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Generally good advice, but a year is a long time in the startup world and what do you do if you get a really good job offer that won't wait? Seems like this is

by dkasper 17y ago

Generally good advice, but a year is a long time in the startup world and what do you do if you get a really good job offer that won't wait? Seems like this is a pretty common occurrence as it has already happened to me and I am only 6 months out of school. Without going into a lot of detail, I started at a company shortly after graduating and two months later got a job offer at another startup that was better in almost every aspect and decided to bail.

j_b_f 17y ago
Sure, if you have an urgent opportunity, sometimes you need to take it. But I had an employee once who suddenly quit to go to _med school_ - to which he had applied over a year earlier and never told us. It was devastating to the project he was on, the team, and to me personally since I had vouched for the hire. In his defense, he was fresh out of college and thought it wasn't that big of a deal. So I sat down with him and explained that it WAS a big deal for a company our size, and he was super apologetic.
benmathes 17y ago
"twelve months notice" is definitely just general advice, and certainly a long time in the startup world. However, I think it's just an illustrative example. What the author appears to be saying is that in social circles where your reputation matters, don't be a dick. I think the author was just using "twelve months notice" as an explanatory example. In summary: Don't screw people over unless you work in an anonymous, transactional industry, which startups aren't.
- raintrees 17y ago
  I agree. I think the time is arbitrary, it is the communication itself that is important. When I took a position with a small company way back when, I told them up front that I had a summer job working for my dad for 3 weeks each year. They were very accommodating. This does not address the lack of time off for a vacation, but that is another post...
- mmt 17y ago
  unless you work in an anonymous, transactional industry, which startups aren't. I've found through both first- and (close) second-hand experience that this generalization doesn't hold. The OP's poing about assessing openness and honesty of the management is well taken.

by dkasper 17y ago

j_b_f 17y ago

Sure, if you have an urgent opportunity, sometimes you need to take it. But I had an employee once who suddenly quit to go to _med school_ - to which he had applied over a year earlier and never told us. It was devastating to the project he was on, the team, and to me personally since I had vouched for the hire. In his defense, he was fresh out of college and thought it wasn't that big of a deal. So I sat down with him and explained that it WAS a big deal for a company our size, and he was super apologetic.

benmathes 17y ago

"twelve months notice" is definitely just general advice, and certainly a long time in the startup world. However, I think it's just an illustrative example. What the author appears to be saying is that in social circles where your reputation matters, don't be a dick. I think the author was just using "twelve months notice" as an explanatory example. In summary: Don't screw people over unless you work in an anonymous, transactional industry, which startups aren't.

raintrees 17y ago
I agree. I think the time is arbitrary, it is the communication itself that is important. When I took a position with a small company way back when, I told them up front that I had a summer job working for my dad for 3 weeks each year. They were very accommodating. This does not address the lack of time off for a vacation, but that is another post...
mmt 17y ago
unless you work in an anonymous, transactional industry, which startups aren't. I've found through both first- and (close) second-hand experience that this generalization doesn't hold. The OP's poing about assessing openness and honesty of the management is well taken.