What's worse--giving notice before I find a new job, or giving less notice than expected?
November 25, 2009 1:58 PM Subscribe
What's worse--giving notice before I find a new job, or giving less notice than expected? If I have already given notice, will that affect how HR handles calls from potential future employers?
I work night shift. I'm normally a pretty happy person, but since starting night shift I've gone from crankier and more emotionally delicate than usual to sleeping really fucked up hours even when I'm off work and pretty much complete hopelessness and hating life and myself and feeling like hell, all the time. There may be more going on, but I really feel like it's all because of working night shift and that I will be okay once I can keep normal hours again for awhile.
The tricky part: in my profession, it is expected to give four weeks notice. I'm pretty much stuck working through the end of November, but then I am scheduled to be on vacation for three weeks, meaning that if I give the expected four weeks notice today, then I can finish up the month and NEVER EVER HAVE TO GO BACK. I have already started searching for a new job, and I expect to find something relatively quickly. If I don't find something quickly, I can moonlight indefinitely, so being unemployed is not a concern. (Moonlighting, though, involves some other complications--I'd be staying with my family in another state. There's an argument to be made that I should do this anyway, at least until I feel like a sane human being again, but I think that's beyond the scope of AskMe.)
My employer is a large hospital. Presumably, the HR department handles all verification-of-employment type calls. So, as I said--if I've already given notice, will HR handle those calls any differently? Or if I, say, find a job two weeks from now, will giving only two weeks notice have any actual repercussions besides annoying my supervisor? If it's mere rudeness I don't care, my mental health is more important than etiquette. I know these things probably vary widely in different professions, but I'm mainly wondering if there's anything I'm not thinking about here that I should be thinking about. I don't need to use anyone from this job as a reference.
These may be dumb questions, but I feel pretty dumb right now, which I'm also blaming on chronic sleep deprivation. Plus when I left my first real job I gave, like, six weeks notice and they said congratulations and then we all got drunk on margaritas together and talked about our sex lives. I don't have any experience quitting a job that's not an unconditional lovefest utopia.
If anyone wants any more information, I don't mind mefi mailing you, as I'm aiming for reasonable discretion here rather than top secrecy.
I work night shift. I'm normally a pretty happy person, but since starting night shift I've gone from crankier and more emotionally delicate than usual to sleeping really fucked up hours even when I'm off work and pretty much complete hopelessness and hating life and myself and feeling like hell, all the time. There may be more going on, but I really feel like it's all because of working night shift and that I will be okay once I can keep normal hours again for awhile.
The tricky part: in my profession, it is expected to give four weeks notice. I'm pretty much stuck working through the end of November, but then I am scheduled to be on vacation for three weeks, meaning that if I give the expected four weeks notice today, then I can finish up the month and NEVER EVER HAVE TO GO BACK. I have already started searching for a new job, and I expect to find something relatively quickly. If I don't find something quickly, I can moonlight indefinitely, so being unemployed is not a concern. (Moonlighting, though, involves some other complications--I'd be staying with my family in another state. There's an argument to be made that I should do this anyway, at least until I feel like a sane human being again, but I think that's beyond the scope of AskMe.)
My employer is a large hospital. Presumably, the HR department handles all verification-of-employment type calls. So, as I said--if I've already given notice, will HR handle those calls any differently? Or if I, say, find a job two weeks from now, will giving only two weeks notice have any actual repercussions besides annoying my supervisor? If it's mere rudeness I don't care, my mental health is more important than etiquette. I know these things probably vary widely in different professions, but I'm mainly wondering if there's anything I'm not thinking about here that I should be thinking about. I don't need to use anyone from this job as a reference.
These may be dumb questions, but I feel pretty dumb right now, which I'm also blaming on chronic sleep deprivation. Plus when I left my first real job I gave, like, six weeks notice and they said congratulations and then we all got drunk on margaritas together and talked about our sex lives. I don't have any experience quitting a job that's not an unconditional lovefest utopia.
If anyone wants any more information, I don't mind mefi mailing you, as I'm aiming for reasonable discretion here rather than top secrecy.
This post was deleted for the following reason: at poster's request -- mathowie
You say that four weeks' notice is the norm in your profession. If that is the case, then your new employer, assuming it is in the same profession, will understand that you can't start you new job for at least four weeks. So don't notify your old employer until you have a signed contract with your new one. If your old employer decides to release you earlier, all the better.
posted by JackFlash at 2:34 PM on November 25, 2009
posted by JackFlash at 2:34 PM on November 25, 2009
Likely HR will do nothing more than verify the dates you were employed there and possibly your salary range. They won't open themselves up to a lawsuit by making comments about your work performance. So in that regard, you shouldn't fear retribution by giving notice before finding another job.
I do think the reasons for the four weeks' notice makes a difference. If it's to have time to find someone, you're fine. If it's so there's overlap so you can train them, you're not. Do you know the reason?
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 3:11 PM on November 25, 2009
I do think the reasons for the four weeks' notice makes a difference. If it's to have time to find someone, you're fine. If it's so there's overlap so you can train them, you're not. Do you know the reason?
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 3:11 PM on November 25, 2009
Yes, a big institution like a hospital won't connect a reference-checker with anyone who has an actual opinion about you. Odds are very very high that they'll only get the HR department who will only tell them that yes, indeed you worked there through Nov 28, 2009.
To ignore both of your A-B options: the correct thing to do is find a new job and then give four weeks notice. Any new employer who wants you will wait four weeks, especially if you explain that the reason is that you wish to give proper and kind notice to your former employer.
Hiring people notice and remember that stuff.
posted by rokusan at 5:40 PM on November 25, 2009
To ignore both of your A-B options: the correct thing to do is find a new job and then give four weeks notice. Any new employer who wants you will wait four weeks, especially if you explain that the reason is that you wish to give proper and kind notice to your former employer.
Hiring people notice and remember that stuff.
posted by rokusan at 5:40 PM on November 25, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by salvia at 2:18 PM on November 25, 2009