

Twelve months notice - ashishk
http://cdixon.org/?p=1674

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halostatue
This is exactly what I did when I emigrated to Canada from the States. I let
the company I was working for know that I was applying for landed immigrant
status and that they could count on me until the immigration process was done
and I had a job in hand for the move.

It took about ten months from start to finish, but they appreciated the
openness, honesty, and (most importantly) hard work that I put into the
company prior to emigrating.

Were we a startup? Um. No, more a small player. But I would have done this
whether it was a small company or a large company because I respected the
people I worked with. If I didn't respect them, then they'd exactly get the
two weeks (and that happened more than once, too).

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dkasper
Generally good advice, but a year is a long time in the startup world and what
do you do if you get a really good job offer that won't wait? Seems like this
is a pretty common occurrence as it has already happened to me and I am only 6
months out of school. Without going into a lot of detail, I started at a
company shortly after graduating and two months later got a job offer at
another startup that was better in almost every aspect and decided to bail.

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benmathes
"twelve months notice" is definitely just general advice, and certainly a long
time in the startup world. However, I think it's just an illustrative example.
What the author appears to be saying is that in social circles where your
reputation matters, don't be a dick. I think the author was just using "twelve
months notice" as an explanatory example.

In summary: Don't screw people over unless you work in an anonymous,
transactional industry, which startups aren't.

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raintrees
I agree. I think the time is arbitrary, it is the communication itself that is
important.

When I took a position with a small company way back when, I told them up
front that I had a summer job working for my dad for 3 weeks each year. They
were very accommodating.

This does not address the lack of time off for a vacation, but that is another
post...

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mmt
Is 2 weeks a legal requirement in some states? I have yet to see that here in
California, except once in an employment contract for a company headquartered
in NJ.

The advice I generally give is also Golden Rule based, which is to give the
amount of notice one reasonably believes would be given in a layoff. This is,
of course, easiest with a company that has already gone through such a thing,
having already set an expectation.

~~~
drp
Wouldn't any law against at-will employment be tantamount to slavery?

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callahad
There are pockets of the latter approach in larger industry. I was fortunate
enough that my frustration at truly ignorant policies caught the attention of
our CTO, who happened to value openness and honesty over legalistic
relationships.

I've found the freedom to be unabashedly open about my search for fulfillment
in my work to be an incredible source of inner peace and job satisfaction.
It's humanizing.

