Always give notice unless very extenuating circumstances exist.

Most employers considering you for employment will honor a confidentiality request from a current employed candidate.

If not, then you might want to consider their credibility.

Do not let yourself fall victim to the "they never give notice of lay offs" syndrome. It's business.

If you just walk away it could affect you years down the road. Anytime you give notice however, you should always be prepared to pack your bags.

Though it has been awhile, I always asked my new employer if I could start earlier than targeted should my current employer release me upon submitting my resignation. Was never a problem.

Generally, I have always let leaving employees make the decision if they want to work out their notice or not. In some cases I have released them but paid out the notice anyway. Just good business.

Good luck.

 

If you just walk out this will put you on the "NO rehire" list. When the new boss calls to check the reference he's going to get "No we won't rehire him.". this is going to make him wonder if you stole, broke, or did something else. He may ask you about it, he may not. Always give notice, it's proper, and professional. Here is something many don't know. If they let you go the day you turn in your notice you are eligbile for unemployment, because they fired you.

 

I agree, giving notice is simply the right thing to do. Here's a little story about instant Karma:

I was 17 and bought a motorcycle. To pay for it I put in an application at the local MickyD's and was hired on the spot. I worked there 3 days under a (forum Guidlines prohibit me from using the only word that applies) of a manager who cut me no slack for just starting out and learning the ropes. I was expected to perform up to par with the experienced workers on my first day.

A friend worked at a nearby restaurant, a really classy place and said he could get me job there. I went and interveiwed with the manager and was hired, asked if I could start the next day. I said I could, went and told the MickyD's manager goodbye and started at the other place the next night. The manager called me into the office and told me that the manager at MickyD's was a good friend of his and he didn't think much of my leaving MickyD's without giving 2 weeks notice. He said he'd give me a chance to prove myself though.

From that point on he worked my butt into the ground. I had to stay and help close every night while the other employees all rotated the duty, I got no breaks, not even for dinner and had to work non-stop from the moment I walked in the door till 1:30 am when we got everything cleaned up after closing. Didn't particularly bother me because I did want to prove myself to him, so I took everything he threw at me without complaint. He was actually sorry to see me go when I left to sell used cars. (I gave him 2 weeks notice!)

Since then, I have never left a job without giving notice and it's never been a problem. Probably went a long way towards helping me to develop a good work ethic.

 

More often than not I give notice. If I work for a company I don't care for, or for an unreasonable boss, I give them the same respect they give me.

I worked at one company who you've ALL heard of that went through a major accounting scandal a few years ago. Management handled it horribly. There was no communication to the staff, people were getting laid off, people were leaving in droves, etc. Even before all that came down, working conditions were pretty bad. The department manager was later indicted for stealing $2 million from the company, so you can imagine how hard it was to get money to buy stuff we actually needed - like backup tapes - who needs more backup tapes, anyway? I shared a long table with several others. That was my 'desk'. There was no personal space at all. Pay raises were insulting. They'd ask me to work unpaid overtime, but when I needed to take a long lunch to attend to some personal business, I was told that I needed to dip into my vacation. That pretty much clinched it right there.

I walked in, handed a letter of resignation to the fourth manager I'd had since I started there a little more than a year ago, and said, "c-ya".

Best feeling ever.

But most of the time, I give two weeks notice. It's just common courtesy.

 

So, if I understand what everyone is saying - it is okay for a company to lay you off without notice, it is okay for them to discharge you when you give your notice but it is wrong for you to quit on the spot? I disagree.

If an opportunity arises and someone offers me a better position, they want or need me to start right away, and I have no contractual obligations to the old company, then I see no reason not to walk. After all, you are obviously unhappy with the present conditions of your employment or you wouldn't be job hunting. I once quit a job of four weeks because they had no work for me to do (a state job and they didn't want to lose the slot) and I wasn't going to stagnate. They wanted two weeks notice - I told them if they had two weeks work for me I would stay - they didn't and I didn't. By the way, I had nothing lined up when I quit but by the following Monday I was working in my old position, same desk, same projects, 25% payraise and a hell of a lot more appreciation for what I did for that firm.

I live and work in a big city but the field I am in is small. Your reputation as a worker and a project manager is what is important. I don't worry about what former employers think or say about me. They are more likely to want me back than I am to want to go back. Besides, who puts any credibility to what an ex-employer says about you? Most companies don't even check references or former employers anymore.

Call me jaded or unprofessional if you like, but after what happened to my wife, who was loyal to her company to a fault, I'll never have blind loyalty to an employer again unless they earn it from me.

JMO of course.

 

If you give 2 weeks notice they have to have your paycheck ready when you leave. If you give no notice they dont. This is State law most places. As a former boss myself, it does say something about a person if they give no notice. If you tell your new boss you cant contact the former employer, you may not get the new job.

 

I'm in favor of a notice... one week, two week.... either way.

It really DOESNT pay to burn bridges. You may need it to bridge another gap for yourself later on in the future.

And leave all your options open. Don't lower YOURself just because you might work for a complete jerk.

 

As a Supervisor/Manager, I say give your 2 week notice. It shows that you are being "respectful" to your current employer. BUT, if you do give a notice, do it in WRITING. That eliminates the he said/ I said part of the argument. I have people that work "under" me and I tell tehm to use me as a reference, both personal and as their supervisor. I have no problems with someone trying to "better" themselves. The policy for the company I work for now is, you give your notice, they give you 2 weeks severence pay and escort you out the door, but, this is a small "family orientated" company that always tries to do the right thing. Even when hey "lay-off" people, they give a severance package.

 

Wow, gettin' a lot of feedback on this one. Cool. Thing is, I work where there are about 400 people employed. I'm lost in a maze of cubicles. I hate cubicles. I was raised on the farm and I have a hard time pushing paper all day when I would rather be out "working in the field". I had a great job four years ago while in college. It was about 20% office time and 80% "in the field" time. Too bad it was only temporary. I've done a lot of different work. Office, manufacturing, farming, etc. I've walked off of two jobs so far. The first one was a meat production facility that had a turnover ratio of 80%. I lasted three months before I quit. Left a note for my manager and left (the cold environment was hard on my health). My last job (which lasted two years) I left a note for my manager and left during the lunch break. Both of those jobs were poorly managed and ran me to my wits end. The job I have now is not all that bad, but I cannot find any satisfaction in it and, like I said, I can't spend the rest of my life in a cubicle. My manager here likes me and so do most of my team-members, but it's the company I don't trust. My manager might think it's good that I give him a two week notice, but the company might toss me out the door. I really don't want my manager to know that I'm hunting for a different line of work.

 

Yes-give 2 week notice, don't burn any bridges.
Yes-they can only ask your emp a few questions legally.

 

DKSTUCK is right, giving proper notice is the right thing to do. Not giving notice burns any bridge with your current employer (something that can come back to bite you) and gives your prospective employer a bad impression of your standards for professional conduct. Requiring time for notice indicates to a potential employer that you are a better risk. Also, there is value in knowing you did the right thing.
Dono
Dono

 

This alone is reason enough. Even if your employer tells you to walk.

 

If I were leaving my current job and didn't give 2 wks. notice beforehand, I'd lose sick time accrued, vacation time accrued and stock options. That'd amount to about 2 months pay. Your job may be different, but it won't kill you to give notice...even a week. That way, when a new employer calls, there's a better chance of positive comments by that employer.
my .02

gw

 

my last job was contract and i gave them 5 years notive i was quitting!!(military!) even then they acted like i was such a horrible person for getting out. luckily, it seems the civilain world isn't like this. my advice to you would give the two week notice, and let the next company contact your current employer also, you never know what might happen 5 years down the raod and some nice new job opryunity may open up in the company you left, or you may go on to a third job that may have some of your current supervisors in charge now. its a small world, always good to keep good terms when ever you can.

 

I would definitely say yes to the 2 weeks notice. Having been both an employee and an employer I would have to say it's the right thing to do in both cases.

As an employer, if you came to work for me and didn't give your old employer sufficent notice, I would be worried that I'd get the same treatment when you decided to leave your job with me.

As an employee, I've had jobs I didn't care for, but when I left *I* was the one I had to live with, not them, so I'd do what I felt was right. Remember, how you treat others in all situations is a statement about you, not about them.

As for using your current job as a reference, it's a nice thing if you're leaving on such good terms - says a lot that's good about you and your soon-to-be former employer. But the reality is that's not always possible, so I don't think there's one right answer there.