Careerist

Why Two Weeks Notice May Be Too Much Notice

Posted by Monica O'Brien on April 19, 2008 at 1:23 am.

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I quit my job yesterday. Weird, right? More on that later. And to be completely transparent, this is probably why my blog posts and online involvement have been sucking lately. So I’m sorry, especially if I owe you an email or a phone call. I’ve been emotionally drained by my not-really job hunt; but now my employer knows I’m leaving so I’m able to talk about some of the things that have been on my mind the last three weeks or so.

So here are four reasons why the two week notice rule should be reconsidered:

Emotional Divestment

During a presentation to students at the Chicago Graduate School of Business, the career center director admitted U of C has a difficult time collecting data about which students got job offers from their first choice employer, second choice employer, etc. She said this was because once a person makes a decision, the path they choose becomes their first choice, even if it wasn’t to begin with.

I believe this can be applied to quitting a job also. Once you quit your job, no matter how engaged you were, it becomes second-fiddle to your new job. And truthfully, you would rather be working there than here; the passion is gone. Which means most of your productivity will be also!

Lack of Motivation

When you quit a job, you lose more than just a position - you also lose consequences. So now that you are emotionally divested, which could happen even before you quit your job, you also have no reason to work harder or longer hours.

It’s not something you do consciously, but the symptoms of no consequences start to creep in from the moment you give your notice. Like yesterday, I left at 5:15pm when I would normally leave between 6 and 7. Or today, as I write this blog post from my cubicle, which I’ve never done before. Longer lunches, tardiness, and “good enough” work will plague the last two weeks of your employment, which is bad for your reputation and worse, bad for the company.

Post-Breakup Awkwardness

Before you break up with someone, do you call them every day telling them that you will break up with them two weeks from now? No, because that would be awkward. One of the best ways I’ve found to stay friends with someone after you break up is to have a clean break, where you get the break up over with quickly and don’t talk to the person for about a month.

Two weeks is a long time to deal with the awkwardness of breaking up with your employer. Due to your emotional divestment and lack of motivation, the bitterness of your coworkers will continue to build until the only thing they can remember about you is how annoying you were in those last two weeks.

Time To Say Goodbye

As I was going through my not-really job hunt, I was subconsciously transitioning my position to people under me. I was pushing for more documentation, cross-training, and trying to reach a good stopping point on some of my quarter goals, just in case I really did leave.

Ultimately, this was a bad decision… because now all those “loose ends” I need to tie up will take me a few hours. And I have about 65 more to go.

What to do? I won’t start anything new. I won’t pick up with a current project unless I can finish it before I leave. And part of me wants to start on my new projects at my new company anyway.

So my suggestion is to shorten the two week notice to about three days. This is ample time to wrap up assignments, which if you are truly a good employee you would have mostly done while on the job hunt anyway. This is enough time to plan a nice lunch with your team, say goodbye to the people you most care about, and not have to explain yourself to the people you probably won’t see again. And above all, this is enough time to avoid the awkwardness that comes when everyone in the room knows you are leaving your current job.

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  • This is a great post. However, I think 2 weeks is ample time. I recently quit my job and the notice time was 2 MONTHS (which is far too much).

    2 weeks go by quite fast; 2 months, on the other hand, was far too long, and very awkward. In the end, I was a bit of a dogsbody for everything the company wanted to get done that they could load onto me in the last minute.
  • I should also add that 2 weeks is enough time to wrap up loose ends without starting new projects. 3 days isn't really long enough to get much done, so why bother with 3 days at all?
  • I gave my two weeks notice last Friday and I know exactly how you feel. Another week to go and really I have absolutely nothing to do. Everyone keeps asking on what I am going to do.

    At least it gives a company a chance to hire a replacement.
  • Rebecca, two months notice is a long time! I can understand why you feel that two weeks notice would be a breeze in comparison.

    I think the length of your notice depends on a few things: the type of work you do, what projects you are working on, and the environment you work in. At my last job I really did need two weeks to wrap things up, and probably could have stayed longer. Either way though, the company survived without me and anything I didn't finish before I left.

    Any company can survive without one of its employees. The notice is a courtesy to the company, but I wonder if it does much good for the company. Basically, you are paying full price for someone who's heart is only half in it. The reason I said three days is because I feel it's enough time to wrap up anything very important. Sure, things will fall through the cracks, but that could happen with two weeks notice or two months notice too.

    Thanks for the comment! Also, I enjoyed reading your blog this morning.
  • Thank you, Monica. Yes, the two months were a bit painful -- actually, I didn't stay the full two months, as my new work needed me before then. (As you can imagine, asking to leave before full notice time was even more painful.)

    A lot depended on me at my old job, though, as I was the sole graphic designer and I was in the middle of rebranding all of the company's marketing material. I did manage to get most of it done by the time I left. They would survive without me, but it'd be a bit of an inconvenience.

    I think you're right that a company should be cautious to pay full-price for half an employee's heart (so to speak). But I think your heart can fall out of a job long before you give notice. Not having your whole heart in your job is a reason people start looking for another job in the first place.
  • Monica, I'm sorry to hear about the stress of leaving your current job. What are you doing next? I think you make some good points here, though ultimately I feel that two weeks is the most fair arrangement for both parties. It gives the departing employee a chance to be thorough in transitioning projects and the employer time to designate or hire a replacement.

    Of course, some organizations accept no notice at all. The second you announce you're leaving, security is called and you're escorted out.

    Best,

    Alexandra Levit
    Author, How'd You Score That Gig?
    Blogger, Water Cooler Wisdom
    http://alexandralevit.typepad.com
  • Roman, congrats on becoming an entrepreneur! I understand designating a replacement, or at least shifting assignments to other members of your team. I'm not sure about hiring a replacement though - in my experience, companies take at least a month to hire someone and then that person has to give their two weeks notice... so a position goes unfilled for at least a month anyway.

    I do agree that the two week notice is put in place more for the company than the ex-employee. I just wonder if the company is getting a raw deal anyway, and also whether the two week notice actually hurts the employer-employee relationship because there is a lot of bitterness that builds during those two weeks.

    Rebecca, just curious - why did you have to give two months notice? Are the rules different in the UK vs the US?

    Alex, you are probably right about the two weeks notice being the most fair compromise. Employers would probably prefer a longer notice, while employees would prefer a shorter one.

    I also understand why some companies would walk people out, especially if the person is going to work for a competitor, or if the company feels the person might somehow sabotage the company's operations. Before I quit any job I always save any personal files from my PC and clear out my desk drawers of personal documents, 401K information, health benefits information, etc. Just in case!

    And to answer your question, I'm actually going to work for Brazen Careerist. Most readers probably know what that is, but for anyone who doesn't, Brazen Careerist is the gen Y network that Penelope Trunk launched a few months ago.
  • Thanks Monica. I will keep you posted since I enjoy subscribing to your blog. Looking forward to learn about your transition to Brazen Careerist. That should be a fun job! Congrats as well!
  • Monica - Congrats on the new job! Will definitely be interesting to see how you like it!
  • zak
    Congrats on breaking free! I look forward to hearing about your new BC gig.
  • Jim B
    Hi Monica

    Can see your point in some ways, but don't really see any reason why 2 weeks shouldn't be an agreeable timeline, nor where all the bitterness you talk about from your colleagues is coming from.

    Here in the UK the standard is 4 weeks, though sometimes negotiable. I have finished up with 2 companies in the last couple of years for a variety of reasons, in both cases working the full 4 weeks. In both cases my approach was to ask 'what do you need me to finish before I go', then handover anything else and act as a point of support while concentrating on the bigger issues. Maybe the relationship I had with my line manager's was better than most, and maybe my circumstances were a little better, but I still wanted to deliver for the old team and not make my leaving an added burden to their workload. Who knows when our paths may cross again?
  • I'm not sure why the notice is so long. It depends on the time outlined by the company in the contract. It is helpful if the company goes bust and you get laid off (you still get paid for 2 months' notice time) -- it's a safety-net that protects both you and the company.

    My current work generally asks for 1 month's notice time.
  • Thanks for the congrats.

    Jim, thanks for your thoughts. You are talking about burning bridges, but why is a prescribed amount of time necessary to not burn a bridge? I wonder if the notice should be negotiated based on workload.

    Jim and Rebecca, I think it's interesting that the UK requires a four week notice. Thanks for sharing!
  • MS
    First and foremost congrats on your new position. It's always an exciting time to find something you love to do.

    But I have to say that this was one of the BEST blog post I've ever read on this topic. I recently (less then 1 month ago) left my position with a company and gave 3 days notice. And after reading your post I know I did the right thing.

    I was very unhappy in the position and felt undervalued and ignored in the company. I had looked for 4 months before I found the right thing for me career wise. But when I gave my notice it seem that all hell broke lose from others at the company. Even to the point where on my last day someone cursed at me. I have never cursed at any on any job and always remain professional.

    So I knew it was time to go and was glad that I would never have to see any of those people again.
  • Anton
    But if they fire you, it's immediate
  • Nicole
    I was wondering how to give two weeks when you're employer is out due to having elective surgery? Is emailing your two week letter in poor taste? I need to start my other position within two weeks and would like to give notice even if she's not in the office until next week.

    Thanks!
  • MS, Thank you. I hope things are working out for you at your new job. Two weeks notice may be etiquette, but if you are in a situation where you're being verbally abused then I don't see the point in sticking it out.

    Nicole, if I were in your situation I would probably give notice to my boss' boss and let him or her handle everything. He or she should get you through the HR stuff you need to complete, alert your current boss, and make the announcement to your team or department. I think your boss will understand that you couldn't wait for her to come back from leave.

    Another thing I did to quit was write my boss a Thank You note for being a good mentor. If you want to keep things happy on a personal note, you could do something like that, as long as you are sincere in your note! Then your boss should not take it personally if you had a good working relationship.
  • Brendon Culleton
    Dear Monica,
    Thank you for your blog! It's a breath of fresh air -- being that I feel I read everything on the subject of a "two weeks’ notice" in the past month or so! Man, I’ve worked at my current place of employment for five years now so the transition, well, let’s just say there was more glue holding me down than most people generally deal with I guess. I often questioned why it was I should give a full two weeks other than to oblige the cliché time frame everyone just "seems" to go along with. Nowadays, I really just see it as a means of "courtesy" as many others here have said. I see your point, too, in the idea that the whole "finding a replacement" thing is a necessary function for your employer, but it's up to the individual to decide how much they will preoccupy themselves with that (it could take months depending on factors such as job, management style and workload!)

    All in all, in this last week of my two week notice, I continue my fight against the urge to "skate the 8." :) Leave in a blaze of glory!

    Good luck to all, give a week and a half. Give a week. It's up to you! No one knows your situation like you do, so do what feels appropriate. But if there is one thing I've learned –it’s that "two weeks" is not mandatory or obligatory!

    Cheers!
    Brendon
  • Brendon Culleton
    Dear Monica,

    Thank you for your blog! It's a breath of fresh air -- being that I feel I read everything on the subject of a "two weeks’ notice" in the past month or so! Man, I’ve worked at my current place of employment for five years now so the transition, well, let’s just say there was more glue holding me down than most people generally deal with I guess. I often questioned why it was I should give a full two weeks other than to oblige the cliché time frame everyone just "seems" to go along with. Nowadays, I really just see it as a means of "courtesy" as many others here have said. I see your point, too, in the idea that the whole "finding a replacement" thing is a necessary function for your employer, but it's up to the individual to decide how much they will preoccupy themselves with that (it could take months depending on factors such as job, management style and workload!)

    All in all, in this last week of my two week notice, I continue my fight against the urge to "skate the 8." :) Leave in a blaze of glory!

    Good luck to all, give a week and a half. Give a week. It's up to you! No one knows your situation like you do, so do what feels appropriate. But if there is one thing I've learned –it’s that "two weeks" is not mandatory or obligatory!

    Cheers!
    Brendon
  • Liz Wright
    Hello! I am now in a similar situation although mine may be a little bit different. My company plays mind games, so much as to to the fact that my boss is now the 2nd in command to the CEO. We are a small company, but they keep leashes on people while having that casual work environment. Problem is, my husband's in the military and we just got notice to move to Monterey, CA this November. I want to tell my employer in August so that they don't give me much advance notice and so I don't have to go on this company outing in September. The outing is 2 days away from the office but I don't support it and hate the people. It's awful, and since I give notice in October I don't see the point of me going.

    Do you think the company would fire me if they found a replacement sooner?
  • Brendon, thanks!

    Liz, that's an interesting question. I think in a small company they will usually do whatever's best for the company. I can't say whether they will fire you or not, but they will certainly make sure they have a replacement by the time you leave.

    A good way to not get fired? Volunteer to do some serious transition training with your replacement. That way the company can see the business case for having both you and a replacement on the payroll at the same time.

    Regarding the outing, you would have to have an honest conversation with your boss to get out of it. Maybe you can sell it from a cost perspective - why pay for me to go if I'm leaving soon? Good luck!
  • George
    Sure it's "Professional" and "Courteous" to give 2 weeks notice but I think It really depends on the reason for quitting and the type of business you work for. If your quitting because you hate your job and you know your never going to apply there again and don't need a reference then why would you bust your ass for them for 2 more weeks just so they have time to find someone else? If they decide to hire you it is thier obligation to seek other resources to replace you after you have left. It is not mandatory and should not even be expected that you "assist" them in this process by giving two weeks notice. It's just a courteous thing to do. If the business has a high turn around rate then all the more reason not to give one. Most businesses will do whatever is best for them and of course giving notice falls into that category. Overall weather or not you give two weeks notice should be based on 4 things:

    1. Reason for quitting

    2. Type of business

    3. Self needs

    4. Respect for employer
  • Deividas
    TWO 32 MAN WHO'S WORKING PANTERS DECORATORS 14 YEARS ALREADY LOOKING FOR JOB ON BUILDINGS SITES OR ANY FIELDS OF ACTIVITY.WE ARE FROM LITHUANIA,SERIOUS MAN WITHOUT BAD HABIT.OUR ENGLICH FLUENT GOOD,WE HAVE PERSONAL CAR.WE ARE WAITING FOR GOOD SUGGESTIONS. / Email:/ Deividasxx33@gmail.com /SKYPE:Viktorasnn//tel:+37064576657./
  • Vee
    I do like and agree with this blog for the most part..Ir is really just hard overall to give notice to job bcause you are worried about what people will be thinking, if they are going to let you work the last weeks or not, and how the people you work closely with will feel. I am giving notice to a place that I have been at for a little over a year...I recently graduated with my Bachelor;s and definately feel like I should be getting more than $10 an hour. I will miss the kids that I worked with a lot and even some of the people (some but not many)...I am giving one week's notice because I have honestly been waiting to start my new job for oever a week, haven't felt appreciated in over 4 months, and my new position needs me t start as soon as possible. The way I am looking at it is if they accept my notice but tell me to leave at the end of the day, good. My new employer would like me to start asap anyways, on the other hand, I would personally feel better if I give some kind of notice, do my time, and leave on a good note...
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