[yjftsjthsd-h]

Eh... kind of? Like, I don't disagree that there are reasonable points here, but:

> Quitting should never be a surprise for your boss

> What’s the worst that can happen?

Not a total surprise, but in many environments even hinting that you're looking to leave will... greatly increase the urgency of your search. They might not terminate you outright (or they may), but it's gonna make the rest of your time there a lot less fun. The worst that can happen is that you admit you're thinking about leaving and get escorted out by security. Obviously it depends exactly what we mean by not being a surprise; problems should generally be communicated... perhaps it would be better to say "Your boss should be able to say why you left"?

> Match your notice period to the handover period

I personally think the handover part is a symptom; at least for the kind of work I do, if there was truly that much to hand over something already failed. Process goes in wiki, tasks go in Jira, code goes in version control... sure, there will always be a few things that only you really understood and some in-flight work that's not fully written down in a ticket, but IMO if it takes you even 2 full weeks to exit gracefully then either you messed up or the company messed up (ex. there was no other person to hand off to and they couldn't hire that fast).

[lelandfe]

> in many environments even hinting that you're looking to leave will... greatly increase the urgency of your search

Just to provide a single anecdote of this, my friend worked as a recruiter at a well known company. If higher ups got proof that you had applied to another job, you would be terminated day of and whisked out of the office by security.

The stories from him and his coworkers of the subterfuge involved in job applications were impressive.

[jamesbrady]

Was this a tech company?

I just tightened up the intro explaining whom this post is meant for, and assumed that high-demand industries would be pretty immune to this kind of insanity

[lelandfe]

This was a recruiting firm that would call itself a tech company. I doubt they treated engineers the exact way, but I heard similar stuff from data folks that worked there.

[karmakaze]

I once gave clear indications that I was considering joining a startup in hopes that the company could start looking for my replacement. I wasn't treated any differently and carried on as usual until I gave my notice.

Much later, after the startup failed I learned that those months of knowing that I'd likely be leaving and there was little they could do about it was a very terrible time for the higher up dev vp/cto/whatever. My team lead was all fine with it. So the lesson I learned is that it's not the thought that counts.

[It was ironic/unfortunate when I came back for a short term contract and got hired-away before completion on accident by a thinly-veiled coding contest.]

[solarmist]

Why was it a terrible time for them? The only thing that comes to mind is that there's an "open slot on the team," but it can't be filled because they're still there.

[karmakaze]

I think it's because I was a go-to person for solving deep problems and would be hard to fill. Also having others know and you being ultimately responsible while mostly powerless wouldn't be fun. I don't know the details, but some short time after I left the product team I was on stopped being offered. I think I would have fought to keep it around longer. Either that or I'm the rat that left the sinking ship.

[ska]

> "Your boss should be able to say why you left"?

Not just say why, but this has been an ongoing discussion between you with attempts to resolve it (assuming everything is working as it should).

[jamesbrady]

I like this phrasing and will steal it henceforth.

[jamesbrady]

Hmm, I hear you on the first point… Perhaps I'm blinkered to roles in tech (to which this post was aimed, but not explicitly enough)?

In my experience at such companies, people certainly aren't walked if they express dissatisfaction in their role – but you're right that this doesn't necessarily transfer onto roles which are less competitive. I will think about how to tighten that piece up: thanks for the feedback.

On the second point, I can only congratulate you if you manage to keep everything so organised and compartmentalised! It's something I've aspired to but always fallen short of.

[BeetleB]

> On the second point, I can only congratulate you if you manage to keep everything so organised and compartmentalised! It's something I've aspired to but always fallen short of.

If your boss/company values it, you'll do it. If they don't, I don't feel obligated to wrap this up before I leave. Typically, they tend to reward folks who prefer not to write good documentation and rather code features. It shouldn't be up to these folks to fix the problem their manager/company culture has by suddenly writing docs when they have to leave.

I think training someone on work you've done in the last few weeks makes sense. But beyond that - no. If my manager wants me to work solo on a project for months and doesn't want me to train someone until I announce I'm leaving, then it's the manager's headache - not mine.

[yjftsjthsd-h]

Right, unless the job/manager are totally insane they should never be surprised that you are to some degree dissatisfied. But in many jobs, it is to the employee's benefit to operate in such a way that the manager is surprised that they're actually leaving.