Notifying the present employer

[ZEESHAN AZIZ]

Well, I was wondering should the present employer be notified before or after attending interview for another job? And what about in a case, where the present employer's name has been used for reference purpose as well.

[Dalia Rojas]

Of course it depends on the situation, but in my experiences, I've notified the employers only after accepting the position. On an application where you fill in the references, present employers, etc., there should be a question whether you want them to notify the present employers.

[Jamie Robertson]

Originally posted by ZEESHAN AZIZ:
Well, I was wondering should the present employer be notified before or after attending interview for another job? And what about in a case, where the present employer's name has been used for reference purpose as well.

I think you should be honest with your present employer. There's nothing wrong with letting them know that your current job is not perfectly suited to you. If you tell them the pay is too low, you are not happy with the politics at the office , you need a change in career direction or whatever. The only premise of my advice is that you already have a good working relationship with your boss and your reason for leaving isn't because your boss is an ass#0!e . If that is the case, then don't tell him, get the new job and tell him to "step off" or something more suitable.

[Mark Herschberg]

A story from my father...
He decided to leave his first job. He met with his boss one day and told him he was looking for a new job. He informed his boss of this, so that his boss may begin looking for a replacement and plan his departure. His boss replied, "You can start looking today."
Custom suggest that you don't give notice unless oyu are leaving. Like many holderovers from corporate America circa 1950, this one need to be retired. If you have an understanding boss, you should let him know. I hope to be able to do that. However, be prepared for the worst,* i.e. having to leave the building in 15 minutes (so I would get all perosnal files off your computer and pack a bit, discretely, before talking to him or her).
If you don't feel comfortable doing this, that's ok, you're not expected to. Also, the market is a little slow. If you really think it's going to be in the next month or two, then let them know. If you fear it may be six months, that may be too much notice, because then your boss will keep wondering "how much longer." I'd say two months is the max notice for most non-managers and key personnel.
Why should this become common practice? Because it lets the company plan around you. If you're going to leave, you're going to leave. This is a curtesy your give the comapny so you don't leave them high and dry--they should see it this way (should doesn't mean will).

*On the plus side, if he fires you you might be eligible for unemployment. I'm not sure if looking for a new job counts as cause, however, I have reason to believe that you will qualify at least in MA.

--Mark

[Joseph Hammerman]

I would only give notice once I have accepted a writen offer at another firm. That is the customary and prudent thing to do.
I once told my manager that I was taking the afternoon off because I had a job interview. Obviously, this was intended to send a strong message.

[John Fontana]

I was "ethical" once and gave 2 weeks notice. I was asked to leave immediately.
When I find an ethical employer, then I'll be ethical too.

[Shura Balaganov]

I am always trying to be ethical, and if I ever quit it was always between projects. That doesn't count, however, by some managers. Some managers take it very personally when their best prospect/employee quits .
One of my previous managers still thinks that I dropped the ball on him, because he was new, and I was responsible for support of one big system; he didn't know (and never found out :roll: ) that it was manager before him who dropped the ball - on me. I gave him standard 2 weeks notice, when I had an offer they wouldn't possibly be able to match.
Shura
P.S. Mark, Roseanne, other folks here, it's been a pleasure. I just passed SCJP, 89%, it was a walk in the park, some of my thoughts about it are here. I might stop by occasionaly, but if not - take care.
[ May 16, 2002: Message edited by: Shura Balaganov ]

[Swati Gupta]

It depends on the Supervisor,Manager and company. I had told my Supervisor in Feb'02 that I will be moving to -Burlington(Boston) in Aug'02 due to personal reasons and if I can get transferred to Boston then it will be good otherwise I will have to leave the job. He talked to higher Managers and inquired about it and realised that my company has IT dept in springfield(MA) not in Boston and that's very far around 90 miles from Burlington and its too much commute for me so my chances to leave this job are getting more. I am still working with the same company after declaring in Feb '02 and will leave my job gracefully.

Then I willbe in Boston Job Market.
[ July 09, 2002: Message edited by: swati gupta ]

[Reid M. Pinchback]

Definitely the when/if to tell your boss really depends on the culture of the organization and your own tolerance for personal risk (e.g. you may tend to make different decisions if you have a mortgage or a family to support). When I was at MIT it wasn't unusual for senior people to give several months of advance warning. At a financial company I once worked at it was much like Mark's example; you made sure you had your email cleaned up just in case.

[Mark Herschberg]

Originally posted by John Fontana:
I was "ethical" once and gave 2 weeks notice. I was asked to leave immediately.
When I find an ethical employer, then I'll be ethical too.

You win!
Either they give you two weeks pay and you effectively get two weeks vacation, or they don't, in which case they have technically fired you (I check with some HR folks on this). You are then eligible for severence. A quick mail to the HR dept can get you your two weeks pay. A letter form a lawyer can get severence, too--even though you already gave a letter of resignation.
(Of course, always clean out your email and personal files from the computer before hand, just to be safe.)

--Mark

[Roseanne Zhang]

Severance is not required by law, at least not in Texas. Most of employers do give severance. However, some don't. When our company shut down last year, we got absolutely nothing, I believe the law was checked.

[Mark Herschberg]

You are correct, severence is not required by law. However...
If you give the company two weeks notice, and they tell you to leave before the two weeks is up AND they do not pay you for those remaining days, you have technically been fired. This does not qualify as cause. Hence you are eligible for unemployment and any other benefits you get from being fired. If you file for unemployment, it goes on their record and raises their premiums. Most companies would find it much easier to give you some "hush money" (aka severence) to just forget about the whole thing. If they're going to be unethical, take off the gloves.

--Mark