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Doing a nasty or snarky "I quit" may feel good in the short term, but it won't help your career goals. Don't bash your boss on the way out. Don't say a negati

Doing a nasty or snarky "I quit" may feel good in the short term, but it won't help your career goals. Don't bash your boss on the way out. Don't say a negative word about anyone if you have an exit interview. Stick to your party line of "I have a developer role, which is the right career choice for me. The pay is very good too." Somewhere down the line, someone will formally or informally do a background check on you. You don't want to give someone a reason to subtly backstab you later. If you do something big on the way out, it can haunt you later, and you may never find out. Be as professional as possible, document everything you know that may help someone, and work full days during your notice period. Now that I've said all this, you asked for stories... - A former colleague gave the minimal possible notice "because every day I stay costs me a lot of money." He was leaving to start a t-shirt company. (He was a great guy, and not as arrogant as the story sounds.) - A friend at an investment bank (which was notorious for perp-walking people out when they were let go during the financial meltdown) quit, and gave his notice from his new firm's Bloomberg account. These actually sound fairly lame. I wonder if ohters have better. :-)

webappsecperson 12y ago
Tech is indeed a small world. The first story speaks to another issue: How long do I stay in order to guarantee a smooth transition, when the project I'm working on is two years old with no end in sight? (And is generally a god-awful mess, both from a technical and project-management point of view?) I feel like I'll be dinged for leaving them "high and dry" but... my employment is specifically at will. I'm tempted to terminate it from my end, and get on with my new career.
- mathattack 12y ago
  It's written into most contracts as 2 weeks, occasionally 1 or 4. If you can pull it off, offer 4. No need to go longer than that. Start organizing yourself before you had notice. At the bank I mentioned earlier, someone gave notice, and was immediately walked off the floor by security. He had organized his work completely so that it was an easy transition despite him not being there. Everyone had good things to say about him afterwards. (And he got paid for the notice period, which is standard if someone says, "Don't bother coming in.")
laredo312 12y ago
"Don't save a negative word..." -- what about the C-Suite that gets off on humiliating people? I have mixed feelings on this advice because it seems highly selfish when you consider that someone else will suffer in your place. Would the world not be better if more people took a stand against the inept and abusive? Of course, this is highly subjective and you have to be honest about the reason you are leaving. Is it just a personal problem, or are other people being wronged -- if other people, consider taking a stand.
- mathattack 12y ago
  Everyone else who is there is an adult too. If they don't like it, they can leave. There are better ways to make a moral stand in the workplace.

webappsecperson 12y ago

Tech is indeed a small world. The first story speaks to another issue: How long do I stay in order to guarantee a smooth transition, when the project I'm working on is two years old with no end in sight? (And is generally a god-awful mess, both from a technical and project-management point of view?) I feel like I'll be dinged for leaving them "high and dry" but... my employment is specifically at will. I'm tempted to terminate it from my end, and get on with my new career.

mathattack 12y ago
It's written into most contracts as 2 weeks, occasionally 1 or 4. If you can pull it off, offer 4. No need to go longer than that. Start organizing yourself before you had notice. At the bank I mentioned earlier, someone gave notice, and was immediately walked off the floor by security. He had organized his work completely so that it was an easy transition despite him not being there. Everyone had good things to say about him afterwards. (And he got paid for the notice period, which is standard if someone says, "Don't bother coming in.")

laredo312 12y ago

"Don't save a negative word..." -- what about the C-Suite that gets off on humiliating people? I have mixed feelings on this advice because it seems highly selfish when you consider that someone else will suffer in your place. Would the world not be better if more people took a stand against the inept and abusive? Of course, this is highly subjective and you have to be honest about the reason you are leaving. Is it just a personal problem, or are other people being wronged -- if other people, consider taking a stand.

mathattack 12y ago
Everyone else who is there is an adult too. If they don't like it, they can leave. There are better ways to make a moral stand in the workplace.