pm90 5y ago
  Well, they’re gonna find out eventually. But I guess it might be easier to withdraw an offer than fire someone who’s started.
• spfzero 5y ago
  Though Ive seen many people do this, and for the ones I kept in touch with, there were no repercussions. Caveat that this is in a dense area of high tech jobs so it would be difficult for a manager to have enough contacts to effect damage. Plus, those managers were pretty busy.
• urbandw311er 5y ago
  Speaking as a such a boss, the idea of doing ‘bad things’ to somebody in the name of team retention seems rather counterproductive! If somebody’s made up their mind to leave, the best you can do is ensure it’s as amicable as possible, then a thorough exit interview to understand where you went wrong and try to fix those issues to course correct & retain others.
  • HelloNurse 5y ago
    That is the best mature, professional people can do. Spiteful incompetents, on the other hand, don't think that there are issues they should fix (the employee isn't a good fit); are afraid of exit interviews; and can be unprofessional enough to burn bridges and damage the company in order to damage the quitting employee.
• m463 5y ago
  You're probably right, but I suspect this letter was probably printed and wasn't emailed to the group, which is more common nowadays. I actually got hung up on the typo more than naming the new company. I do think this letter had an unusual and somewhat refreshing honesty.
  • ddingus 5y ago
    My take too. No blame or shame in there, just an expression of desire to do software. Fair enough.
    • systems_glitch 5y ago
      Yup, converted WordStar document. Almost certainly ran off.
• frederikvs 5y ago
  It all depends on the situation and context. When I left my previous employer, I told them exactly where I was going. The mentality at the previous employer had been changing (post-takeover), and the new company was founded by, and mostly consisted of people who came from the old employer and disliked the new direction. Everybody at the new employer knew what the old employer was like. If the old boss would have made such a call as you describe, the new boss would have seen right through that. In the case of the resignation in the link, I suspect the programmer left on amicable terms, which is also a situation where you could tell the old employer where you're going. As a rule, you never say "never ever" :-)
• cfn 5y ago
  What I heard is that companies are not even giving detailed references for fear of being sued. They just send some boilerplate. I have always said where I would be going next and nothing bad came out of it.
  • ChrisMarshallNY 5y ago
    This was actual policy at the company I worked for. Name, rank and serial number only (dates of employment and position). It was frustrating. I often wanted to say good things. After leaving that company, one of the first things I did, was give a bunch of good LinkedIn testimonials. I generally avoided badmouthing people. For one thing, there were only a couple of folks that left my team under actual unpleasant circumstances, and I feel that everyone deserves a second chance. Often, the most valuable employee, is one that has learned hard lessons. I have also found, personally, that seeing the worst of my fellow [wo]man puts me into a rather miserable personal space, so I try to avoid that. Also, when contacted, it was usually long after I had last dealt with them, so I felt that what I had to say would be well out of date. If I didn’t have anything good to say, I’d be very vague. That could speak for itself, but that’s the worst I would do.
    • matwood 5y ago
      > Name, rank and serial number only (dates of employment and position). This is very common. Many companies will also add if eligible for rehire. The last one is a safe way to convey if the employee was fired for something illegal.
• INTPenis 5y ago
  That's actually the opposite to what people do here in Sweden. Because once that letter goes out to everyone the new contract is already signed and the current employment is already terminated. We usually have 1-3 months resignation period, so there is no resignation letter. The closest we have is a goodbye letter that goes out to all your co-workers. And this letter reminds me most of those. The actual resignation is done in person with your manager. Of course you could do it over e-mail but I'd be willing to bet 99.99 out of 100 times your manager would schedule a 1-on-1 meeting with you if they received such a resignation.
  • gryn 5y ago
    I think that's common through all of Europe, but a petty manager that's out for blood can call you next manager and 'tell' him how bad of hire you are and that getting rid of you if for the best. if the new manager believes him you can be let go in your probation period, and end up with no job. I heard of this done once or twice through friends.
    • the_gipsy 5y ago
      Bullshit. If some guy calls me claiming that my new hire is bad, that automatically rings all kinds of alarm bells. Only someone that is some kind of psycho would try such petty revenge.
      • obedm 5y ago
        Hah same thought here! I'd assume the person calling is bat crazy. I'd still be on my toes with the new hire just to be sure, but I wouldn't fire them. Everyone has a story. And the people seeking revenge aren't necessarily in the right.
    • INTPenis 5y ago
      I think more normal is for the new employer to contact your old manager and ask for an opinion. Like a reference.
  • Symbiote 5y ago
• beforeolives 5y ago
  Never ever? I wouldn't mention it in the resignation letter like in the OP but it's been very natural for managers and colleagues to ask where I'm going next and I've been happy to share. I also ask colleagues who are leaving where they're going next and I never saw it as a problem. Then again, I've worked with mostly reasonable people.
• monster_group 5y ago
  Unless your boss is a total jerk, they wouldn't do that. Also, you are not as important as you think you are. Everybody is replaceable and people leave all the time. Your boss is unlikely to take the trouble to call some random person just to badmouth you. He's got better things to do. Having said all that, I still think you shouldn't tell where you are going. The reason - it serves no purpose to your old employer and they don't need to know. Your employer never gives you any information during your employment that you don't need to do your job and you are not obligated to give them any either (especially when you are leaving).