[jonjojr]

How to Quit? really?

"Hey Jerry, got a min? Look, I don't think this is working out. Here is my letter of resignation, and my two week notice. Thank you."

Done!

How hard is that to do? There is nothing holding you in chain in that job unless you are actually being held in chain in that job, at which point you should seriously analyze your life choices.

[minimaxir]

> at which point you should seriously analyze your life choices

As the article notes, there are very common cases where you can't just pick-up-and-leave (visas, debts, etc.)

[PunchTornado]

Like any job. since the meaningless "top tier tech" in the title. being a top tier tech doesn't make it any different.

[bogomipz]

Then there's the part where Jerry asks "what are you gonna do?" And you tell Jerry "Go travel or maybe "do nothing but relax for a bit." And then you see the look of envy register in Jerry's eyes.

It's not hard at all. The author turned this into a slow dance of neurosis. A job at a big SV company is still a job that eats up the majority of your waking hours. Nobody find's themselves on their death bed wishing they had worked more.

[coastal-fiesta]

I think the chain in this case was unvested Facebook RSUs.

[CiPHPerCoder]

> and my two week notice

That might not be a good idea to give.

[beisner]

Contrary to the downvotes, I agree with this sentiment. Technically you don't even need to give 2 weeks notice at most tech firms, it's completely at-will, so you can quit any time you like. Very few people do that though, and for good reason: unless there's a majorly important reason (i.e. death in family, horrible work incident, etc.), doing so leaves coworkers and management in the lurch.

Now, you might think, "I don't owe the company anything", and that's totally true. But at the end of the day, you are in fact working with other people, and how you treat other people (and how they perceive you are treating them) has consequences both on your interpersonal relationships with these people, and potentially on your future career path. Tech is a pretty small community, and people have a funny way of having way too many mutual connections, so quitting (and leaving colleagues in the lurch) might come back to bite you somewhere else down the line.

My advice is usually to quit with enough time to wrap things up or hand them off gracefully, and not to blindside anyone (unless, again, of extraordinary circumstances). This amount of time is totally position-dependent; for some it could be 3 days, for others (maybe the director of an organization) it could be months. But 2 weeks in all cases is nonsense - it's totally dependent on your situation and rapport with colleagues.

[coastal-fiesta]

What makes you say that?

[danShumway]

Some companies may not accept the two week notice, and may ask you to leave immediately. This may be true even if you have a good manager or relationship with the company.

When I quit my job, I intended to give four weeks notice, and to offer to work part time for a month later if they wanted it. Manager took the offer to their upper-management, upper-management came back and said, "nope, two weeks max."

I had prepared for that, but did not expect it, at all. Generally speaking you should only give notice if you're also willing to leave that day.

[bacongobbler]

2 weeks is the norm for regular jobs, but top tech companies are really struggling to fill top talent spots these days. While it is perfectly legal to give only 2 weeks notice, it's normally better to ask your manager how much time they'd reasonably need to fill your position, then have a conversation.

So, I'd re-phrase the original conversation as

"Hey Jerry, got a minute? Look, I don't think this is working out. I intend to give you a letter of resignation by the end of the day, but I want to discuss how much time you'd need to reasonably fill my position before I give my notice."

Then again, if you

1. hate your job, or

2. your manager is being unreasonable about how much time they need to fill that position, or

3. don't care about burning your bridges

Then go right ahead and give 2 weeks notice. It's up to you to decide how you want to frame the conversation.

[vonmoltke]

> top tech companies are really struggling to fill top talent spots these days

Maybe they should do something about their interview false negative rate then.

[CiPHPerCoder]

> While it is perfectly legal to give only 2 weeks notice

Where I live, it's perfectly legal to say "I quit" and leave immediately.

[ttul]

I believe the title should be, “How to quit like a loser”.