Ask HN: Can I give less than 2 weeks notice when leaving? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Can I give less than 2 weeks notice when leaving?

First, I know that I can but should I.

In my specific situation, I want to start the new job fast but I also want a week off. Giving two weeks to my current job would also coincide with vacation I had previously planned.

If I gave 1 week notice, it would work out and everything would line up in terms of my timeline. I'm in a position where there's not a lot of handoff work and I would essentially be sitting around for two weeks doing nothing.

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Just remember what most of giving notice is about...

Presumably you've made positive connections with your fellow teammates and feel some sympathy for how they may suffer a bit with your departure. You're giving notice so they (and you) can mitigate that suffering. During that time you may not be doing much work, but answering questions, typing up arcane knowledge you have about particular areas, etc.

Not burning bridges. If you hope to every use anyone at your current company as a reference in the future, give decent notice. The last impression you leave is likely what will stick.

In the end, I'd think of it as following the Golden Rule. Even if they don't, if you'd like to work at a company that would provide severance in the event they needed to let you go (basically giving you "notice"), then do the same. The world is what we make it.

There's nothing wrong with asking, but be graceful if they say no.

Make no mistake, it doesn't matter how long you were there, or how great you were to them, you will be remembered based on the way you leave.

You can leave well, and have good contacts and references for life, or leave badly and you just set fire to years if reputation and networking.

That kind of damage will make it a really expensive week off.

It is funny to read stuff like that working in a country where the norm is three months instead of 2 weeks.

Depends on your relationship with your manager and team. If you really will just be sitting doing nothing and you have good relationship with your manager, you can talk to them and ask to only quit with 1 week notice. Be ready however to be let go right away (at least in the US) as companies sometimes do that for risk mitigation. Would probbaly work better for you it seems like.

It all comes down to your relationship with your boss. If you are not really needed as you claim and I am your boss and I have good relationship with you, I wouldn't care if you want to give 1 week notice instead of 2. I would be happy for you to take the time off for your next job.

> If you really will just be sitting doing nothing

Never assume this.

The last 2 weeks aren’t just about finishing your assigned tasks. In many cases we reduce or even cancel an employee’s remaining tickets when they put in their two weeks. This frees them up to help train the people who will be taking over their domain.

The last 2 weeks are primarily about documenting your work and training someone else to take it over.

We can’t predict how your company or peers will react, nor can we see the potential downstream consequences of doing this to your employer.

It’s possible that they won’t care and it won’t matter. Or it’s possible that your peers and managers will take it personally and forever think of you as the unprofessional guy who abandoned their project with less than 2 weeks’ notice. Those negative perceptions could influence future opportunities as your peers move to other companies and are eventually asked what kind of employee you are. Or maybe none of your peers are ever asked for back channel references.

We can’t know the outcome, but know that you’re gambling with your reputation a bit. Good reputations are hard to build but easy to destroy. Be careful.

> In my specific situation, I want to start the new job fast but I also want a week off. Giving two weeks to my current job would also coincide with vacation I had previously planned.

You can’t have it all. I’d suggest telling your new job you’re available in 3 weeks and then splitting your 2 weeks’ notice around the vacation. There’s a chance that your employer could cut you loose early, in which case you go back to the new employer and ask if you can move your start date up.

I think it’s fine to ask for just 1 week. Unless you architected something and have a responsibility to document and do knowledge transfer, no one should bat an eye.

This is a morbid analogy, but think about a dying relative. You mostly should have dealt with their death long before it happens. If you are that deep in your job search, you should have already reduced your role, in which case the full two weeks means nothing.

Maybe 3 weeks sounds more appropriate if your current company won't agree to 1 week.

If your vacation time is already accrued then they owe you that anyways so 3 weeks gives them the standard time plus your week off. As a manager it might be perfect to have you work 1 week, feel what its like to have you not there for a week, then a week to cleanup anything leftover.

Just curious - what is the desire to start the new job fast?

My company has an unwritten policy that they won't hire people back if they leave, and they screwed me over a couple times. If I leave (not retire) and have the other job setup already, I will just give them a 1 day notice. Screw them.

It is nice to at least give your employer the option of having you stay two weeks. They may not choose to take you up on it, especially if there's not much to hand off. But it is usually good to at least offer that.

Just ask your new company to push your start date back one week so you can take a vacation and come in feeling fresh.

Do you value the reference? If not, walk.

Yes

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