4 ms·

You've GOT to be kidding me with this. "No surprises: Even worse than leaving is giving little or no notice. Then the company has to scramble to fill the immed

You've GOT to be kidding me with this. "No surprises: Even worse than leaving is giving little or no notice. Then the company has to scramble to fill the immediate void. Although two weeks notice is standard, give more notice if you're willing to. Give four or even six weeks. The only caveat here is that if the CEO reacts poorly when you give notice, you might find yourself escorted out of the building that very moment. So you have to be ready for that. But hey, if you wanted to go anyways, then that might be OK with you." So you should do the "right thing" for the benefit of the CEO who probably holds 10-30+% of this company compared to your 0.0X%, but willing to accept that they may insta-can you because they "react poorly" to this news. Many people in this position may truly want to give 2,3 or even more weeks notice out of guilt, but they ALSO might financially really need not to have that income gap. Logic (or call it good business) would dictate that in that financial position, you give a standard two weeks notice and hope that if you DO get escorted out, they at least pay you out for the two weeks. The author's take on this is "you have to be ready for that"? I don't get it.

vinceguidry 13y ago
You really shouldn't be considering job-hopping if you can't absorb two weeks of lost income. This article isn't talking about low-class, factory work where most employees are living paycheck-to-paycheck. This is the middle class, and you're expected to bring a little stability to the table. If you can't do that, it's your fault, not your employer's.
- greenyoda 13y ago
  Let's see how this sounds from the other side: You shouldn't consider founding a company if you don't have the ability to survive for a few weeks or months while looking for a replacement employee. If an employee's sudden departure puts the company in a dire situation, it's the company's fault, not the employee's. A company is expected to have a little stability.
  - vinceguidry 13y ago
    > You shouldn't consider founding a company if you don't have the ability to survive for a few weeks or months while looking for a replacement employee. If the job is that essential, the founders should be able to do it themselves. If not, then yeah, it can wait.
- optimusclimb 13y ago
  Let me put it this way - It's not that you can't absorb the two weeks loss without going into bankruptcy. It's the fact that for a "regular" employee, losing 1/26th of your yearly income may be something you'd really prefer to avoid - and the loss may be disproportional to what the company stands to lose by canning you immediately despite you trying to "do the right thing" and give extra notice. I think it's not crazy to say that many small companies may have even more motivation to make that move, as they don't want the morale drain on the other employees imposed by having someone around that has one foot out the door. Because back of the napkin math is fun, let's say we're talking SF, a bright kid <2 years out of college that loves reading HN and decided she wanted to try the startup thing. They joined a startup as an early employee, but maybe past the first 3, and have a few basis points of equity, and took a salary of $100k/year instead of a fat offer twitter gave them for the opportunity to wear many hats and learn a lot. Using this page http://www.adp.com/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-tools/payroll-calculators/salary-paycheck-calculator.aspx http://www.adp.com/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-tools... and plugging in a gross yearly income of $100k for CA, that gives me a bi-weekly pay of $2,441.23. That's easily a month's rent, which I'd posture is NOT trivial for a person in this situation. Absorbable? Totally, but NOT something it'd be a good idea to risk from a business perspective.
  - vinceguidry 13y ago
    > Because back of the napkin math is fun, let's say we're talking SF, a bright kid <2 years out of college that loves reading HN and decided she wanted to try the startup thing. Call up dad and ask for some cash to float you until your next payday. Your career will thank you when you don't externalize your rash decisions on your colleagues. Or did you move to SF for a dream with absolutely no safety net? But whatever. If you're really in that position, sure, go ahead and fuck the people who took a chance on you and trusted you to build their business. If you're that scared they're going to turn around and fire you on the spot for taking another job, then be my guest. But don't expect me to pat you on the back and say you did good when you're really just demonstrating a lack of foresight and a lack of faith in your coworkers / bosses. I don't do business that way. My last job, I busted my ass to finish the project they gave me, even working on the weekend when I didn't have to, during the two weeks I gave notice. I told the guy who I was handing it off to to call me anytime if he needs any help. If they'd just let me go, no sweat, I've got backup options. But generally, I don't take jobs anymore where my work isn't essential and I'm fungible. You shouldn't either, then you won't have to face this situation. If you're not damn useful to your organization, then what the hell are you there for then?

vinceguidry 13y ago

You really shouldn't be considering job-hopping if you can't absorb two weeks of lost income. This article isn't talking about low-class, factory work where most employees are living paycheck-to-paycheck. This is the middle class, and you're expected to bring a little stability to the table. If you can't do that, it's your fault, not your employer's.

greenyoda 13y ago
Let's see how this sounds from the other side: You shouldn't consider founding a company if you don't have the ability to survive for a few weeks or months while looking for a replacement employee. If an employee's sudden departure puts the company in a dire situation, it's the company's fault, not the employee's. A company is expected to have a little stability.
- vinceguidry 13y ago
  > You shouldn't consider founding a company if you don't have the ability to survive for a few weeks or months while looking for a replacement employee. If the job is that essential, the founders should be able to do it themselves. If not, then yeah, it can wait.
optimusclimb 13y ago
Let me put it this way - It's not that you can't absorb the two weeks loss without going into bankruptcy. It's the fact that for a "regular" employee, losing 1/26th of your yearly income may be something you'd really prefer to avoid - and the loss may be disproportional to what the company stands to lose by canning you immediately despite you trying to "do the right thing" and give extra notice. I think it's not crazy to say that many small companies may have even more motivation to make that move, as they don't want the morale drain on the other employees imposed by having someone around that has one foot out the door. Because back of the napkin math is fun, let's say we're talking SF, a bright kid <2 years out of college that loves reading HN and decided she wanted to try the startup thing. They joined a startup as an early employee, but maybe past the first 3, and have a few basis points of equity, and took a salary of $100k/year instead of a fat offer twitter gave them for the opportunity to wear many hats and learn a lot. Using this page http://www.adp.com/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-tools/payroll-calculators/salary-paycheck-calculator.aspx http://www.adp.com/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-tools... and plugging in a gross yearly income of $100k for CA, that gives me a bi-weekly pay of $2,441.23. That's easily a month's rent, which I'd posture is NOT trivial for a person in this situation. Absorbable? Totally, but NOT something it'd be a good idea to risk from a business perspective.
- vinceguidry 13y ago
  > Because back of the napkin math is fun, let's say we're talking SF, a bright kid <2 years out of college that loves reading HN and decided she wanted to try the startup thing. Call up dad and ask for some cash to float you until your next payday. Your career will thank you when you don't externalize your rash decisions on your colleagues. Or did you move to SF for a dream with absolutely no safety net? But whatever. If you're really in that position, sure, go ahead and fuck the people who took a chance on you and trusted you to build their business. If you're that scared they're going to turn around and fire you on the spot for taking another job, then be my guest. But don't expect me to pat you on the back and say you did good when you're really just demonstrating a lack of foresight and a lack of faith in your coworkers / bosses. I don't do business that way. My last job, I busted my ass to finish the project they gave me, even working on the weekend when I didn't have to, during the two weeks I gave notice. I told the guy who I was handing it off to to call me anytime if he needs any help. If they'd just let me go, no sweat, I've got backup options. But generally, I don't take jobs anymore where my work isn't essential and I'm fungible. You shouldn't either, then you won't have to face this situation. If you're not damn useful to your organization, then what the hell are you there for then?